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Environment

Sustaining community: Energy Savers Network branches out to reduce energy costs

Posted on April 21, 2025April 21, 2025 by Xpress Staff

“Since 2017 Energy Savers Network (ESN) has been hard at work weatherizing over 1,400 low-income homes in Buncombe County,” says Steffi Rausch, director of operations for Energy Savers Network.

3.2 K views+EnvironmentLivingSustainability

Warren Wilson and UNCA launch new programs aimed at climate change

Posted on April 18, 2025April 14, 2025 by Larry Griffin

Xpress recently caught up with faculty from both programs to learn more about how the two institutions are thinking about environmental studies in the wake of Tropical Storm Helene.

10.8 K views3EducationEnvironmentNews

Inside the fight to conserve Richmond Hill

Posted on April 17, 2025April 14, 2025 by Danielle Arostegui

Conservation easement saves large parcel next to Richmond Hill Park, thwarting a decade of attempts to add large developments.

1.7 K views1EnvironmentNews

The story behind a geologist’­s viral tutorial

Posted on April 17, 2025April 18, 2025 by Greg Parlier

After Tropical Storm Helene, people were desperately trying to understand what had just happened to turn their mountain refuge into an unrecognizable hellscape. Geologist and landslide researcher Phillip Prince thought he might be able to help.

2.0 K views+EnvironmentNews

Feeling the burn: An exodus of staff has made it hard for NC Forest Service to fight wildfires

Posted on April 16, 2025April 16, 2025 by Xpress Contributor

Extensive personnel shortages at the NC Forest Service hampered the agency’s ability to manage the wildfires that raged in Western North Carolina this spring, state and county officials say.

10.9 K views1Community NewsEnvironmentNewsPolitics & Elections

Why the Forest Service is logging after Hurricane Helene — and why some say they should slow down

Posted on April 16, 2025April 16, 2025 by Blue Ridge Public Radio

Of the nearly 800,000 acres of trees that Helene downed, about 187,000 lie in national forests. Salvage logging — a practice scientists and forest advocates have long questioned — is the Forest Service’s primary method of handling such a large disturbance.

2.6 K views1EnvironmentNews

Sustaining community: Electrify Asheville-Buncombe discusses 2042 renewable energy goals

Posted on April 14, 2025April 15, 2025 by Xpress Staff

“As our grid evolves toward renewable energy, transitioning means a cleaner, more efficient environment,” says Sophie Mullinax, chief administrative officer of Let’s Go Electric/Electrify Asheville-Buncombe.

1.7 K views+EnvironmentNews

Sustaining community: A healthy lifestyle benefits more than the individual

Posted on April 12, 2025April 7, 2025 by Xpress Staff

“If I am healthier, I can help others more often and reduce the load on our first responders and those trying to help us,” says David Thomas, a lifelong recreational cyclist, kayaker, angler and hiker.

2.8 K views+EnvironmentLiving

Sustaining community: Finding ways to stay motivated amid climate emergencie­s

Posted on April 11, 2025April 7, 2025 by Xpress Staff

To stay positive, UNCA student Olivia Williams says she reminds herself of “all of the intellectual, strong and determined students that surround me in my environmental science classes at school.”

1.4 K views+Community NewsEducationEnvironmentLiving

Environmen­talists say federal policies put forests at further risk

Posted on April 10, 2025April 11, 2025 by Justin McGuire

A crowd of about 150 people attended a forum designed to educate community members about nonprofits that focus on public resources, land and wildlife, especially given recent federal policies that could pose long-term challenges.

4.3 K views2EnvironmentNews

Sustaining community: Local student offers simple ways to make a difference

Posted on April 9, 2025April 7, 2025 by Xpress Staff

“Buy local groceries when you can and research where your food comes from,” says Kathryn Wolfe co-president of the A.C. Reynolds High School Environmental Club. 

1.1 K views+EnvironmentLivingSustainability

From CPP: WNC forest plan under pressure from storm devastatio­n, lawsuit and Trump

Posted on April 8, 2025April 9, 2025 by Xpress Contributor

The suit is the third connected to one of the two WNC national forests that the Virginia-based nonprofit legal organization has filed since early 2024. 

2.3 K views1EnvironmentNews

Smart Bets: Roots So Deep

Posted on April 6, 2025March 31, 2025 by Edwin Arnaudin

Hickory Nut Gap Farms and UNCA co-host this film screening and discussion on April 9.

1.7 K views+ArtsEnvironmentFarm & GardenMovie News & PreviewsSustainability

EPA freezes money for WNC clean energy projects

Posted on April 3, 2025April 7, 2025 by Greg Parlier

Three days after a WNC church secured funding for solar panels, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) froze $20 billion in climate and clean energy grants, putting energy efficiency and resiliency projects in limbo across the country.

3.1 K views+EnvironmentNews

Future wildfires will likely be more severe, county warns

Posted on April 3, 2025April 7, 2025 by Brooke Randle

Ryan Cole, Buncombe County Emergency Management assistant director, said that while some fallen trees left by Helene are not dried out enough to be considered a fire hazard, the accumulation of debris over the next several years will increase the likelihood of more intense fire seasons.

11.6 K views+Community NewsEnvironmentLocal GovernmentNews

Nature Center reopens after damage from Helene

Posted on April 3, 2025April 2, 2025 by Brooke Randle

Hit hard by Tropical Storm Helene, WNC Nature Center exceeds its own expectations by opening March 17 with a few renovations and expansions too.

1.4 K views+EnvironmentNews

WNC trout fishing this summer? Where anglers can go in Hurricane Helene aftermath

Posted on March 5, 2025March 5, 2025 by Blue Ridge Public Radio

Post-Helene debris and waterway changes have made some of the public’s favorite fishing rivers inaccessible for the season, which peaks in spring and fall, though some trout fishing is allowed year-round.

1.9 K views+EnvironmentNews

Smart Bets: Paddling Film Festival World Tour

Posted on March 1, 2025February 27, 2025 by Kay West

The celebration of World Water Day benefits local environmental nonprofit MountainTrue.

2.0 K views+EnvironmentMoviesNonprofitsOutdoorsSportsSustainabilityVideo

Smart Bets: Historic Home Tour

Posted on February 19, 2025February 17, 2025 by Kay West

The Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County invites self-paced exploration of four lovingly restored and preserved Chestnut Hill homes Feb. 22-23.

11.0 K views+Community NewsEnvironmentHistoryNewsTourism

Green roundup: County commission­ers support eastern hellbender

Posted on February 12, 2025February 10, 2025 by Brooke Randle

“The eastern hellbender is one of only three giant salamanders on the planet,” said District 3 Commissioner Parker Sloan during the Feb. 4 meeting. “They’re down to about 59%, so we’ve lost roughly half of the eastern hellbenders.”

1.4 K views+Community NewsEnvironmentNewsNonprofits

Upcoming forum looks at historic floods to help find future solutions

Posted on February 6, 2025February 7, 2025 by Carol Kaufman

“Historic Floods and Landslides — What Have We Learned” will take place on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2-4 p.m., at the Bo Thomas Auditorium on the campus of Blue Ridge Community College.

2.4 K views+Community NewsEnvironmentNews

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News Bulletins

Environment

DOGE cuts AmeriCorps Project Conserve, affecting WNC nonprofits
Community Bulletin · 2 weeks ago · 1.5 K views
Cherokee electric grid resiliency project among 7 to receive funding from NCDEQ
Community Bulletin · 2 weeks ago · 493 views
500+ Volunteers make a difference at Pisgah Project Day
Community Bulletin · 2 weeks ago · 2.8 K views
AB Air Quality Agency is accepting nominations for Clean Air Excellence Awards
Community Bulletin · 3 weeks ago · 768 views
UPDATE: High Falls, Hooker Falls and Guion Farm parking lot maintenance postponed
Community Bulletin · 3 weeks ago · 472 views
Air Quality Forecast – Yellow
Community Bulletin · 3 weeks ago · 290 views
Air Quality Forecast: Yellow
Community Bulletin · 4 weeks ago · 314 views
Hendersonville Environmental Sustainability Board honors Water & Sewer Department
Community Bulletin · 4 weeks ago · 540 views
Air quality is yellow for Thursday, April 3
Community Bulletin · 1 month ago · 502 views
Farm and forestry landowner meeting in Madision County
Community Bulletin · 1 month ago · 445 views
Update on Black Cove Complex fires in Polk County
Community Bulletin · 1 month ago · 713 views
Burn ban lifted for all North Carolina counties as conditions improve
Community Bulletin · 1 month ago · 849 views
Air Quality Forecast — Yellow and green
Community Bulletin · 1 month ago · 441 views
Air Quality Forecast – Yellow and Green
Community Bulletin · 1 month ago · 335 views
Trail and road closures implemented at DuPont State Recreational Forest due to wildfires have been lifted
Community Bulletin · 1 month ago · 686 views
All News Bulletins

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Asheville City Council members discuss potential property tax increase at CIBO meeting
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by Xpress Contributor
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Hundreds turn out to I-26 Connector meeting
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Updates on WNC parks projects delayed by Helene
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