Despite minimal damage from Tropical Storm Helene, improvements to Woodfin’s Riverside Park and a manufactured whitewater Taylor’s Wave are delayed while waiting for water levels to fall.
Waterway protectors reflect on Helene, look to the future
Erica Shanks was in Milwaukee, Wis., for a water and climate conference Sept. 26, but all she could think about was the weather back home. She needed to get home.
Unstoppable: A special place
“We are dedicated to providing key resources so that Pisgah remains the beloved place that it is for WNC residents and all who pass through these mountains,” says Marielle DeJong, donor engagement officer at The Pisgah Conservancy.
Buncombe air quality post-Helene has not been affected greatly by dust, but smoke risk rises, agency says
“What we’re particularly concerned about is the fine particles from open burning that we expect we’re going to see more of,” AB Air Quality Agency Director Ashley Featherstone said.
Smart Bets: Lake Logan benefit concert and volunteer weekend
A weekend of music and food combines with post-Helene river and lake cleanup efforts in Haywood County.
Asheville halts plans to dump debris in residential areas
The City of Asheville suspends dumping post-Helene debris, including trees, drywall, computers, televisions, pesticides and paint, in residential areas.
N.C. Department of Environmental Quality looking into reports of toxins in French Broad River
The N.C. Emergency Management Joint Information Center confirmed Oct. 4 that state and federal agencies have received reports of potentially toxic mud on the banks of the French Broad River in Madison County near Marshall.
Drivers invited to test out electric vehicles
Electric vehicles (EVs) from 13 automakers, including Ford, Tesla, Chevrolet, Kia, Hyundai and Nissan will be at the free event, where EV owners will answer questions about the environmentally friendly vehicles and even offer test drives.
Team works to protect ice-age era Roan Mountain ecosystem
Mountain-top berry bushes are pushing out the rare species. UNCA and SAHC are trying to push back.
Green Roundup: ASAP’s Farm Tour spotlights local growers
The Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project is gearing up for its annual Farm Tour in September. Also in local green news, a new solar lending program from Sugar Hollow Solar, the West Asheville Garden Stroll spotlights the Horney Heights neighborhood, N.C. Arboretum hosts Monarch Butterfly Day and more.
WNC grapples with Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever
Since January of this year, Buncombe County has received 104 reports of Lyme, says Buncombe County spokesperson Stacey Wood. Of those, 19 have been confirmed cases, five met the definition for suspect or probable cases and 23 are currently under investigation.
Confusion abounds in Buncombe about what trash can be recycled. Here’s why.
Most Buncombe County residents, and most Americans, assume that anything with a little triangular recycling symbol on it is recyclable. But that’s not the case.
Buncombe residents use millions of recyclable plastic bags a year; nearly all end up in landfills, Watchdog finds
“Based on national numbers, we think there are about 132 million plastic shopping bags [used] per year within Buncombe County,” said Anna Alsobrook, the French Broad watershed science and policy manager at MountainTrue.
A look at the candidates running for the Buncombe Soil & Water Conservation District board and why it matters
If you don’t know what a Soil & Water Conservation District supervisor does, you are not alone. Here’s a quick primer on the position, which Buncombe County voters will decide on this fall.
PFAS – forever chemicals linked to serious health issues – found above safe levels at Buncombe, Henderson mobile home parks
Residents of five mobile home parks in Buncombe and Henderson counties rely on water systems that exceed the limit of PFAS compounds, known as forever chemicals, putting them at greater risk of cancer and other illnesses, Asheville Watchdog reports.
Green Roundup: Landowners along Ecusta Trail win $5M claim against federal government
After several years of litigation, a recent court ruling has required the federal government to pay over $5 million to 164 landowners along the proposed 19.4-mile Ecusta Trail. Compensation to individual property owners ranges from $223 to $191,061. The multiuse greenway, scheduled to be completed in 2028, will run along an unused railway corridor connecting […]
From CPP: Forest Service changes Nantahala timber harvest plans in face of lawsuit
The legal complaint, which focused on the 15-acre timber harvest, argued that the Southside Project is inconsistent with the U.S. Forest Service’s new plan to manage North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest and Nantahala National Forest, which the agency released in February 2023.
Longer growing seasons mean more allergy issues for WNC
Asheville-area health professionals are seeing itchy, sniffling allergy sufferers up to nine months of the year.
Brood 19 cicadas emerge in WNC
‘We haven’t really seen any widespread emergence of the periodical cicada so far, but we think it’s really going to be isolated to very small areas in southern Buncombe and around the Arden area and in Fairview,” says Owen.
Big changes on the way at DuPont State Recreational Forest
DuPont State Recreational Forest attracted more than a million visitors in 2023, something nobody expected when the site opened nearly 30 years ago. To keep up with the growth, forest officials are about to enact some major changes.
A-B Tech works to shore up its stormwater infrastructure
When it rains on the campus of Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, stormwater pours off its plethora of parking lots into the neighborhoods, forest and French Broad River below, taking pollutants with it. Now, the community college, which sits at the headwaters of one of three primary tributaries in the Central Asheville Watershed, is working to reduce the volume of rainwater that flows from its campus.
