Elizabeth Nesbitt, a junior at Western Carolina University and president of the school’s Student Environmental Health Association, speaks with Xpress about reducing waste, encouraging others to take concrete actions to help the environment and setting personal priorities.
Elias Goldstein is a senior at Warren Wilson College and co-leads the school’s Community Oriented Regeneration Efforts work crew. Here, he speaks with Xpress about his college’s sustainability shortcomings, the need for activists to avoid burnout and the importance of combatting systemic racism.
During an April 19 briefing, the county Board of Commissioners heard a presentation by the nonprofit Trust for Public Land about the feasibility of issuing $70 million in bonds for housing and land conservation, which in this case would require approval through referendums of Buncombe voters.
Critics of the rule change dispute that the bear population is growing uncontrollably. And they particularly oppose one of the hunting methods: using dogs to chase a bear to corner the animal, or chase it up a tree, and then it is shot.
Drake Elder Bruner, a senior at Brevard College, speaks with Xpress about food waste, gardening and building community.
A study conducted by MountainTrue found an average of 19 microplastic particles — pieces smaller than 5 millimeters, formed by the breakdown of larger plastics — per liter of water in local river systems. Exposure to microplastics has been tied to allergic reactions and other health impacts in humans, as well as negative effects on fish.
The Asheville-based author discusses the book he’s been working toward his entire career.
A recently completed study, commissioned by the French Broad River Partnership in 2019 and led by economist Steve Ha of Western Carolina University, sets the total economic value of the French Broad and its tributaries at $3.8 billion per year. By comparison, the Blue Ridge Parkway that also runs through Asheville creates about $1.3 billion in economic output per year.
Xpress speaks with Cora Wingate, a junior at Warren Wilson College, about her environmental efforts and how they differ from previous generations.
Xpress speaks with Tyler Pesce, a junior at Mars Hill University and president of the school’s Environmental Action Club, about her her role with EAC and the ways she stays motivated to combat climate change.
The pending approval of a U.S. Forest Service plan for the roughly 1 million acres that the Nantahala and Pisgah national forests cover in Western North Carolina is likely to influence whether a large swath of the Craggy Mountains should be open for timber harvesting or managed for recreation.
According to a presentation available before the meeting of Tuesday, March 15, the county hopes to “impact 2,800-3,150 affordable housing units by 2030,” including 1,500-1,850 new rental units affordable for households making 80% or less of the area median income ($42,100 for an individual or $60,100 for a family of four).
The scenic roadway saw 15.9 million recreation visits in 2021, up from about 14 million in 2020; the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which also includes land in Western North Carolina, was in second place with over 14.1 million visits.
The Southern Environmental Law Center plans to file an objection over acreage perceived as being left at risk under U.S. Forest Service plan for Western North Carolina’s national forests.
Although the U.S. Forest Service has recommended that most of Big Ivy be managed for conservation or recreation, approximately 4,000 acres in the North Fork and Snowball Mountain areas has been flagged for potential logging.
On Jan. 21, the U.S. Forest Service released a final draft plan that will cover over 1 million acres of public land in Western North Carolina for the next 15-20 years. Although public comment on the plan is closed, people and organizations who previously submitted comment are eligible to file objections through Monday, March 21.
Advocates say community members voiced concerns with no factual basis about federal Wild and Scenic designation for river in Yancey and Mitchell counties.
NC groups initially united behind a federal designation to protect a stretch of the Nolichucky River. But fears voiced in Tennessee put a snag in those plans.
A proposed doubling of Weaverville’s water treatment capacity has met with cost concerns from town officials and environmental worries from some local residents.
Among the largest allocations are $12.2 million to accelerate the purchase and opening of Pisgah View State Park in Buncombe County, $7.2 million for the removal of hazardous dams in WNC and $5 million to upgrade the city of Hendersonville’s wastewater treatment plant.
As a professor of environmental education at Warren Wilson College, Mallory McDuff is experienced in teaching the next generation about environmentalism. “Climate is front and center for them,” she says. With the Dec. 7 publication of her book Our Last Best Act: Planning for the End of Our Lives to Protect the People and Places […]
