An online public hearing to review the draft permit, originally scheduled for Jan. 20, was pushed back to mid-April. For environmentalists, the move may be a blessing in disguise.
Tag: MountainTrue
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Regional businesses share success with nonprofits
For many WNC nonprofits, business support and partnerships comprise a significant part of their budgets. And while Asheville has a comparatively large number of nonprofits per capita, area businesses rise to the need.
Green in brief: WNC shows air quality improvement, AG Stein awards $340K to area environmental work
According to a new study by Filterbuy, an air filter industry website, the median air quality index in the Asheville metropolitan area was 15.3% better over the period from 2015-2019 compared with the period from 2005-2009. The Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton and Greenville, S.C., metros also showed big improvements.
Green in brief: Local governments fund community solar, Asheville School conducts first in-city deer hunt
Together, the city of Asheville and Buncombe County approved over $11 million in funding to install roughly 7 megawatts of solar power at public facilities and area schools. The projects are anticipated to save the governments and local schools roughly $650,000 in electricity costs in the first year and more than $27 million over the installations’ 30-year operational life.
Green in brief: Small firms claim exclusion from local public solar process, Forest Service OKs Buck Project
Mike Diethelm, president and founder of Asheville-based SolFarm Solar Co., says a $10 million construction bond requirement for would-be bidders on the solar projects “knocks out so many local medium and small solar businesses, which we have a lot of in this town, and only opens it up to the big guys.”
National Forest Service seeks public input on Pisgah-Nantahala management
On Feb. 14, the U.S. Forest Service kicked off a 90-day comment period on the long-awaited draft of a new plan for the forests, set to take effect in 2021 and guide the service’s management approach over the next 10-15 years. Comment online, by mail and at public meetings throughout WNC ends on Thursday, May 14.
Letter: Of vines and the river
“On Swannanoa River Road from Biltmore Avenue — especially near the Antique Tobacco Barn and on down toward Tunnel Road — the overgrowth over the river is a sorry sight indeed.”
Michael Franti & Spearhead stage a benefit for MountainTrue and French Broad Riverkeeper
Ultimately, Franti chooses to lend his name and support to efforts backed by passion: “At the end of the day, it’s just [about] finding people who are passionate about the same things that I am, and who are doing things that have local and immediate impact.”
Rising Appalachia plays an Earth Day benefit concert for clean water
“We were activists before we were musicians,” says Chloe Smith. “So there’s always been a natural instinct for us to be aware of what’s going on in our surroundings and take part in movements and missions to make the world a better place.”
Screen Scene: Local film news
The No Man’s Land Film Festival heads to New Belgium, while the Grail screens a documentary on rock climbing in the Carolinas.
Shane Benedict leads Green River trash pickup
Started in 2011, the Green River Spring Cleaning has grown every year, with ever more participants paddling in to cover the Lower Green and the Upper Green. “Our goal is to work the entire Green River, from Lake Summit to Lake Adger, about 30 miles,” Benedict says. “That’s a lot, but I believe we can do it.”
Green in brief: Duke wins downtown substation OK; local conservationists honored
Located at 252 Patton Ave. and 28 Knoxville Place, the new facility will feature a gas-insulated design that gives it a smaller footprint than a conventional, air-insulated substation. Duke representatives estimate that substation construction will be completed by the end of 2020.
Screen scene: Local film news
The NC Film Critics Association’s Ken Hanke Memorial Tar Heel Award goes to Lucas Hedges, The Purple Onion screens documentaries about hemlock preservation and more.
Activists, faith leaders hold 10-day fast and prayer for climate change
“We have been shouting about climate change for a long time, but now, we feel like it’s going to take more messaging in a different way,” says Avram Friedman of the Canary Coalition, a Sylva-based environmental activism group. “We’re showing people that we’re so committed to this, it’s so important, that I’m willing to fast for 10 days to get this message across.”
Letter: No ‘slippery numbers’ in water quality data
“To inquire, ‘Is this stream clean?’ is a valid endeavor, and together we can take legitimate steps to answer it.”
Letter: MountainTrue follows the data on river’s health
“I have to follow the data, and the data shows that, despite great progress, we still have a pollution problem on the French Broad and that it’s not always safe to be out on the water.”
MountainTrue report assesses health of region’s waterways
State of the French Broad River Watershed 2018 summarizes a bevy of data from the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, the Black Mountain-based Environmental Quality Institute and MountainTrue’s own monitoring into a single holistic measurement for waterway cleanliness.
Invading Appalachia: Non-native plants introduced by gardeners threaten WNC ecosystems
Some commonly used gardening and landscaping plants cause big problems for WNC’s ecosystem.
Letter: Local government should better fund public transit
“We are calling for local government to ambitiously fund public transit in order to make our system run on time, all day and more often.”
Screen scene: Local film news
Pack Library celebrates the Chinese New Year with Stephen Chow’s “The Mermaid,” Mars Hill University kicks off its Reel Appalachia film series with a Ralph Stanley documentary and more.
Wildlife officials and advocates talk trash — and bears
Municipal officials, wildlife experts and WNC residents talk bear-resistant trash cans, bird feeders and educational initiatives designed to protect citizens and wildlife living in close proximity to each other.