By the bark: Josh Kelly looks to the future of WNC’s forests

What’s the future of Western North Carolina’s public woodlands, particularly the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests? Public lands biologist Josh Kelly has worked with the Asheville-based nonprofit, WNC Alliance, since 2011, helping determine the answer. And with the U.S. Forest Service updating its plans for Pisgah and Nantahala for the first time in 20 years, the […]

Burdens or bunkum? Proposed laws could destroy WNC’s water quality

To most Western North Carolinians, it might seem obvious that protecting access to clean water should be a top priority for our elected leaders. Besides making up 60 percent of the human body and being essential for drinking, irrigation and fisheries, water is a vital regional asset for recreation and scenic beauty.

But even putting all that aside, it’s also one of our most powerful economic engines. …

Green Drinks looks at how environmen­t will fare in new, red NC legislatur­e

The recently reconstituted Green Drinks enviro-social hour convened at Craggy Brewery Wednesday evening, Jan. 12, to learn about what’s at stake for the environment in the new North Carolina legislative session. Republicans have assumed a majority in both the state House and the Senate in this session — something that hasn’t happened here since Reconstruction.