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ASHEVILLE GREENWORKS
  • Pollination Celebration
  • Hard 2 Recycle
  • Upcoming Events
  • Get Involved
    • Internships
    • Sponsorship
    • Volunteer
    • Wish List
    • Youth Environmental Leadership Program >
      • YELP Staff & Alumni
      • How to Apply
  • Donate
  • Programs
    • Bee City USA Asheville >
      • Native Pollinator Plants and Nurseries
      • Pollinator Garden Certification
      • Pollinator Gardens & Meadows Project
    • Education
    • Urban Forestry >
      • Cool Green Asheville
      • Food Tree Project
      • RRI
      • Tree Nursery
      • Treasured Trees >
        • Treasured Trees Calendar
    • Rivers and Roads >
      • Adopt-a-Street
      • Clean Streams Day
      • Cleanup Supply Stations
      • Trash Trout
    • Waste Reduction >
      • Asheville Bag Monster
      • Composting Information
      • Flip Your Lid
      • Plastics Reduction Task Force
      • Recycling Information
  • About
    • Job Openings
    • History
    • Staff/ Contact
  • Newsletter
  • Blog Roll
    • Latest News
    • Mind Your Plastic May
    • Protect our Pollinators
    • Voice for the Trees
  • ThankYou

Cool, Green Asheville
​
Climate Change and Asheville's Urban Forest

yes, I Support a Cool Green Asheville!
Background
The City of Asheville has been a Tree City USA for nearly 40 years. Asheville GreenWorks has been instrumental in helping the City attain and maintain that status by mobilizing volunteers to plant and care for trees throughout its 48-year history.
 
As the city has grown and changed, the focus of GreenWorks’ tree work has evolved from a focus on beautification and greening to a more holistic approach to protecting and enhancing Asheville’s urban forest. With the rapid pace of development in Asheville during the last decade, along with increased local threats of climate change such as extreme heat and flooding, GreenWorks is charting an innovative plan to address climate change at the local level through protecting and enhancing the urban forest.

In October 2019, Davey Resource Group finished the Asheville Urban Tree Canopy Study, commissioned by the City of Asheville's Department of Public Works. The study revealed a 6.4% canopy loss (891 acres) in Asheville between the years 2008 and 2018. The study is just the beginning of developing and strengthening an urban forestry program for the city. Download a copy of the report by clicking the button below.
Download the canopy study
View the recording of the Symposium
Cool Green Asheville
​​A coalition has come together to initiate the Cool Green Asheville campaign, including the following key components:
  • Asheville Climate Action Initiative (ACAI) envisions community-wide participation in meeting the challenges of a changing climate, such as:
    • Urban heat island effect,
    • Increases in the rate and volume of stormwater runoff,
    • Decreases in air and water quality,
    • Increases in energy consumption, and
    • Loss of biological diversity
  • Launch the #KeepAVLCool media campaign
  • Green Climate Infrastructure™ framework implemented through:
    • Urban tree canopy enhancement,
    • Local forest conservation,
    • Urban tree planting,
    • Green roofs,
    • Education and advocacy

 
As a result of the Cool Green Asheville campaign, it is our objective that the City of Asheville maintain its dedication to its urban forest through the following strategic actions:
  1. Adequate staffing, including the addition of an Urban Forester;
  2. Strategic planning, including the development of a comprehensive Urban Forestry Master Plan;
  3. Strengthening of private-public partnerships that engage volunteers, leverage the environmental interests of residents and visitors, and support the City’s urban forestry goals; and
  4. Innovation in vision and implementation, including the completion of an updated Comprehensive Plan, addressing the updating of City Ordinances, strengthening tree protections during development, and adoption of an urban tree canopy policy.
make a gift today

​Asheville GreenWorks is a 501(c)3 non-profit environmental organization, governed by a Board of Directors. Established in 1973, GreenWorks mission is to inspire, equip and mobilize individuals and communities to take care of the places we love to live.
  • Pollination Celebration
  • Hard 2 Recycle
  • Upcoming Events
  • Get Involved
    • Internships
    • Sponsorship
    • Volunteer
    • Wish List
    • Youth Environmental Leadership Program >
      • YELP Staff & Alumni
      • How to Apply
  • Donate
  • Programs
    • Bee City USA Asheville >
      • Native Pollinator Plants and Nurseries
      • Pollinator Garden Certification
      • Pollinator Gardens & Meadows Project
    • Education
    • Urban Forestry >
      • Cool Green Asheville
      • Food Tree Project
      • RRI
      • Tree Nursery
      • Treasured Trees >
        • Treasured Trees Calendar
    • Rivers and Roads >
      • Adopt-a-Street
      • Clean Streams Day
      • Cleanup Supply Stations
      • Trash Trout
    • Waste Reduction >
      • Asheville Bag Monster
      • Composting Information
      • Flip Your Lid
      • Plastics Reduction Task Force
      • Recycling Information
  • About
    • Job Openings
    • History
    • Staff/ Contact
  • Newsletter
  • Blog Roll
    • Latest News
    • Mind Your Plastic May
    • Protect our Pollinators
    • Voice for the Trees
  • ThankYou