Opinion: UNCA undermines Asheville's climate goals with urban forest development plans
Opinion: UNCA undermines Asheville’s climate goals with urban forest development plans
Heather Rayburn | Guest Opinion
My alma mater and long-time neighbor, the University of North Carolina Asheville, has a moral and ethical duty to operate within the bounds of our community values. As taxpayers, we have a right to hold them accountable.
The university faces significant financial challenges. The national college-age population is shrinking and attitudes toward the value of a college degree are shifting. Additionally, UNCA has experienced a revolving door of leadership.
The newest chancellor, Kimberly van Noort, a transplant from Nebraska by way of Eastern North Carolina, announced that UNCA plans to develop all of its “Millennial Campus” properties, including a beloved 45-acre urban forest, 60-year-old Asheville Botanical Garden and woods around Chestnut Ridge. (She also announced a new environmental science major. You can’t make this stuff up.)
To tighten their belts, van Noort and UNCA board of trustees made deep cuts to departments, faculty and staff. They also intend to shift course offerings more toward science and technology.
In January, UNCA started cutting roads, tagging trees, and boring holes in the forest. The community mobilized fast to form Save The Woods (www.saveUNCAwoods.org). For decades, this land has served as a public park, outdoor classroom, research lab, wildlife sanctuary and vital carbon sink, cooling the city. To date, the chancellor has refused to meet with the community.
UNCA’s board is dominated by individuals from real estate, finance and construction — industries that often see undeveloped land as wasted potential rather than essential to climate resilience, biodiversity and community well-being. They believe building more housing will attract more students and newfaculty. However, what draws people to Asheville is nature, and nature is hurting.
Young people are deeply concerned about this. I know several who say they won’t bring children into a world where climate change is ignored by those in power. UNCA is making their case. Across town, the board at Warren Wilson College voted unanimously to place 600 acres of their land into a conservation easement. In contrast, UNCA quietly had its greenspaces designated as “Millennial Campus” properties by a board in Raleigh. This legal distinction for UNC public colleges allows the university to lease “Millennial Campus” land to private developers who build dorms, hotels or other facilities. The university keeps the profits and can funnel them back into their other “Millennial Campus” properties.
UNCA is now financially incentivized to destroy the very thing that sets it apart from all other universities.To pitch deforestation, van Noort declared “we’re back on our feet after Helene.” In what reality? WNC’s forests have been devastated. Sprawl is not innovation. It’s the most regressive option available.
UNCA’s approach actively undermines Asheville’s climate goals. It’s damaging its relationship with the community and will hurt their reputation if they don’t pivot. (Pop quiz: You want to major in environmental science at a school that walks the walk. Answer: Warren Wilson or UNCA?)
If UNCA truly requires more housing, then build upward, not outward. Repurpose underutilized spaces on campus, such as parking lots and low buildings, instead of destroying forests. This may incur higher initial costs, but it’s the right thing to do and keeps students in the heart of campus. If the school can’t afford to build sustainably, it shouldn’t build at all.
However, UNCA already has a cleared space for new development — the vacant lot on Broadway they purchased years ago from another misguided board. I’m talking about the Health Adventure, a lovely place for kids’ field trips. They couldn’t be happy with what they had, and they clear-cut, too, in order to expand. Their plan failed so spectacularly that Health Adventure no longer exists — a terrible loss to area kids.
It’s an outdated and dangerous assumption that destroying habitat is the answer to financial struggles.I’ll add that including the Botanical Gardens on the development list is a direct slap in the face to our city and a demonstration of how little respect the UNCA board has for the six decades of work done there to preserve and showcase our native plant heritage.
In 1980 developers wanted to raze 11 blocks of downtown to build a mall. In 2007, Progress Energy wanted to put an oil-burning plant on the French Broad River. That went against our community values and we stopped it. We can do it again, but we must act now. The stakes are too high to let UNCA do more damage. Visit saveUNCAwoods.org and take action.
More: Opinion: UNC Asheville’s urban forest has potential to provide more value to community
More: Opinion: UNC Asheville urban forest must be preserved as a living laboratory
Heather Rayburn is a native of Asheville, an avid butterflyer, and a member of Save The Woods.