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Asheville’s New Green Initiative: A Collaborative Effort for Urban Resilience
Asheville is taking significant strides toward enhancing its urban environment through a joint venture that focuses on expanding the city’s tree canopy and tackling urban waste. This initiative is a collaborative effort between GreenWorks, a local climate-focused nonprofit, and Pine Gate Renewables, a solar energy developer headquartered in Asheville.
GreenWorks and Pine Gate Renewables have set their sights on increasing Asheville’s tree cover, which has taken a hit due to previous environmental challenges, including damage from Hurricane Helene. “Thinking about just the trees that we lost,” GreenWorks director A.J. Hardie explained, “You can just look around and see a lot of them have these terminal upper branches where they’re broken off. And so that’s going to be years of regrowth for a lot of the trees that are still standing to recover.”
The impact of Helene was profound, affecting approximately 800,000 acres of forestland in Western North Carolina, with substantial damage in Asheville. Hickory and oak trees were notably hit hard, according to recent research.
GreenWorks has also been actively involved in mapping the city’s urban heat islands, thanks to a grant from NOAA’s National Centers for Climate Information in 2023. This project, which included 18 other cities, enables GreenWorks to pinpoint “hot spots” in Asheville—areas with less tree coverage that correspond with economic disadvantages. “They map pretty clearly onto our lower income areas, and some of our legacy neighborhoods are historically Black communities here that have been deforested,” Hardie noted.
Beyond ecological benefits, increasing tree cover is crucial for improving disaster resilience. “What we saw a lot of during the storm is that those areas where you already don’t have this protection, trees play a vital role in your stormwater system,” Hardie emphasized. “They help with filtering down, runoff, they help with absorbing rain water.”
In support of these efforts, Pine Gate Renewables is contributing significantly. The company will supply 1,000 native trees to GreenWorks, engage in bimonthly river cleanup activities near the River Arts District, and cover half the cost of a new Watershed Outreach Coordinator position. Ben Catt, CEO of Pine Gate, expressed the company’s commitment: “Pine Gate Renewables is proud to partner with Asheville GreenWorks in their mission to create a more sustainable Western North Carolina. We believe in the power of community and building a better tomorrow, so we’re excited to support these programs through funding and by putting our hands to work.”
Editor’s Note: Pine Gate and GreenWorks are business sponsors of BPR. News judgment and editorial decisions are made independently, not on the basis of donor support.
