Photo Credit: Valerie Holstein
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This Tuesday: Buncombe County Commissioners Meeting 8/19/25--arrive by 4:30 PM
Photo Credit Dr. Susan Clark Muntean
Key Email Addresses, Non-Environmental Talking Points, Link to Submit Public Comments:
Email Addresses
Key Email Addresses, Non-Environmental Talking Points, Link to Submit Public Comments:
Email Addresses
Save the UNCA woods! Join over 14,500 concerned citizens, UNCA students, faculty, and alumni who have already signed the petition and make your voice heard
Sign here!
What’s Happening
What’s Happening
UNC Asheville’s (UNCA) plan to develop approximately 45 acres of its "urban forest"—a cherished green space at the heart of campus—has ignited widespread public concern. In July 2025, the UNC Board of Governors approved a 99-year lease to a private developer for a $250 million stadium district, which includes market-rate housing, retail, and a 5,000-seat soccer stadium WLOS+1.
Why It Matters
Why It Matters
Ecological Importance: The woods serve as vital wildlife habitat, ecological corridor, and site for environmental learning. Biology professors like David Clarke emphasize how crucial this area is for field-based education and as part of a larger ecological network WLOS.
Community Value: Students, faculty, and Asheville residents use the woods for recreation, mental wellness, and research. It’s a rare green space in an urban landscape MountainTrueWLOS.
Transparency and Process Issues: Community members report limited transparency—forest testing and tree removal began over the winter with little advance notice, and environmental impact studies remain unreleased MountainTrueWLOSReddit.
Should universities be allowed to run or host businesses that aren't required to pay land property taxes?
UNCA has other land holdings that are sitting idle and have already been cleared. Why destroy one of the last urban forests in Asheville?
UNCA's Urban Forest is a habitat for many species and a raptor nesting ground
UNCA's woods have a storied and fascinating history worth preserving and some folks are buried here
The forest is an amazing place to enjoy or study plants and fungi within Asheville City limits and walking distance from UNCA
Community Resistance
Community Resistance
A coalition of students, faculty, organizations like MountainTrue, and concerned residents has mobilized. They’ve organized rallies, board presentations, and public meetings. In early August, Friends of Save the Woods supporters packed the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners meeting for a public hearing Instagram Facebook.
RPReplay_Final1749905675.movApprox. 40% of trees in Buncombe county were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Helene, per AVL Watchdog. It's more important than ever to save the trees we have left
The woods are cherished by UNCA students, faculty and staff, families, and the community
We believe UNCA's Urban Forest is of greater value as a resource to educate its students than as developed land
We believe the public should have a say in deciding how this land is used
Many students are drawn to UNCA because of its high quality natural areas
Alternatives & Next Steps
Alternatives & Next Steps
Advocates urge UNCA to explore existing cleared land—like the long-vacant former Health Adventure site—as alternatives to destroying forested acreage MountainTruesaveuncawoods.org. Conservationists are calling on university leadership to pause development and fully engage the community, release environmental assessments, and consider long-term ecological and educational value over short-term economic gain WLOSMountainTruesaveuncawoods.org.
Statement by the Friends of the Woods
Statement by the Friends of the Woods
UNC Asheville’s 45-acre urban forest has been a cherished community resource and wildlife habitat for decades. It’s now under threat of development, despite its status as one of the last remaining urban forests in Asheville.
On January 13th, 2025, with no advance notice to faculty, staff, students, or community members, a mini excavator began clearing tracks as wide as traffic lanes in the UNCA urban forest. In this destructive process, animal habitats were disturbed, long-term ecological research plots maintained by UNCA professors and students were destroyed, and the many Asheville community members who walk the trails daily were alarmed at the sudden and shocking development. Just a week later, heavy boring equipment arrived and began drilling to assess the sustainability of specific locations for construction.
The lack of transparency from UNCA has raised questions and anxiety from a wide range of stakeholders including UNCA students, faculty, staff, neighbors, local businesses, and citizens of Asheville. We understand and accept that this land is owned by UNCA and may be used in a variety of ways. However, we believe it currently provides such a rare and unique range of benefits both to UNCA and to the city of Asheville that any construction on the land would lead to a dire loss for the community and a detriment to Asheville’s climate resilience. Following the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, which damaged or destroyed an estimated 40% of trees in Buncombe County, protecting this forest is of even greater importance to our community at large.
UNCA states that it cares about maintaining this “critical part of the green infrastructure that makes up the city and campus ecosystem” (UNCA website). But, as longtime stakeholders in the fate of this land and unrecognized stewards of the land until now, we are gravely concerned about the direction these activities are headed. Furthermore, part of the university’s vision for the future includes deeper community engagement and greater connectivity to the city of Asheville. Through that lens, the lack of transparency around the project is concerning to many community members.
We understand that UNCA is in a difficult situation and is seeking creative solutions to weather the current financial crisis. As a coalition of neighbors representing hundreds of interested supporters, we hope to work in partnership to develop a long-term plan for the use of the UNCA urban forest that benefits the university and our community, aligns with the Five Points Neighborhood Plan, and honors the City of Asheville’s vision for investing in climate resilience and supporting healthy communities.
We are eager to collaborate with university leadership to explore how we can work together to advance the university’s mission while ensuring the long-term sustainability of green spaces like the UNCA urban forest.
The Friends of the Woods respectfully and urgently ask that UNCA PAUSE ALL WORK until it takes measures to listen to and address the cares and concerns of affected stakeholders, including UNCA students, faculty, and the entire Asheville community.
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