Statements of Support

The Blue Ridge Audubon Chapter urges UNCA to protect their urban woods, which provide important wildlife and bird habitat. This urban woodland has been shown to host over 100 bird species and includes the nesting sites for Great Horned Owls and Red-shouldered Hawks. Additionally, as an increasingly rare urban woodland, this forest plays a crucial role in providing relief from urban heat-sinks that exacerbate the effects of a warming climate on urban areas and their inhabitants--including both birds and humans . 

The University of North Carolina-Asheville has been a key partner with the Asheville community and Blue Ridge Audubon for many years now, and our community has benefitted from both your partnerships with local businesses and organizations and from UNCA graduates bringing new entrepreneurship and industry to the local area.  By and large, this added commerce has been able to find a synthesis of creating local job opportunities while affording protection of our natural resources. It would be a shame if UNCA now squandered this community's goodwill by yielding to pressure to push short-term development at the expense of its long-term reputation for community stewardship. We urge the Chancellor to reconsider development and commit to protecting these woods.

Asheville's Chapter of the Feminist Bird Club urges UNCA to protect their urban woods, which provide important wildlife and bird habitat. Over the last 20 years, a friend of The Woods, an avid birder, has recorded over 100 resident, migratory, and seasonal birds in these woods. All are now threatened by the university's plans to clear the woods for the development. We urge the Chancellor to reconsider development and commit to protecting these woods.

Our hope remains that the space is left substantially undisturbed and that careful steps to protect the habitats of our wild residents are considered and facilitated as much as possible. Or, as one of our UNC-system alumni phrased it, “There may be a solution that is still lucrative and beneficial to the university that does not further alienate UNCA from Asheville at large and irreparably tarnish its reputation and perception, but we will never know if we cannot have an honest dialogue.” So, while we hear that the University seeks to empower and strengthen student success in any development plans/ideas, this “student success” and “benefit” is completely overshadowed if student voices, including our alumni, are not taken seriously into account. Ultimately, this resolution comes from a genuine place of wanting to foster improved communication, transparency, and understanding between our diverse community and University leaders so we can create a mutually beneficial and environmentally conscious path forward. Thus, we sincerely hope our continued pleas as representative voices of the student body are heeded and respected as conversations progress in the coming weeks lest members of our community and the wildlife of this forest be disregarded and/or callously harmed.
Full UNCA Student Government Association Resolution 

Mountain Voices Alliance strongly urges UNCA decision makers to give serious reconsideration to the proposed development of the urban forested area in our community. While the University might see short-term financial gains, the countless species of existing flora and fauna impacted by the destruction will be forever. In addition, the neighborhoods, residents, students, faculty and staff will lose a much beloved natural treasure. Sadly, urban forests have become an endangered species in their own right - and in the wake of the recent destruction/damage to tens of thousands of trees in Asheville/Buncombe county due to Hurricane Helene, our loss has already been monumental. And last, but definitely not least, can we please consider the climate crisis that is only accelerating with every forest - large or small - that is destroyed? There are countless beneficial reasons for this forest to remain intact. Can we say the same for the proposed demolition and development? There must be a solution that could be a win-win. Taking the time to consider thoughtful alternatives could yield meaningful results.

As a proud neighborhood bar rooted in the heart of 5 Points, we at Little Jumbo strongly urge UNCA to protect the irreplaceable urban woods that help define the unique character and livability of our community. These woods are more than just trees—they are a vital wildlife and bird habitat, a cherished green space, and a key part of the neighborhood’s identity and charm. The university’s proposed development threatens not only this fragile ecosystem, but also the sense of place that makes this area special.

Beyond the potential loss of this invaluable natural asset, we also anticipate increased traffic congestion and parking challenges associated with the development. As a local business deeply invested in the well-being of our neighborhood, we respectfully call on the Chancellor, Board of Trustees, and Board of Regents as well as the North Carolina General Assembly to commit to preserving one of Asheville’s last remaining urban forests for the benefit of our environment, the spirit of our neighborhood, and the future of our city.

The students of UNC Asheville and community members call on the administration of UNC Asheville to halt its development of the “woods”. The “woods” in question is the 45 acre property owned by the university in Vivian Avenue and 220 W.T. Weaver Boulevard. In a turbulent political climate filled with federal cuts to D.E.I initiatives and all sorts of programs at universities, the plans to develop the “woods” only add salt to the wound. Students, staff, and community members are all overwhelmed and worn out by the insanity and chaos caused by the current presidential administration. For decades, students, professors and community members alike have enjoyed all the benefits that the “woods” provide. UNCA professors conduct research in the “woods” area with their students. Children in the community can recall countless hours spent playing in the “woods”. The students, adults and elderly folks find a safe space to walk, run and exercise along with their pets. The plans to develop the “woods” come at such an erroneous time just after the devastation of Hurricane Helene. It is estimated that almost 40% of the woods in Asheville were wiped out by the hurricane and the community is still recovering post-Helene. The “woods” are the last urban woods in Asheville that provide many ecological services to the organisms and humans such as a buffer for tropical storms and a filtration system. Urban forests, like the “woods” cool down the city amidst rising temperatures caused by global warming. Without the “woods” it's very likely the next hurricane will be much more devastating than Helene. Preserving the “woods” would demonstrate UNCA’s commitment to sustainability which can be found on the website of the universities.

Full Statement: Spring 2025 UNCA Student Organization Open Letter to the UNCA Administration 

Asheville Jazz Collective was happy to play a musical benefit to help save the UNCA woods. It was our way to show our support for this vital community resource. We respect all of the people involved and were honored to lend our talents to help raise funds for this cause. Chancellor Van Noort, please take the finality of this decision into account: once the forest is gone; it’s gone. 

Representing one of Asheville’s oldest communities, the Five Points Neighborhood Association is deeply invested in preserving the unique character and environmental integrity of our area. The UNCA woods, located within our neighborhood, is one of the last urban forests in Asheville. It represents the southern terminus of a crucial wildlife corridor from the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is a vital green space, a living classroom, and a cherished public good. 

These 45 acres of woods absorb millions of gallons of stormwater per year and are a heat sink reducing the urban heat island effect for our city. They are home to bears and trillium, box turtles and great horned owls. At least one hundred species of birds have been observed in the woods. The woods are a refuge and a sanctuary. The devastation of Tropical Storm Helene graphically illustrated to all of us here the key necessity of protecting our tree canopy to buffer against further climate catastrophe.

We recognize the forest's role in supporting biodiversity, offering educational opportunities, and providing a natural respite for citizens and students alike. The proposed development threatens to disrupt all of these benefits, replacing a mature ecosystem with development that could instead be situated on already-cleared land owned by UNCA.

We urge UNCA to utilize alternative development sites that do not compromise the ecological and social value of the woods. Preserving this precious and irreplaceable community treasure aligns with UNCA’s own stated commitments to ecological stewardship, Asheville’s tree canopy goal, and the interests of a broad coalition of stakeholders– students, faculty, and community members.

The Tree Protection Task Force (TPTF) for Asheville and Buncombe County is opposed to the development of the 45-acre property at the corner of W.T. Weaver Boulevard and Broadway on the UNC Asheville campus.  This property is one of the largest and last remaining intact urban forests within city limits and as such, has significant value to locals, UNC Asheville students and professors, and is a visible component of the city’s proclamation as a Tree City USA.  In addition, the parcel provides ecosystem services at a cost that would be prohibitive to duplicate by human-made technologies.
Opinion in Asheville Citizen Times: UNC Asheville urban forest must be preserved as a living laboratory 

Humans need green spaces, in particular forests.  It would be a tragic mistake for UNCA to clear cut their mature, precious urban forest. It is a place of refuge for students, faculty, community and of course all the critters that have called it home for decades. Aside from the blow to local environmental resilience that clear cutting this forest would cause, forests provide real, proven health benefits to humans. Please, UNCA, come to your senses. Literally. Come sit in the forest. Smell, Listen, Touch. Honor what makes UNCA special. Let's find another, healthier, more sane solution. 

WNC Sierra Club requests the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees to continue protection of the 45 acres of urban woods on its campus. The Woods maintain flora and fauna. They help protect against the rising Heat Sink that our city is developing. Asheville loses tree canopy each year and with the devastation of Helene, we are estimated to have lost 40%.

We strongly recommend that UNCA continue protecting this valuable property.