Save Beaucatcher Mountain

We support the Beaucatcher Greenway. But the new trailhead construction plans will cause irreversible harm to one of the last wild spaces with old growth trees in the Asheville city limits. In addition to the 82 trees currently slated to be cut, construction will damage root structures and harm or kill even more trees. For eight months community members have suggested viable options that accomplish the same goals faster, cheaper, with less environmental damage, and with community support instead of opposition. Asheville Parks refuses to conduct any environmental impact assessment by qualified professionals. We request that City Council ask the Tree Commission and a local entity with forest ecology expertise to propose design modifications, lessen environmental damage, and make the results of this evaluation public. Ample time remains for the city to modify its plans and prevent irreversible environmental damage. Asheville is not the kind of place where dozens of trees are cut down and many more are harmed in the name of preserving a greenspace. Asheville is not the kind of place where city planners bulldoze through damaging, unpopular projects over the valid and reasonable concerns of the public. Our city is better than this.