This coverage is made possible through a partnership between BPR and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.
After a long hiatus, the city of Asheville restarted community engagement around the Urban Forest Master Plan. In November, the city launched the community engagement phase of the project with a public survey asking the Asheville community for input on how they feel about the city’s trees.
The city says the goal of the master plan is to provide “a roadmap of community-influenced recommendations to support a sustainable, resilient urban forest that thrives into the future.”
Asheville Urban Forester Keith Aitken said at a meeting with the Helene People & Environment Recovery Board on Monday that this planning process will outline larger goals for the urban forest, and create a larger base of support among officials and the public for incorporating urban forestry into city planning.
Before Helene hit, the city was well into its planning process. A 2022 tree canopy analysis was 90% complete, and the commission had already finished an assessment of invasive tree species on public property. Last fall, the city started a public tree inventory. But while Asheville’s Urban Forestry Commission had big plans, nature’s plans for the region skewed in a different direction.
“In September 2024, of course, the storm hit and everything was kind of put on hold until we got to this point right now,” Aitken said at the meeting.
The commission is only looking at tree damage within city limits, since their jurisdiction is the city of Asheville. The worst tree blowdowns, he said, are elsewhere.
“There wasn't a really defined area where those trees came down,” he said. “A little bit in Biltmore Park, but once again, that's in the city limits and most of it's in the county.”
Trees can help cities build resilience to climate-fueled heat extremes. For years, Asheville has been working to increase tree canopy cover, especially in historically underserved neighborhoods where there tends to be less green space.
The baseline 2022 data show some inequities. Asheville is about 56% covered by tree canopy, but six neighborhoods, mostly close to the city center and along heavily-trafficked roads in rapidly growing south Asheville, are below 30%.The city had lost nearly 900 acres of trees between 2008 and 2018 because of increased development, but this turned around before Helene. The city’s 2022 Urban Tree Canopy Assessment showed significant increases in canopy cover across the city.
Since September, the city has been working on the first phase of the relaunch which includes getting stakeholders on board and setting up the website. The survey will be available through March. In January of 2026, the city will hold a virtual meeting about the plan, followed by another workshop in March. Aiken told the Helene People and Environment Recovery Board that while most people who’ve taken the survey are in their 60s, he hopes to engage with the city school system in order to prioritize youth engagement.
Through April, Aitken said, the city will continue research on tree canopy coverage, tree species inventory, the impact of climate change on tree species, prior urban forestry efforts, and how to integrate planning with broader city initiatives. The post-Helene tree inventory will kick off in January, with a new tree canopy analysis to come next summer.
