Hemlocks are an important part of urban forests in western North Carolina. Maintaining hemlocks as part of the urban tree canopy contributes to all the benefits that urban trees provide, from storm water mitigation and reducing air pollution to sequestering carbon and reducing the urban heat island effect, and because they are evergreen, hemlocks perform these functions year-round. That is why the Hemlock Restoration Initiative is honored to be a co-host for the upcoming symposium, “Climate Change and Asheville’s Urban Forest,” presented by Asheville GreenWorks.
Climate Change and Asheville’s Urban Forest, with event MC Helen Chickering of BPR’s All Things Considered, will provide a forum for sharing the results of the City of Asheville’s recently completed Urban Forest Canopy Study, conducted by Davey Resource Group, analyzing the change in canopy cover in the city between 2008 and 2018. The symposium’s keynote speaker, Cindi Sullivan, the executive director of TreesLouisville in Kentucky, will share stories from how the City of Louisville is addressing similar challenges related to tree cover and the urban heat island effect. A team from NASA DEVELOP will present on the preliminary findings of a study they are conducting on the relationships between Asheville’s tree canopy cover and socio-economic conditions.
Finally, a panel composed of City of Asheville Sustainability Director Amber Weaver, Furman University professor Geoffrey Habron, Urban Forestry Commission chair Stephen Hendricks, Asheville GreenWorks executive director Dawn Chávez, Ashley McDermott from the Sunrise Movement and a representative from the public health profession (TBD) will discuss the impacts of extreme heat events related to climate change and how each panelist views the urban forest as key in addressing these effects.
The event will be held on Thursday, November 14th, 5:00–7:30 p.m. at AB Tech in the Ferguson Auditorium. The event will open with a networking reception with drink provided by Noble Cider and snacks compliments of Whole Foods.
Tickets are free, but seats are limited so reserve your spot today. If all tickets have been reserved, please join the waitlist. To reserve your spot. learn more, and see a list of all the event sposors and co-hosts, visit: https://asheville-greenworks.networkforgood.com/events/16376-climate-change-and-asheville-s-urban-forest
We hope you can join us for this special event.
Photo by Asheville GreenWorks