We who love the forests, streams and verdant beauty of our city and region can celebrate briefly today. The decision-makers at UNC Asheville have chosen “to pause action” for six months on the plan to cut down 54 acres of campus forest to make way for the construction of a 5,000-seat soccer stadium .

We who care can now intensify and expand our opposition to this ill-considered plan as we strive to insure “the pause” becomes permanent. This remarkable urban forest must be preserved. Now is the time to unite.

My work as Director of the North Carolina Outward Bound School (1977-1994), and as consultant for Muddy Sneakers, a hands-on environmental program for public school fifth graders, is all about reverence for the natural world that sustains us in life.

My wife and I have walked thes

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