News From the Land-of-Sky

WNC No. 1 in Renewable Energy

In NCSEA’s 2011 Clean Energy Databook, the WNC region has been crowned No. 1 in the state in renewable energy projects and renewable energy firms per capita.

Matt Raker, vice president of entrepreneurship at AdvantageGreen, stated “Our region is leading the way in North Carolina with more renewable energy capacity than anywhere else in the state. We have more companies per capita operating solar, wind, and hydroelectric power – more than the No. 2 region, which is the Research Triangle of Raleigh.”

Preferred Sustainability Status

As a recipient of HUD’s Sustainable Communities Regional Planning
Grant, our region qualifies for Preferred Sustainability Status (PSS).
This means that for certain HUD discretionary grant programs, applicants
qualify for Preferred Sustainability Status bonus points. For more
information, please contact Carrie at [email protected] or (828)
251-6622 for more details.

Seven-County Regional Bike Plan

Land-of-Sky Regional Council is initiating a Seven-County Regional
Bicycle Plan pending final contract from NCDOT. Funded by an NCDOT
grant, the study will take place over the course of two years and will
look at commuter and recreational bicycling links between the regional
activity centers.

The counties covered by the study will include
Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Madison, Swain, and Transylvania.
The study will build on the information gathered as part of Buncombe
County Greenways Master Plan, Haywood County Bike Plan, and other local
and regional studies.

Land-of-Sky Regional Council, www.landofsky.org