Category 4 - Environmental Protection and Enhancements: Asheville Urban Trail The Asheville Urban Trail is an art museum without walls, a walk through time, and a glimpse into the history of this beautiful city. At thirty different stations on the trail, walkers can stop to learn about the various buildings, sites and people that have played integrals roles in Asheville's history. As walkers pass the stations along the 1.7-mile long trail, pink granite markers in the sidewalks display the logo of the time period and guide pedestrians along the way. The trail has five unique historic periods for visitors to enjoy: The Gilded Age, The Frontier Period, The Times of Thomas Wolf, Era of Civic Pride and Age of Diversity. (click to enlarge)     Category 4 - Environmental Protection and Enhancements: Mingo Tract In collaboration with two state-sponsored preservation trust funds, the N.C. Ecosystem Enhancement Program (EEP) acquired the Mingo Tract in 2003, a land purchase holding more than 5,600 acres of mountains, waterfalls and plant and animal habitat that will be used as compensatory mitigation for transportation-infrastructure improvements. The $21.5-million acquisition, located in Caldwell County, includes about 14 miles of streams, which supply water for seven municipalities and preserves the tract from future development. The Ecosystem Enhancement Program (EEP) is designed to provide compensatory mitigation of the highest quality to offset development, in order to support both the vitality of North Carolina's natural resources and natural growth in the state. EEP's mitigation program addresses environmental impacts proactively by investing funds allocated by the NCDOT in environmental protection prior to development projects. The NCDOT, the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are the sponsoring partners for EEP, which is housed in NCDENR. EEP also embraces partnerships that work to create streamlined government, eliminating duplicative resources and embracing the expertise of all shareholders affected by its processes. EEP further partners with the private sector on two fronts to offset unavoidable environmental impacts. The program's unprecedented alliance with local and regional land trusts across the state promotes land acquisition and open-space protection. EEP also does business with more than 20 private biological-engineering and mitigation-banking companies on wetlands restoration and enhancement programs across the state. (click to enlarge)     Back to Biennial Awards Homepage