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WNC Vitality Index (On-Screen Version) Western North Carolina Vitality Index Working together through conservation to map a healthy and prosperous future Disclaimers The use of trade or firm names in this publication is for reader information and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture of any product or service. Maps included are for general reference purposes only and contain no legal representation. January 25, 2016 Table of Contents Click title or page number to navigate to desired page Table of Contents Click section header to navigate 6 Western North Carolina Vitality Index Overview 7 About the Mountain Resources Commission 9 Executive Summary 11 Mountain Topography and Geomorphology 92 Current Population 94 Historical Population Trends 96 Median Age 14 Geology Overview 97 Change in Median Age 16 Rock Types 28 Faults and Earthquakes 32 Mineral Resources 98 Historical Perspective 40 Mountainside Slope 99 Human Health 42 Soil Systems 100 Children’s Health 102 Physicians and Nurses per 10,000 People 104 Access to Healthy Food 45 Temperature Variability 106 Asthma Occurrence 46 Precipitation Variability 107 Obesity and Diabetes 47 Precipitation Patterns 109 Cancer Incidence 50 Climate Change 110 Deaths from Heart Disease, Stroke, Cancer, and Diabetes 54 River Basins 112 Food Security 59 Water Quality 114 Food Deserts 116 Food Assistance Needs 119 Local Food Availability 61 Air Quality 121 Food Education 63 Airborne Particles 65 Nitrogen Oxides and Sulfur Dioxide Emissions 123 Workforce Educational Attainment 67 Carbon Cycle 69 Carbon Storage 126 Arts and Culture Overview 70 Biodiversity 128 Spiritual Values 72 Classifying Communities 132 Creative Occupations 74 Lands Managed for Conservation 135 Craft Heritage 79 Significant Natural Heritage Areas 137 Music Heritage 80 Ecosystem Threats 140 83 4 Table of Contents Click section header to navigate 147 Land Cover 193 Income 148 Land Use per Capita and Change 196 Poverty 151 Forest Fragmentation 152 Conversion to Developed Land 153 Timberland Ownership 198 Employment 155 Parcel Density 201 Tourism 156 Housing Overview 207 Goods-Producing Industries 158 Housing Unit Density 208 Manufacturing 160 Property Tax Rate 210 Large and Small Businesses 161 Seasonal Homes in Western North Carolina 162 Sustainable Affordable Housing 164 Foreclosures in Western North Carolina 212 Agriculture Overview 214 Total Farms 219 Farm Size 166 Transportation 221 The Future of Farming in Western North Carolina 167 Roadless Areas 223 Forest Products and Manufacturing 168 Water Quantity and Use 225 Non-Timber Forest Products 226 Forestry-Related Jobs 227 Carbon Markets 170 Energy Resources 172 Household Energy Expenditures 230 174 Floodplains and Flood Hazards 176 Fires 177 Severe Weather 178 Landslides and Landslide Hazards 233 Glossary 183 Soil Degradation and Sedimentation Due to Transportation 186 240 242 5 Overview Western North Carolina Vitality Index Overview The Western North Carolina Vitality Index reports on the 27 counties of Western North Carolina through the perspectives of the region’s natural, social, built and economic environments, and was designed to assist local governments, interest groups, and the public. Our foundation is the natural world we call home, and as humans we establish culture by finding ways to earn a living and coexist with the NATURAL natural environment. We build our homes, businesses, schools, and roads to support these needs, and our economy needs all of these to remain healthy to work. To encourage quality growth in Western North Carolina, this regional assessment helps to ensure sufficient management of our many attractive HUMAN features: our infrastructure, residential and commercial development, food production, energy production, and recreational areas. Balancing these demands of land use is a difficult challenge, but one that must be met in order to sustain the quality of life we enjoy in the communities BUILT we call home. The effort is made to allow planners, decision makers, and the public the information necessary to inspire quality discussion and craft informed ECONOMIC decisions on issues affecting Western North Carolina’s abundant natural resources and its potential for sustainable growth. The 27 counties of this report include six Councils of Government: the High Country Council, three counties of the Western Piedmont Council, the Isothermal Planning and Development Commission, the Land of Sky Regional Council, the Southwestern Commission, and two counties of the Piedmont Triad Regional Council. The Mountain Resources Commission (MRC), a non-regulatory organization established by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2009, identified the need to provide local governments with easy-to-understand data specific to the western region of the state in order to encourage more informed decisions with regard to resource use and community planning, and to help the general public understand linkages that may not be readily apparent. They established a partnership with the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station, the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, and the National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center (NEMAC) at the University of North Carolina at Asheville to provide such information, incorporating metrics that describe the natural, built, human, and cultural environments that are unique to the western region. The result is the Western North Carolina Vitality Index, a web-based product that is easy to use and free of charge, and that allows users to see either a regional picture or focus on a particular county’s vitality status on a wide variety of issues. After the initial launch of the WNC Vitality Index in October 2012, the MRC attracted new partners to help expand its content, including partnerships with the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NC DENR), Duke Energy, the Asheville Board of REALTORS®, and Communities Transforming. Expansion of the group of supporting partners is ongoing. 6 Overview About the Mountain Resources Commission The Mountain Resources Commission (MRC) consisted of members of varied backgrounds, interests, and talents, and were appointed from residents of the mountain counties who represented a range of interests—local government, non-profit organizations, mountain Councils of Government, the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, the North Carolina National Parks, the Parkways and Forests Development Council, the tourism industry, and the land trust community. Even though the appointed members were not used to working as part of a group with such diverse perspectives, they learned from one another and discovered they were capable of accomplishing more by working together than they could apart. That commitment, that civil discourse, became vital in their effort to support positive growth throughout the region. The MRC’s purpose was simple: to encourage healthy and equitable development while preserving the natural resources, open spaces, and farmland of the mountain region of Western North Carolina. The MRC adopted an overall mission statement to: “Take care of our natural resources to enhance and sustain quality of life and ensure the long term health of our region and our people.” It was entrusted to provide recommendations to local, state, and federal legislative and administrative bodies for the protection of these natural resources. In 2013, the passage of NC House Bill 74 eliminated the MRC, but its mission and its values remain ongoing through the continued support and collaboration of the partnerships established during the early visioning process for the WNC Vitality Index. With the contributions and vast range of perspectives and expertise from the partners who provided content, the Vitality Index continues to enable our region’s public and private decision makers to understand the many diverse qualities and current conditions—and how they interconnect—within our communities. Through this effort, the relationships among our economic conditions, public health issues, regional traditions, and the integrity of our natural environment can be better understood, thus continuing the MRC’s original, overall mission. 7 Overview Origins of the Western North Carolina Vitality Index 8 Overview Executive Summary The Mountain Resources Commission (MRC), a non-regulatory organization established by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2009, identified the need to provide local governments with easy-to-understand data specific to the western region of the state in order to encourage more informed decisions with regard to resource use and community planning, and to help the general public understand linkages that may not be readily apparent. They established a partnership with the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station, the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, and the National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center at the University of North Carolina at Asheville to expand the existing Western North Carolina Report Card on Forest Sustainability to include all 27 western counties, incorporating metrics that describe the natural, built, human, and cultural environments that are unique to the western region. The result is the Western North Carolina Vitality Index (WNC VI), a web-based product that is easy to use and free of charge, and that allows users to see either a regional picture or focus on a particular county’s sustainability status on a wide variety of issues. The WNC Vitality Index will enable the Mountain Resources Commission and many public and private decision makers in the western region
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