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Photo Above: This aerial view shows the WORX campus and the recently purchased Fairview Community Forest.
Since 2023, youth in western North Carolina have had the opportunity to learn skills and trades in an outdoors setting at The WORX Project, established by the city of Asheville and Buncombe County. Students gain hands-on experience to ready them for careers in agriculture and culinary arts, environmental science and education, outdoor recreation and construction.
The WORX campus will soon expand dramatically thanks to a land purchase by the nonprofit Conserving Carolina. The group has purchased 226 acres of a former Presbyterian camp for permanent protection through a conservation easement. The property, Fairview Community Forest, will not only be available to students, it will be open and free to the public to enjoy hiking, biking, fishing and other outdoor activities.
The property also offers important ecological benefits. It encompasses an entire sub-watershed, with rich seeps, headwater streams and vital bat habitat. “We are excited about this unique partnership [which] serves our community on multiple levels,” says the conservancy’s Tom Fanslow.
Says Sara Jarell of The WORX Project: “There’s a lot of research that backs up the benefit of doing education outdoors. Now we have this whole protected forest for students to learn in.”
The land purchase, 14 years in the making, was made possible by numerous entities including philanthropists, local, state and federal agencies, nonprofits and the Presbytery of Western North Carolina. The Fairview Community Forest is expected to open to the public next year with the first 3 miles of trails.
The story above first appeared in our November / December 2025 issue.
