Now more than ever, the conservation of the Blue Ridge Mountains and Western North Carolina should be discussed and prioritized with the utmost importance.  Development in the Asheville area is increasingly creating harmful levels of population density and a decrease in tree canopy cover.  According to a study conducted by NASA in 2019, Asheville's population has experienced a 10% increase since 2009 as well as a decrease in canopy cover by 6.4%.  While this growth can stimulate Asheville's economy and fund increasing tourism efforts, this significant expansion has also led to the mass construction of apartments in previously forested areas and affects the environmental conditions of low-income regions.

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Development in Western North Carolina along with global shifts in the environment have contributed to increasing severity in weather patterns that have led to droughts, flooding, and wildfires.  According to Carolina Public Press, this erratic weather has created a "destabilizing whipsaw effect" on the forest ecosystem.  The destruction created by unstable weather patterns not only makes recovery and clean-up more difficult, but also increasingly affects homeowners as residential areas spread further into Appalachia.

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Lastly, the Blue Ridge Mountains are enduring a surge in the introduction of invasive species.  These species range from insects such as the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, to fish such as the Northern Snakehead, and even to plants such as Japanese Stiltgrass.  These invasive species each pose a unique threat to the fragile balance of the local environment and are extremely difficult to eliminate.  The Appalachian Voice, a publisher focused on regional environmental issues, states that invasive plant species in Western North Carolina reduce biodiversity along with the amount of nutrients, water, and sunlight native plants obtain.  Due to their rapid germination and growth rates, invasive plants constitute an increased danger to the health of the delicate mountain ecosystem.