Report shows Smokies 'beginning to die' [ Our Forrests

Winston-Salem Journal ^ | Thursday April 15, 2004 | Associated Press

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I'm a coal and oil guy and I happen to agree with you. We cannot continue mining and burning 100 million tons of coal a year, which was the last statistic I saw...its probably more than that now.
If we had spent the moon shot money on solving nuclear power's safety and waste problems, we'd have electricity too cheap to meter and would have been into the second generation of electric cars.

[qam1]

"Acid rain" is another Left-wing, envirowacko theory that never was credible and too many of you out there bought that one too. It's always the latest Chicken-Little scare tactic than can't quite be refuted, nor proven, why don't we use those tactics?

No that one is real, Just come to the Adirondacks where quite a few lakes have been killed off. Most notably

Honnedaga Lake

Which after 3 decades is only just starting to come back to life

[muawiyah]

The Blue Ridge portion of the exact same Appalachian range of concern in the Carolinas was virtually denuded by the demand for wood for steam locomotives century before last.

It was pretty much replanted in the 30s.

No doubt some parts get better. Some parts get worse. Other parts get "fixed".

[xzins]

This is your area, my friend. Al Gore wanted the rest of Swain County; This article above is from Gatlinburg, Tenn. and is another example of OBSTRUCTION by Tennessee to the Deal Gap Road to Bryson City. This road would make Bryson and Cherokee MAJOR tourist areas to rival Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.

Gore tried for years to absorb Swain County into the Park to prevent this from happening. Supposedly altruistic about the environment, Gore was NEVER critical of development on the Tennessee side of the mountains. (Anyone going through Pigeon Forge knows that!)

		Regional News • 10/17/01 ‘Road to Nowhere’ still faces uncertain future By Don Hendershot In 1943, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park swallowed up the remaining 44,000 acres of Swain County between its border and the north shore of Fontana Lake. The lake itself had flooded over 10,000 acres of Swain County, including the bustling communities of Proctor, Bushnell, Japan, Hazel Creek and others. “Swain County lost half of its population and half of its jobs to the lake and the park,” said David Monteith, a county commissioner and a member of the North Shore Road Association. Monteith, like many Swain residents, has strong personal ties to the north shore of Fontana Lake. His family owned a grocery store and lived near Forney Creek. “They took the most precious part of Swain County — most of the level land. If we still had that 4,400 acres it would be very productive to our county,” said Linda Hogue, president of the North Shore Road Association. As a way to ease anger in Swain County, the U.S. Department of Interior signed a contract in 1943 that promised to build a road through the newly acquired park lands from a point near Fontana Dam to a point near Bryson City — as soon as Congress appropriated the money. The parties to that contractual agreement were the DOI, Swain County, the state of North Carolina and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Many believed then — and now — that the road would be a boon and help offset the lost of county revenue caused by the creation of the GSMNP. In an August 1943 edition the Bryson City Times, it was reported that “The National Park Service says that as soon as money is made available after the war it will build a modern highway along the shores of Fontana Lake connecting Bryson City with the TVA access highway at Fontana Dam, making it a through highway to Deal’s Gap 50 miles west of here. Anyone with the smallest amount of imagination can visualize what a road of this kind will mean to Bryson City ... When this highway is built by the Park Service, the developments inaugurated, and we feel confidently they will be soon after the war, then there is nothing that can keep Bryson City from becoming the tourist center of Eastern America ....” The enthusiasm was unwarranted. North Carolina didn’t fulfilled its road construction agreement until 1959 when it built nearly three miles of road from Bryson City to the park’s boundary. It wasn’t until 1963 that the Park Service began to fulfill its promise to construct a park road. Between 1963 and 1971, the Park Service completed about six miles of road. That road, which included a bridge across Noland’s Creek, terminated abruptly after a 1,200-foot tunnel. The Park Service halted construction on the road when it encountered anakeesta rock formations. Anakeesta is an extremely acid rock and when exposed to the elements leaches acids and heavy metals which threaten aquatic life. The Road to Nowhere, as it quickly came to be known, has languished in a politically charged bureaucratic limbo for the last 30 years. Different groups, individuals, politicians and park officials have — in fits and starts throughout the years — offered alternatives and tried to resolve the North Shore Road dilemma, to no avail. The issue appeared to have faded into the background during the 1990s. Suddenly and seemingly from nowhere, however, during the 2000 election campaign, Sen. Jesse Helms, (R-N.C.) and Rep. Charles Taylor (R-N.C.) came up with a $16 million dollar appropriation for construction of the North Shore Road. While neither Swain County commissioners nor GSMNP officials had any knowledge of the appropriation, Hogue said, “some of us knew. Trying to get money appropriated can be controversial. Sometimes the fewer people who know, the better.” The $16 million — plus a visit by Taylor — has rekindled efforts to have the Park Service complete the North Shore Road. “Our county commissioners, in good faith, signed the 1943 agreement calling for a road from Bryson City to Deal’s Gap to make up for lost revenue,” Hogue said. “If America’s word is so important, the federal government should keep its word to Swain County. We should not be treated as second-class citizens.” But some Swain County residents believe that hurt feelings over a broken promise are clouding people’s judgment. Leonard Winchester is technology coordinator for Swain County Schools. Winchester believes the county should seek a financial settlement to the 1943 agreement. “I’m not casting stones at anyone, but it’s impossible for me not to consider what could be done if this 16 million (dollars) ... for the road were invested for the future of Swain County. Much much more than any Road to Nowhere will ever do in a hundred years .... With money we can give our kids a better education, better skills for better jobs, better technology,” Winchester said. The idea for a compromise to the 1943 agreement has taken root in the newly formed Citizens for the Economic Future of Swain County. This group is a coalition of county residents and area environmentalist who have been meeting to try and formulate some kind of consensus agreement that would satisfy all parties. Bob McCollum is chairman of the North Carolina Parks, Parkway and Forests Development Council. He has sat in on a few meetings with the newly formed group. Although McCollum lives in Macon County, his father roamed the streets of Proctor as a boy. “Much has changed over the 58 years since the 1943 agreement. There is a greater public awareness today,” McCollum said. “Swain is among the highest counties in the state with regards to unemployment. The industrial base is not diversified, and it has very little land base for taxes,” McCollum said. He said the group has used a formula based on a 1981 proposal for a financial settlement of the 1943 agreement to calculate a proposed settlement figure. He said the amount would be between $39 and $42 million. According to McCollum, interest generated from a settlement of that size would generate a steady, annual $2 to $3 million dollars to the county’s coffers. “The trickle of income generated from a ‘park road’ would not equal that,” he said. Cemetery access is not a part of the 1943 agreement. Hogue and Monteith believe the 1943 agreement is valid and binding and a North Shore Road should be built regardless of cemetery access. But cemetery access is important to the public, and the Park Service has worked to provide public visitation. Shuttles are scheduled across the lake and Park Service personnel provide transportation to cemeteries on specific dates. Local Bryson City businessman Jerry McKinney, a member of Citizens for the Economic Future of Swain County, believes cemetery access and proper respect for the sacrifices of the communities along the north shore are important. McKinney said his group would work to include a state of the art museum depicting the life and times of the displaced Swain County residents as well as better cemetery access. “The North Shore Road would be a duplication of N.C. 28 (which runs around the south shore of the lake to Deal’s Gap) and have dubious economic benefits,” said Roger Turner of the Western North Carolina Alliance. “WNCA would certainly endorse a monetary settlement plus a museum.” GSMNP spokesman Bob Miller said the $16 million already appropriated would be a small step toward the estimated $150 million project. According to Miller, the $150 million figure was “based on the cost of constructing the Cherohala Skyway, in Graham County.” Monteith believes the Park Service estimate is unfounded. “If the Park Service were to use existing road beds, including part of old N.C. 288, they would only have to build a few miles of new road,” Monteith said. “Part of the problem is that there is no detailed proposal except the 1943 agreement. We are bound by law to base our environmental impact studies on the two-lane dustless road proposed by that agreement. We have to abide by NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) regulations. If proponents could agree on an alternative proposal, we would consider it,” Miller said. On Oct. 17, Helms and Taylor will be meeting with new Park Service Director Fran Mainella. The North Shore Road is sure to be discussed. “Rep. Taylor is committed to proceeding in a manner that best fulfills the long-standing government promise to provide the road, causes minimal environmental disturbance and is cost effective,” said Will Haynie, Taylor’s press secretary. On Oct. 29, the issue will be discussed again when the Citizens for the Economic Future of Swain County meet with county commissioners to discuss the 1943 agreement.   Back to Top Home © Copyright 2001, The Smoky Mountain News.

http://aam.wcu.edu/grant/

That road to nowhere was a promise to the people of Swain County who were cut off by the Lake and the Park during WWII.

This unit is about a promise made by the Federal Government in the 1943 Agreement to the citizens of Swain County. A promise made and never kept. The people of The North Shore area of Fontana Lake were forced to leave their homes because a dam was needed to produce hydroelectric power. This resulted in the removal of 1,311 families, of these 600 families were permanent residents of the area before the construction of the dam began. The TVA felt little need to help relocate the 711 families who were transients. There were 163 families removed from the land given to the national park. Alcoa, an aluminum plant in Tennessee, needed the electricity to produce products for the war effort of World War II; thus the building of the Fontana Dam. The removal took place in Swain County from an area, The North Shore, that was covered by the Fontana Lake. The citizens of Swain County were promised in the "43 Agreement" by the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Tennessee Valley Authority a road with a dustless surface, not less than twenty feet in width, that would connect Bryson City to Deals Gap, Tennessee. The road was the exchange to the people for the land taken on the North Shore and Highway 288 that was submerged due to the construction of the Fontana Dam. The proposed road would have provided access to the twenty-two cemeteries on the north shore of Fontana Lake. Fifty eight years later the citizens of Swain County have only A Road to Nowhere. To date, only six miles of the proposed road has been completed. The road ends at a 1,200 foot tunnel with a hiking trail at the end of the tunnel. On October 22, 1991, Senator Jesse Helms read into the Congressional Record that the preservationist worked to halt the road construction because "extreme cuts and fills and unstable conditions would cause environmental damage." Senator Helms has long fought for the people of Swain County for the completion of the road. In 2001 Congressman Charles Taylor appropriated for Swain County sixteen million dollars for more road construction. Environmental groups still pursue the blocking of any road being built. They would like a one time cash settlement for Swain County. Some people in Swain County feel a road into Tennessee as the government promised would boost Swain County's economy like highway 441 from Cherokee into Gatlinburg did for Tennessee, thereby giving the county a much needed tax base to work from every year.

[okie01]

Hoopskirt? Hopechest? Houseboat?

Nope. Nor Hippofeet.

Think equine effluvium...

[Flux Capacitor]

----Our Forrests----

[luckystarmom]

I'm a republican also. I think we do have to take care of our environment. Not in a wacky way, but it is a treasure to be taken care of.

There are so many things we can do that are easy.

I've seen clear cut forest in the west, and they are horrible. I think there has been much improvement in this area, thank goodness.

We drive a hybrid car, a Prius. Toyota has stated that all of their cars will be hybrids in 10 years. We like our Prius. It handles like a regular car. I'll be interested to see how they handle SUVs, trucks, and mini-vans. Those cars need a lot of power, but I'm confident that one of the car manufacturers can find a way to put hybrid technology in those cars.

I'm an engineer. I don't believe in giving up technology. I believe in using good engineering skilss to make technology cleaner.

[HangnJudge]

I live in Oak Ridge, TN
The Oak Ridge National Labs are a powerful source
of research in this arena
http://www.ornl.org/
Instead of complaining about what others are doing
Some are diligently continuing efforts to
make a difference are reduce our dependence on other for our energy needs

[FITZ]

I'm a Republican and Conservative to the core But

The first conservationalists were Republicans. The National Parks and Wilderness areas being set aside to conserve a part of America was a Republican idea.

It's sad to see everything be ravaged for the money.

[Inyo-Mono]

Why is it then that when you compare pictures of the area from Civil War photos to modern photos, the forests there were MORE denuded in the 1860s than they are now? Why are the views from the "scenic overlooks" along the road through the park blocked by an overgrowth of trees around the pull-offs.

That same situation is true here in the West. Photos from the 1860s, 1870s and 1880s when the far West was first being settled show many fewer pine trees than shown in photos taken from the same points today. Back then you could ride a horse through the forest at a full gallup without worry of running into a tree.

[Tennessee_Bob]

How did the Smoky Mountains get their name? It wasn't from the smoke from factories and power plants. It comes from the fog that early settlers saw on the mountains.

The Park is dying. My family has lived in East Tennessee since 1979, and you can see the damage that's being done to the park.

[HangnJudge]

Not so much sad as predictable
Individuals will act as they see fit
It sometimes helps to assist them in
making their decisions by showing them
the personal consequences of their actions

Conservation is a Conservative issue

[Congressman Billybob]

Yep, this is an important part of my backyard. The Park is the leading tourist attraction in Western CArolina, and one of the leading attractions in the nation. Tourism provides about one third of this area's income.

Believe it or not, I have figured out how to increase the number of tourists, including developing a modest winter trade, while decreasing the number of miles of traffic driven and therefore pollution created. It can be done. It's just that today's crop of politicians aren't capable of thinking outside the box.

I assume that Al Gore's approach to this problem would be both contradictory and self-defeating. Mine will not be.

Congressman Billybob

Click here, then click the blue CFR button, to join the anti-CFR effort (or visit the "Hugh & Series, Critical & Pulled by JimRob" thread). Please do it now.

[Sorcerer3]

Funny how the environazis continue to use scare tactics to spew their 'HorseshiT' despite when facts contradict their rhetoric. According to the US EPA, since 1970 the US Gross Domestic Product increased 161%, the number of vehicle miles traveled in the US increased 149%, energy consumption in the US increased 42%, the US population increased 39% BUT, and I mean B U T ... the aggregate emissions of the six principle pollutants (nitrogen oxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and lead) actually DECREASED by 21%. AIN'T that something?

LOL!!! Also, about the ozone problem... Check this out. There is a study about Houston, TX smog that shows how ozone created during the day is actually destroyed by the absense of sunlight at night. SMOG IS DESTROYED AT NIGHT!!!!! This pollution shit is a red herring by the leftist ENVIRONAZIS designed to deceive people into giving them more money and more control. It's obvious since they cannot spew their enviro-armageddon without having their hands out for more funding in the same paragraphs.

Check out my sources for the EPA on pollution and the Houston smog study.

http://www.epa.gov/oar/aqtrnd01/sixpoll.html

http://www.epa.gov/oar/aqtrnd01/sixpoll.html

[Sorcerer3]

Funny how the environazis continue to use scare tactics to spew their 'HorseshiT' despite when facts contradict their rhetoric. According to the US EPA, since 1970 the US Gross Domestic Product increased 161%, the number of vehicle miles traveled in the US increased 149%, energy consumption in the US increased 42%, the US population increased 39% BUT, and I mean B U T ... the aggregate emissions of the six principle pollutants (nitrogen oxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and lead) actually DECREASED by 21%. AIN'T that something?

LOL!!! Also, about the ozone problem... Check this out. There is a study about Houston, TX smog that shows how ozone created during the day is actually destroyed by the absense of sunlight at night. SMOG IS DESTROYED AT NIGHT!!!!! This pollution shit is a red herring by the leftist ENVIRONAZIS designed to deceive people into giving them more money and more control. It's obvious since they cannot spew their enviro-armageddon without having their hands out for more funding in the same paragraphs.

Check out my sources for the EPA on pollution and the Houston smog study.

http://www.epa.gov/oar/aqtrnd01/sixpoll.html

http://knowledge.fhwa.dot.gov/cops/italladdsup.nsf/0/b225cebb147e67f785256e75005e42db?OpenDocument

[Sorcerer3]

Oooops. there was a typo in the six pollutants. It decreased by 25% instead of 21%. Sorry.

[Rebelbase]

"Why is it then that when you compare pictures of the area from Civil War photos to modern photos, the forests there were MORE denuded in the 1860s than they are now?"

The limited panaromas of lithiograph photos from 140 years ago cannot be used as benchmarks to apply to an entire region.

"Why are the views from the "scenic overlooks" along the road through the park blocked by an overgrowth of trees around the pull-offs? I realize the park overlords don't want to have exposed stumps visible at the pull-offs, but dammit, you can't see through the trees anymore at the scenic overlooks."

Not all trees are dying. The higher elevations are what are getting nailed. And clearing overlooks is a perpetual job due to secondary deciduous growth...I've done it.

Those of us who have lived there and seen it for 30 and 40 years can see a difference. And if you want any evidence of what heavy acid rain can do to an environment, take a trip to Ducktown Tenn. and see what 100 years of man made acid rain can do to a valley.

[Rebelbase]

I see it too.

[xzins]

The locals -- not to include the Bryson City political elite -- have wanted the Feds to come through on their promise about the road to nowhere for years. They joke about it, but it's one of those sarcasm-tinged things.

Gore tried for years to steal Swain County for the park and disinherit the remainder of the folks who live there.

That road is a sore point.

[kemosabe]

I regularly travel over the Smoky Mountain Range.

When I have time, or make time, the Blue Ridge Parkway is
a detour of choice during daylight hours. True some of the Scenic Overlooks are overgrown. I have inquired about that to Rangers on the Blue Ridge Parkway - NO BUDGET LINE ITEM

Since moving to North Carolina in '75, I have watched the
death of the ridge cover. The reforestation of the region
was done by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps ). Since that major East Coast effort there has been VERY LITTLE reforestation that I have seen,

perhaps I'm too myopic.

This article started a fair discussion, and brought forth
some interesting views about the region and the politics thereof...none of the hurt feelings/disgruntled attitudes,
nor the memories of the Reservoir displaced and isolated
Folk, change the FACT that POLLUTION is killing EARTH, not just the forests. { Depleted Uranium anyone ? }

Not only do we make WAR on each other, we make WAR on the
environment with a vengeance that, I'm sure, comes close to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.