week of  3/6/02
 
 
 


Coalition forms to preserve park’s integrity
By Don Hendershot
Saturday was a day of information gathering, resource sharing and strategy planning for the newly formed Greater Smoky Mountains Coalition.

The Coalition’s inaugural meeting was last November in Knoxville. Saturday’s meeting at Lake Junaluska’s Lambuth Inn was the second for the organization and the first in North Carolina. The group plans to alternate meetings between the Tennessee and North Carolina sides of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

“The Greater Smoky Mountains Coalition is a group of individual organizations that are devoted to the goal of preserving the integrity of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as a wilderness, a biodiversity reserve and a place for the quiet enjoyment of nature,” said a brochure announcing the meeting.

Attendees included representatives from various conservation, civic and community groups from North Carolina and Tennessee including the North Carolina Parks and Parkway Advisory Council, Friends of the Smokies, National Parks Conservation Association, League of Women Voters, Citizens for the Economic Future of Swain County, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Sierra Club, Western North Carolina Alliance, Carolina Mountain Club, Smoky Mountain Hiking Club, Southern Environmental Law Center, Blue Ridge Trail Riders, the Foundation for Global Sustainability and many more.

The issues discussed were the Ravensford land exchange between the park and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the proposed construction of the North Shore Road in Swain County and the five-laning of U.S. 321 from Gatlinburg to I-40 along the northern edge of the park. Phil Francis, acting superintendent of the GSMNP, was present to discuss those issues with the group.

Francis noted the comment period for public input regarding the scoping process concerning the Ravensford issue had been extended to March 30.

Francis said he felt most of the public misinterpreted the intent of the three public scoping meetings held in Cherokee, Knoxville and Asheville and the reason for the public comment period. He said scoping meetings and scoping comments are designed to identify issues and alternatives regarding a proposed plan of action, not as a platform for registering support for or opposition to a proposed action.

He said he didn’t feel the extended comment period would alter the Ravensford timetable. The next step would be to review the comments and prepare and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which is expected in August.

According to Francis, after the draft EIS was completed, there would be another round of public meetings, probably patterned after the scoping meetings, and another comment period. This would be the appropriate time to voice support for or opposition to the plan and/or alternatives listed.

Participants at the conference asked Francis about a “gag order” imposed on GSMNP staff regarding Ravensford.

“No one ever said to me, that I should not talk about this subject. We agreed to work cooperatively with the tribe, to share information with them before making it public. It was a procedure we agreed to,” Francis said.

Francis said the Park Service deals with Native Americans on a government to government basis and that the Park Service decided the Southeast Regional Office in Atlanta would be the lead agency in discussing the Ravensford issue. He said the procedures were not uncommon.

Francis said scoping on the North Shore Road could begin in the next couple of months. He said scoping would include in-house studies and reviews and a list of options plus external scoping including public meetings. Times and dates were still undetermined at this time.

According to Francis, an EIS on the North Shore Road could take up to three years to complete.

Conference participants questioned Francis about issues on the Tennessee side of the park, including the Elkmont Cabins and the widening of U.S. 321. Francis said there are no longer any leases with respect to the Elkmont properties. He said GSMNP proposed to remove the cabins, but the Tennessee State Historical Preservation Organization filed an objection. Tennessee SHPO has hired a contractor to create a list of alternatives regarding the cabins and public meetings will probably convene within a month, according to Francis.

When questioned about the park’s lack of opposition to the widening of U.S. 321, Francis said the park had no control or legal jurisdiction because the construction was not on park property. He said the park agreed to let Tennessee DOT access the site across six-tenths of an acre of park property because it would create less environmental damage than the alternative of Tennessee DOT blasting the mountainside on the other side of the highway. He said the park would do all it could to keep a “soft edge” along its northern perimeter but reiterated that the park had no legal jurisdiction concerning Tennessee’s highway right of way.

After Francis’ departure, coalition members worked through lunch into the late afternoon planning strategies to address issues they think are detrimental to the integrity of the GSMNP. They created a legal committee to study what legal options they might have regarding the various issues. Other individuals and organizations volunteered their time and services to explore how to focus national and local attention and resources on these issues.

Greg Kidd of the National Parks Conservation Association, who served as moderator, was pleased with the turnout. He said by creating a wide-ranging alliance of autonomous organizations the coalition could have a profound impact on region-wide environmental issues that affect the park.

Ted Snyder, past president of the national Sierra Club, said there had always been an informal, loose coalition of environmental advocates. He said in the past, during the age of snail mail, it was hard to maintain contact and communication. Today’s computer technology has made it much easier to disseminate information. Snyder said the group decided at last November’s meeting to create a more formal organization and the Greater Smoky Mountains Coalition was created.