Air Quality

According to a GSMNP briefing statement of April 2002, monitoring conducted over the past 22 years has shown that airborne pollutants emitted outside the park and transported into the park are significantly affecting the park’s natural resources, visitor enjoyment and public health. Because of predominant weather patterns and the physical structure of the mountains, pollutants from Tennessee, Ohio, the Mississippi River Valley, the Midwest, the Gulf States and the Northeast all tend to be trapped by air currents and deposited in the Southern Appalachians.

Research based on regional airport records shows that since 1948 average visibility in the region has decreased by 60 percent overall; 80 percent in the summer and 40 percent in the winter. The briefing states that views in the GSMNP are impaired more than 90 percent of the time. Average views during the summer have been reduced from 77 miles to 15 miles.

Declining visibility is well correlated to increased sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions. SO2 emissions from coal burning power plants are thought to be responsible for 83 percent of the chronic visibility impairment in the Smokies.

Ozone (O3) pollution, produced by the reaction of nitrogen oxides and organic compounds in the presence of sunlight is a pervasive air pollutant in the park. Since May 1998, the park has exceeded the 8-hour ozone standard on 142 different days.

Field surveys have identified 90 plant species in the park that exhibit ozone injury symptoms. Plants at higher elevations tend to exhibit more acute symptoms.

The briefing states that the GSMNP receives some of the highest acid deposition of all monitored sites in North America. Rainfall in the park, with a pH of 4.5 is 10 times more acidic than natural rainfall. Cloud water (acid fog) acidity averages a pH of 3.5. High elevation streams in the park are especially sensitive to acidification.

The GSMNP is designated as a Class I area by the Clean Air Act. Class I areas qualify for the most stringent air quality protection provided by the Act. Under the act, the Park Service is invited to comment on state air quality permit applications for any new facility expected to emit more than 100 tons of pollutants. Since 1980 the Park Service has commented to the Tennessee Air Pollution Control Board on more than 30 permits. In most cases permits were granted without fulfilling Park Service recommendations.

The Park Service is dedicated to continue its work with federal, state and local agencies as well as environmental organization and industries to develop comprehensive plans to relieve existing impacts and prevent future damage.

Hemlock Adelgid

The hemlock adelgid has reached the GSMNP in at least two locations. The first infestation was discovered in early May, along Long Hungry Ridge Trail about three miles north of Fontana Dam. A second infestation was just found about a mile from Cades Cove.

The hemlock adelgid, native to China and Japan, was first discovered in the mid-Atlantic states in the 1920s. The adelgid reached Shenandoah National Park, in Virginia in the mid-1970s. According to Miller, nearly 80 percent of Shenandoah’s hemlocks are infected and expected to die.

The adelgid was probably introduced to the region on imported nursery stock. Once in a region, the tiny aphid-like insect can be transported by larger insects, on birds and mammals and by the wind.

According to USDA Forest Health Specialist Rusty Rhea, the adelgid has been spreading south at a rate of about 10 miles a year. Rhea said the adelgid posed a serious threat to old growth hemlock forests in the Smokies.

The adelgid feeds by sucking sap from the base of the hemlock needles. This retards the tree’s growth and generally results in mortality within a few years. Kris Johnson, supervisory forester for the park said there are different treatments that offer some promise in battling the hemlock adelgid. Trees may be treated by injecting a pesticide in the soil which is, in turn, absorbed by the roots and distributed throughout the needles. A soapy solution, like the one the Park Service uses to preserve some of the Fraser firs near Clingman’s Dome, on Heintooga Road and near the Devils Courthouse, is effective against the adelgid but presents a lot of logistical problems.

Some agencies have experienced some success with a biological control. There is an Asian beetle that is prey-specific on the adelgids. However, beetle sources are limited and presently most insects are distributed in the Northeast where the infestation is most severe.

GSMNP is asking hikers and other visitors to be on the lookout and report any infestations. The insects are easily detected by the small cotton-white deposits they leave on the hemlock needles. Specific locations and close-up photographs are especially helpful in confirming new infestations. Anyone who has observed an infestation in the park is asked to call the park’s Vegetation Management Office at 865.436.1707.

Cades Cove

The GSMNP and the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Office will be holding an open house forum on Thursday, May 23, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Townsend Elementary School at 140 Tiger Drive in Townsend, Tenn. The purpose of the meeting is to solicit public input regarding issues and visitor’s experiences associated with the Cades Cove loop.

The information will be used to help create the Cades Cove Opportunities Plan.

The plan will result in a range of alternatives that will provide a long-range comprehensive plan for managing the area’s natural and cultural resources while improving the quality of visitor experience and providing for greater visitor mobility.

Cades Cove has become so popular that it can take up to four hours to complete the 11-mile route during peak season. Bear jams and other wildlife sightings cause traffic to grind to a halt. Sometimes visitors will pull off the road when they spot wildlife. These unpaved pull-offs damage plant life and encourage erosion.

Alternative plans created by the Cades Cove Opportunities Plan will be consistent with the the park’s goals, policies and procedures. They will reflect the input from this month’s open house plus a wide range of different public involvement opportunities.

A project website — www.cadescoveopp-.com. — will be online by the end of May. The website will provide project information, announce dates for future public meetings and provide further opportunities for public comment.

Park staff hopes to have goals and objectives defined by summer 2002 with a list of preferred alternatives produced by fall 2002. The completion of the plan is expected to take between 18 and 24 months.

Elkmont

Elkmont was created in the early 1900s when several individuals bought land from the Little River Lumber Company and built vacation cottages. Eventually Elkmont grew to about 90 cottages plus a hotel and other outbuildings. The property was acquired when the park was created, but leases extended until 2001.

The park’s GMP, created in 1982, called for the buildings to be removed when the leases expired. However, in 1993 about 69 of the structures were placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1994 the park service notified Tennessee SHPO of plans to remove the structures, including mitigation actions required by the National Historic Preservation Act. SHPO rejected the park’s plans and the ACHP was called upon to help resolve the impasse. A park service compromise was submitted in 1996 but it was also rejected.

In 2000 a new planning process was initiated which will require an amendment to the GMP. The new plan must comply with the National Historic Preservation Act; comply with requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act and become an amendment to the GMP.

The new plan requires public comment and meetings were held in early May. The park service has hired a consulting firm to produce an Environmental Assessment of preferred alternatives and solicit public comment.

To inform the public and solicit comment, the park service has a website online — www.elkmont-gmpa-ea.com. The website provides an overview of the issue and the process plus a survey. Comments and responses need to reach GSMNP by May 30.

Comments may be provided by phone at 865.436.1227; by mail to Superintendent, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 107 Park Headquarters Rd., Gatlinburg, Tenn., 37738, or by email to elkmontcomments-@tnainc.com.

The park hopes to release a General Management Plan Amendment/Environ-mental Assessment for public scrutiny by the end of May 2003.

North Shore Road

The North Shore Road debate has been a source of contention in Swain County since the original 1943 agreement. That agreement between Swain County, North Carolina, TVA and the Secretary of the Interior called for the construction of a park road along the north shore of Fontana Lake from Bryson City to Fontana Dam to replace N.C. 288. The original N.C. 288 was flooded by the creation of the lake, but the agreement has never been consummated.

The state completed its portion of the road in the early 1950s and the park service built six miles of road into the park in the late 1960s. The park service stopped construction out of environmental concerns when they encountered highly acidic Anakeesta rock.

The road became a hot topic again in 2000 when Sen. Jesse Helms and Rep. Charles Taylor corralled $16 million in appropriations for construction of the road. However, there is a new player in the game.

A local group, Citizens for the Economic Future of Swain County, formed in 2001 to seek a cash settlement in lieu of the road. Members have drafted a bill they plan to present to representatives and senators in hopes it will be introduced in Congress.

But there is still strong support for a road in Swain County. Swain County commissioners passed a resolution in December 2001 calling for the construction of the North Shore Road.

Presently a consultant is being hired to produce a strategy for public involvement and draft an Environmental Impact Statement regarding the construction of a road. GSMNP spokesman Miller said public scoping meetings would likely be scheduled late this summer or early this fall.

Ravensford

The park service has conducted one series of public meetings and gathered public comment regarding a proposed land exchange between the EBCI and the park service. The EBCI has petitioned the park service to exchange 168 acres of park property known as Ravensford for a 218 acre parcel along the Blue Ridge Parkway near Waterrock Knob. The tribe says it needs the property to build schools. Opponents feel the tribe has other options for school sites and that the park service would be setting a bad precedent by going through with the exchange.

Three public meetings were held in February and public comments were accepted through the end of March. The results from the public comment period were 2,183 comments in support of the exchange, 1,829 comments opposed and 53 no opinion.

Presently a draft Environmental Impact Statement is being crafted with a list of preferred alternatives. Miller said the draft EIS will probably be presented to the public and public meetings will be scheduled by September. After a public comment period this fall, a final EIS will be prepared late 2002 or early 2003, and a Record of Decision will follow after a minimum of 30 days.

Miller said the decision maker will most likely be new National Parks Superintendent Fran Mainella. Mainella was in the region last week to meet with park officials, the EBCI, Blue Ridge Parkway officials and Swain County commissioners on what was referred to as a fact finding mission.