The Great Old Broads for Wilderness are coming to Bryson City in September for a week of hiking and camping and protesting against the proposed North Shore Road that would traverse the southern edge of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The Great Old Broads are a national group of mostly senior citizen women with the mission of protecting wilderness areas for their grandchildren’s generation.

Every year the Great Old Broads for Wilderness bring attention to wild areas in need of protection by “Broadwalking” across them. Broads from throughout the country gather together with local wilderness advocates to learn about and hike over threatened lands.

The Great Old Broads — far from the stereotypical radical environmentalist — say they are uniquely positioned to capture public attention for threatened areas.

“We’re an anomaly in the environmental activist area. Our approach in this endeavor is the use of a sense of humor and our well-aged grace,” according to the Great Old Broads web site. “As life-long nurturers and care-givers, the Great Old Broads’ approach is one of perseverance and determination, rather than militancy and contentiousness.”

The Great Old Broads for Wilderness formed in 1989 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Wilderness Act. While the group is predominantly comprised of older women, there are Broads of all ages and both genders in every state.

The Broadwalk will be held Sept. 22 through 26. The Great Old Broads will camp outside the park in the Deep Creek area. In addition to hiking the area, speakers from the community, environmental groups and the park service will talk about the proposed road and its history.

The proposed road would be about 25-miles and would be inside the southern edge of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park along the shore of Fontana Lake. A road once connected Bryson City to Tennessee but portions were flooded when Fontana Lake was created in the 1940s. The government promised to build the road back but never has, leaving Bryson City hemmed in by public lands. Congressman Charles Taylor, R-Brevard, got $16 million to do the extensive environmental studies that are required for building a road through a national park. The park service will make a yeah or nay decision on the road based on the studies, which could come out this fall. Taylor, a road supporter, is chair of the committee that controls the park service’s budget and could influence the decision. Regardless of the park service’s decision, however, Congress would still have to appropriate the money to build the road and environmental groups are already preparing their lawsuits to stop it.

The Broads plan to hold a media event to express what they call outrage over the consideration of the road through the park.

Anyone is welcome to join the Broadwalk. The cost is $125. For more information call 970.385.9577 or go to www.greatoldbroads.org.