Swain County was marked by relatively few controversies — and spared from flooding that ravaged other locales — in 2004. Elections were uncontested. There were no major politcal fueds, no split votes on town or county boards, no major uprisings among the public dissatisfied with elected leaders’ decisions. Political relations between the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the rest of Swain County are smooth. The old-timers and locals have grown to accept the kayaking community as it spread out of the Gorge and infiltrated mainstrem life in Swain County.

The county has faced relatively few growing pains as it has been “discovered” by outsiders. One reason for this may be the type of people attracted to the area, namely those seeking sustainable, outdoors lifestyles rather than the glitzy mountaintop villas common in other counties.

Leaders continued to find ways to incorporate outdoor resources into the community. Momentum gathered around a grassroots group hoping to create a “river walk” along the Tuckasegee River. Two existing riverside parks — one downtown and one just outside of town — received bathrooms and new trails.

Bryson City merchants are enjoying the early stages of a downtown revitalization. The town’s half-million dollar streetscape includes brick sidewalk insets and antique lampposts. Several new merchants have opened and others have spruced up storefronts. Most notably, the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad embarked on a significant development project. It is hoped that an increasing number of passengers will wander beyond the train platform during layovers and explore shops. Also, planning continued on a project to convert the historic Swain County Courthouse into a cultural heritage museum.

A revitalization to the main commercial district was jumpstarted in Cherokee this year as well. The tribe began offering no- to low- interest loans to merchants willing to renovate their storefronts. The tribe also constructed a satellite visitor center on the main drag in an effort to begin modernizing the aging tourist district.

Cherokee also broke ground this year for a new elementary, middle and high school campus on land that previously was in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Cherokee lobbied Congress for a tract of land for the schools, claiming the Qualla Boundary was hemmed in by steep, undesirable land.

The tribe swapped another piece of land along the Blue Ridge Parkway in exchange for the flat land adjacent to the reservation. Architectural drawings were unveiled at the groundbreaking in May. Extensive archaeology work has been under way all year to document historic Cherokee activity at the site before earth moving begins.

Other advancements on the Qualla Boundary include a second, 15-story hotel at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino that has been erected rapidly this year. Cherokee became the first government entity in the region to install fiber optic lines and completed its first year of full operations as the official owners of the Cherokee Hospital.

Meanwhile, Swain County got a boost from an unlikely sector — manufacturing. A $13 million expansion creating 70 new jobs was announced in January by ConMet, a plant that produces plastic dashboard parts for 18-wheelers. The company has had operations in Swain since 1995.

Lake Fontana plays a major role in shaping Swain County’s identity, and this year local leaders and lake users have attempted to address the growing popularity of houseboats. Largely unregulated, no one knows how many houseboats there are, but estimates put the number at a little under 400. Marina owners have a bird’s eye view of lake activity, as most houseboats are moored at a marina while not in use. As a result, marina owners have been put upon to act as regulators — including reporting houseboat owners to the county for property tax purposes and turning houseboat owners into the county health department if they are suspected of discharging raw sewage directly into the lake.

County leaders have been scrambling to get a system in place that will allow houseboat owners to pump waste to shore and have it hauled to a treatment plant. The system is slated to come on line in 2005.

A decision by the Tennessee Valley Authority to delay the drawdown of Lake Fontana until after Labor Day pleased lake users. The move is expected to boost the economy of the region by extending the lake recreation season. The drawdown will also be less severe — only 52 feet compared to 71, thanks to extensive lobbying by lake users.

Swain County is also intrinsically linked to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. International tourism experts who ranked 115 ecotourism destinations worldwide for an article in the March issue of National Geographic Traveler gave the park a poor grade. Of the three categories — “The Good,” “Not So Bad,” and “Getting Ugly” — the Smokies ranked near the bottom in the “Getting Ugly” category, largely due to tacky gateway towns such as Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Bryson City and Cherokee compete with towns on the park’s Tennessee side for visitors while attempting to promote themselves as the antithesis of Gatlinburg tourism.