In a landmark agreement years in the making, a major American company and several conservation groups have struck a deal to protect about 10,000 acres of land next to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA), which has operated four hydroelectric dams near the park for decades, had sought to extend its licenses for 40 years in accordance with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The re-licensing process requires that companies mitigate any damage that their electricity projects might cause. Seeking support for its bid, ALCOA began negotiating with community leaders and local, state, and national conservation organizations to provide permanent protection for the 10,000 acres around the dams.
"This is all forested mountain land," says Don Barger, senior director of NPCA's Southeast region. "On one side is Great Smoky Mountains National Park and on the other side are the Cherokee National Forest and the Joyce Kilmer Wilderness Area. It is private land right in the spine of the Appalachians." The acreage is also home to 21 species of endangered, threatened, and rare species, including the bald eagle and peregrine falcon.
Part of ALCOA's relicensing bid hinged on submerged land that lies inside both the original FERC boundary and the national park. For the license to be renewed, Congress would have to approve a change in the park boundary. Without this, ALCOA might be forced to sell its dams, opening the lands to possible development. In response, NPCA and other conservation groups and agencies formed the Tennessee Interest Groups and Resource Agencies, or TIGRA, to craft a solution that would provide permanent protection to the land.
First, the parties agreed to exchange 100 acres of submerged land within the park for 186 acres of biologically sensitive land that ALCOA now owns. ALCOA will also grant a permanent conservation easement on nearly 6,000 acres of land to the Tennessee Nature Conservancy, preventing logging, road-building, and other potentially destructive activities on the parcel.
The Nature Conservancy would then have the option of buying the land and eventually selling it to the National Park Service. On the remaining 4,000 acres, a 40-year easement would allow outdoor recreation activities.
The agreement is contingent on the passage of legislation to approve the land swap, introduced by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.).
"This is a textbook example," Alexander said on the Senate floor, "of how a major American company can work with communities and conservation organizations to help Americans keep a high standard of living as well as to conserve the environment."
Once Alexander's measure is approved, FERC is expected to renew ALCOA's license, and the agreement will take effect. "It took the conservation community, the land trusts, and state and federal agencies all working together with the affected industry to make this happen," Barger says. "Had we not teamed up, no one of us could make this happen. It's a real interesting example of what it takes to protect land. It is collaborative, and it's long term."
