The Time is Right for a Monetary Settlement in Lieu of this Destructive $700 Million Road
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Proposed road construction both inside and adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park ranks among the most serious threats facing the integrity of the park. The greatest such threat to the Smokies is the proposed ‘Road to Nowhere’ (a.k.a. the North Shore Road) that would cut 30-miles through the park along the north shore of Fontana Lake in Swain County, North Carolina. We enjoyed a major breakthrough on October 3, 2007 when the National Park Service (NPS) published the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) on the North Shore Road. The NPS Preferred Alternative is the monetary settlement for Swain County. In the words of NPS "The Monetary Settlement would ensure that resources of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Appalachian National Scenic Trail would be unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations. It would fulfill project goals and objectives including the protection of natural, cultural, and recreational resources." Now our focus turns to ensuring that Swain County receives the monetary settlement it deserves and this issue is laid to rest.
The FEIS concludes that all of the natural and cultural resource that are specific to the project area will suffer from major, adverse, long-term or permanent impacts if the road is built. NPS has also determined that the road will cost U.S. taxpayers at least $700 million. On the other hand the FEIS concludes "the Monetary Settlement would allow for the continued protection of the significant and diverse natural resources and ecosystems of the Park (forest communities, water resources, protected species, soundscapes)." For more information and to read the FEIS visit: http://www.northshoreroad.info
The story of the North Shore Road begins in 1943 with an agreement between the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), the State of North Carolina, Swain County and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The creation of Fontana Lake flooded a number of communities as well as NC State Highway 288. One of the provisions of the agreement was that, contingent upon Congressional funding, DOI would replace NC 288 with a road along the north shore of the lake through the park. Since then, NC 28 has been constructed along the south shore of the lake satisfying transportation needs. NPS built approximately six miles of the North Shore Road in the 1960s but halted construction of the road in 1972 after studies revealed that the construction and maintenance of the road would be technically difficult, extremely expensive and environmentally devastating. Congress has since never appropriated funds necessary for the road.
On February 11, 2003 the Swain County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution calling for a monetary settlement in lieu of the road. The Bryson City Board of Alderman passed a resolution in support of settlement on March 3, 2003. The Governors of North Carolina and Tennessee have also called for a settlement. On March 28, 2007 Representative Heath Shuler (D-NC, 11th) along with Senators Elizabeth Dole (NC-R), Lamar Alexander (TN-R) and Bob Corker (TN-R), and 14 other members of Congress from NC and TN sent a letter to Secretary of Interior Kempthorne calling for the monetary settlement.
In light of the obsolete nature of the project, as well as the difficulties of building a north shore road, there have been numerous attempts to negotiate a monetary settlement with Swain County. Unfortunately, former Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) blocked all such attempts. Congressman Charles Taylor (R-NC) made the most recent bid for road construction by attaching a $16 million rider to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) 2001 Appropriation Bill. This funding was not requested by either the NPS or DOT. As a result of that funding, NPS and the Federal Highway Administration began the environmental compliance work in March 2003. With the start of that work the NPS position on the road shifted to neutral. However, as recently as 2002, NPS official policy was in support of the monetary settlement for Swain County.
The park's General Management Plan documents the decision not to build a road through the heart of the national park for both environmental and economic reasons. Environmental concerns include exposure of highly pyretic rock, often referred to as Anakeesta rock, to the elements. Pyretic rock releases acid and heavy metals when exposed to rain that are leached by rainwater into streams, killing aquatic life and destroying the riparian ecosystem. Road construction also has a devastating effect on terrestrial wildlife, especially bears. In addition, the proposed road would cut through one of the largest, roadless tracts of federally owned mountain terrain in the eastern United States, destroying the integrity of this remarkable natural resource. The proposed road would roughly follow the path of the Lakeshore Trail through the Smokies, destroying the natural and scenic quality of this portion of the Park.
From an economic standpoint the North Shore Road is a boondoggle. The road would cut across successive ridges in an area containing crumbling, faulted and unstable rock that would require extensive cuts and fills. The road would bridge three bodies of water ranging from approximately 0.3 to 0.6 of a mile requiring suspension bridges on scale with the Brooklyn Bridge within our national park. The road would negatively impact as many as 141 streams. Acids and heavy metals leaching from pyretic rock would require expensive and long-term environmental mitigation. From any reasonable perspective the Road to Nowhere is a bad idea that would not only be a huge waste of taxpayer money but would also destroy the integrity of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, impairing this national treasure.
A coalition of local, regional and national organizations including NPCA and the Citizens for the Economic Future of Swain County (CEFSC) are working together to settle this issue once and for all. Given the extreme financial and environmental costs of constructing the road, a monetary settlement is the only fair solution to this controversial issue. The monetary settlement is the only alternative that protects the park, immediately benefits Swain County and saves U.S. taxpayers over half of a billion dollars.
For More Information
For more information aboutthe North Shore Road, please contact Greg Kidd, Senior Program Manager, NPCA's Southeast Regional Office at 828-254-5161 or southeast@npca.org.
