Finally! The End of the Road (to Nowhere)

It seems like this day would never come but 2007 ended with good news for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. For years, NPCA and its partners have been fighting the proposed North Shore Road (a.k.a. the Road to Nowhere), a road that would have cut a 30-mile gash north of Fontana Lake through one of the largest remaining roadless areas in the eastern United States. After years of negotiations, congressional input and hundreds of letters written from supporters just like you, we've finally got a conclusion. On December 28, 2007 the National Park Service (NPS) signed the Record of Decision (ROD) that officially calls for a monetary settlement for Swain County with no additional road construction. With Congress already appropriating a $6 million dollar down payment for the settlement, our work now turns to seeing that Congress provides the balance of the monetary settlement to Swain County over the coming years.

There were a number of groups and members of Congress that were critical in this effort, but we couldn’t have done it without you. Your letters and calls were a key component to protecting Great Smoky Mountains. NPCA will be sure to keep you up to date as we continue to work to ensure the Swain County settlement goes through, and any other issues relevant to this, or other national parks. Thank you for all you do! For more information, contact Greg Kidd, Senior Program manager at gkidd@npca.org.