"JohnR" wrote in message
k.net...
While I do have empathy for the desire of those who want to visit their
old
home place or the cemetary where their relatives are buried, building a
road
across 34 miles of shoreline at the cost of $600,000,000 isn't the answer.
The families already are given transportation across Fontana Lake *and*
bus
transportation to the old home sites and graveyards. They want to eat
their
cake and have it, too.

I have had many discussions with friends and clients who have lived in
Swain
County their entire lives about this issue. The most enlightened comment
came from a friend whose family was moved out to build the lake and then
had
half their property taken to begin building the Road to Nowhere. She said
it
was a conflict between those who were always looking backwards (pro-road)
and those who hoped to build a better future (anti-road, pro-settlement)
for
their children so that they could remain in Swain County and not have to
seek a livelihood elsewhere. As things stand now, Swain County is one of
the
poorest counties in North Carolina and has traditionally had one of the
highest unemployment rates.

And finally, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, like all National
Parks, belong to ALL Americans and decisions about the Park should be made
on a national basis. To give a small but vocal minority in a county of
10,000 the power to decide for all Americans is ludicrous.

Living where I do, this issue doesn't impinge on me directly.....well, not
much anyway. As it happens, I've actually been to the place that all the
fuss is about a couple of times to fish in a beautiful trout stream. It's
not one of my favorite streams (there are many others in the region that
suit my own admittedly idiosyncratic tastes better), but I like it well
enough that I would go back with little prodding.

The setting is gorgeous.....deep woods in the mountains that the casual
observer could easily mistake for the forest primeval.....the
wilderness.....virgin territory. It's the kind of place that anyone with an
appreciation for wild outdoor places would want to see. It is also about as
romantic a setting for the old family graveyard as one could hope for. Even
someone as blasé about mortal remains as me would be sorely tempted to make
occasional visits if it meant going to such a place. How much more so then
for those who take such matters seriously?

Others have covered the issue pretty well but there's still a couple of
things worth considering. Very real (I think) legal and moral contractual
considerations aside, there probably aren't a lot of the original residents
left. On the one hand, as they continue to age they will find it ever more
difficult to visit the graves of their loved ones. Boat access to the AREA
is easy enough (and delightful) but there is no dock. Elderly and infirm
visitors must already have a difficult time scrambling up the bank and
making the more than half mile walk to the cemetery. This problem will only
get worse with time. On the other hand, in a couple of decades at most
there will be no original inhabitants still alive and interested. A
generation or two down the road there will be only an occasional idly
curious descendant to make the trip. Meanwhile, if a road is built it is
absolutely certain to bring large numbers of people into a hitherto
relatively unavailable corner of what is, after all, one of the most popular
tourist attractions in the world. The inevitable result is that the
recreational value of the land in close proximity to the road skyrockets.
The equally inevitable consequences to the physical environment have not
only already been alluded to by others, they are also obvious. What may not
be so obvious is that development of some sort will naturally follow in such
a beautiful spot and, eventually, an unused and little visited cemetery will
be deemed unnecessary and a waste of valuable space. The graves will be dug
up and "The Old Cemetery Picnic Area" will take its place. There is no way
to gauge exactly how long it will take, but putting a road in there is the
kiss of death for the cemetery it is supposed to serve.

Wolfgang