Ken Fortenberry wrote:

Willi wrote:

Ken Fortenberry wrote:


There's no reason to worry about development along the road.
The road would be entirely within the boundaries of the Park.
And I think the environmental concerns are overstated as well.
The road through the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone handles a lot
of traffic year round and the elk, bison, wolves, coyotes,
birds and fish don't appear to be any worse for the wear. Then
too 95% of all tourists never get more than a quarter mile from
their vehicles which limits the damage from the teeming hordes.


I can't believe this came from you! Just what we need, more roads
through our National Parks.


Not roads, road, singular. A road the federal government
promised, and started, to build.

I'm not going to lobby for it or anything, I'm just saying
I can see both sides of this issue and the Park Service
does have experience with roads through fragile places,
like the Lamar Valley for instance.


....and they have experience with building the roads in gsmnp around
fontana as well...all bad. the anakeesta formation rocks, when water
interacts, leech sulfuric acid. there is nothing that effectively
neutralizes the acid in the nc watersheds...not much limestone in that
area. anakeesta is thought to be common on the north shore side of
fontana and the park. according to a recent article about the issue, in
1963, the entire fish population in the upper section of beech flats
branch at a crest of the mountains was killed because of the acid leech
caused by the road construction of newfound gap road. there are still no
fish in that stream to this day within a mile of that crest road area,
and measurements show an increase in stream acidity after heavy rains.

i know **** about anakeesta in yellowstone or the lamar valley roads,
but i've lived long enough to see what roads have done to our nc
mountain streams and forest lands - none of it has been good for the
streams, the wildlife, the natural setting or experience, or those who
care about such things. given the bush admin take on forestry
practices, some are even worried about logging and commercial ventures
affiliated with such construction.

the graham county i grew up discovering will probably have a 4-lane road
through it in the next decade; big snowbird backcountry road has been
paved on the lower section and is developing in a bizarre, but rapid
manner. cherohala has brought an overabundance of tourists. you recall
how hooper bald looked at the top section when we hiked down looking for
snowbird? it was tromped down pretty hard up there even then because of
the tourist access and milling about. it's worse now. wolfgang was
"right on" with his description of adverse effects from the little i've
seen in my experience in nc. it can be found along the blue ridge
parkway as well, around the government-built and park-sponsored stations.

the north shore road is a malignant, destructive idea...it's contrary to
the mission ideals of the park service and the park. pay the 52 million,
and it's a bargain at 4 times that price for everyone. though i firmly
and compulsively believe in keeping promises, the locals have agreed to
accept this payment as compensation for the breach, so the promise issue
is moot and satisfied. the few folks visiting the cemeteries have
access as and when they want it...they are driven or delivered to points
nearer most of the cemeteries than the proposed road would provide. the
service has pontoon, landing boats, jeeps, suburbans, and buses to
transport folks on the forest road systems, some of which are very wide
and easy walking (hazel, noland).

jeff