Benton MacKaye
Trail Assn.
News Items
"...leaving a footpath for generations to follow."
|
Benton MacKaye |
News Items "...leaving a footpath for generations to follow." |
News articles are posted here in text-only format as soon as they become available. (See newsletters for accompanying photos and graphics.) For past items, see Newsletter Archives.
Top Stories
With political momentum building, the National Park Service has announced their intent to drop all support for the $600 million road project in favor of the $52 million settlement with Swain County, NC. This good news, released on May 25 in a statement by Smokies' Superintendent Dale A. Ditmanson, was gladly received by environmental and outdoor organizations and regional lawmakers. "While not the road's final nail in the coffin," said one analyst, "it's certainly getting close."
Citing "extensive review of the nearly 76,000 public comments received," the NPS statement went on to detail their plans to release a Final Environmental Impact Statement in September, abide the mandatory 30-day public comment period, then issue a Record of Decision. Appeals will probably follow, but with such overwhelming opposition to the road, it's chances of ever being built are quickly diminishing.
Seventeen US House and Senate members from Tennessee and North Carolina had united (on March 28) to send the Interior Department a letter urging a decisive end to the process. They called for a final, no-build decision within 90 days, and for the remaining $6 million alloted to environmental impact studies to be handed over to Swain County as a down payment. (This after $9 million had already been spent.)
For those unfamiliar with this issue, the BMT is routed on the north shore of Fontana Lake, directly in the path of the proposed North Shore Road. Our trail would be severely degraded by this project, the demise of which we eagerly await!
One of the practical aspects of proper road construction is the need to remove water from the driving surface. This keeps motorists safe, but the flow of runoff often becomes concentrated. When concentrated runoff courses down a steep mountainside, as it does off the Cherohala Skyway across the BMT, the results are not good. Fast flowing water quickly carves deep ravines in the hillside and, in our case, will soon make the trail impassable unless the torrent can be stopped.
A bridge will not fix this problem. Below the trail there is an ever-growing hole advancing up the slope at a rate of several feet-per-year. It is now only about 15 feet away. When it reaches the trail, the section between Unicoi Crest Overlook and Beech Gap will have to be closed and the BMT rerouted onto the Skyway.
Help has been sought from our friends at the Forest Service in an effort to see that this doesn't happen. They have been asked to request of the North Carolina Department of Transportation that the runoff be dispersed or redirected. Let's hope it can happen in time to save this section of trail!
The BMTA had no official activities planned for this year's National Trails Day on June 2, but our friends at the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club (GATC) graciously offered an invitation for us to set up a display at their Stone Mountain and Vogel State Park programs.
Many thanks to GATC for the warm welcome. Also to Bob Ruby, who coordinated and ran the BMTA booth at Stone Mountain.
The USFS meeting held October 24 on Brawley Mt. was attended by representatives of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (sponsor of this project), Georgia ForestWatch, the Georgia/Atlanta Area Audubon Society and the BMTA.
Early comments received by the Forest Service caused a reduction in the proposed area to be cut, from over 700 acres to about 400 acres. The affected area is mostly near the summits of Brawley Mt., Bald Top, and Tipton Mt. The cutting in the various alternatives would approach the BMT quite close, but not cross the trail.
The four alternatives to be considered are: The original 700+ acre cut, two cuts of about 400 acres each (one with herbicide use but less frequent burning, the other without herbicide use but more frequent burning), and a no-cut option (which would abandon the project). If this trial project is carried out and deemed successful, other similar projects would be done at other locations.
Many issues have been identified, but no additional public comments will be received until the Environmental Assessment is completed and released, probably some time this winter. The next update you read here will be the big one!
The sudden increase in illegal off-road/all-terrain vehicle (ATV) activity on section 8 (Cashes Valley, Bushy Head Gap, Fowler and Flat Top Mts.) first reported in the February newsletter has been found to be a much bigger problem than originally thought. After our friends at Georgia Forest Watch (GAFW) found the trouble (special thanks to David Govus), our friends and partners at the Forest Service, led by District Ranger Alan Polk, jumped on this problem and began working with concerned groups like the BMTA. Mr. Polk and another USFS official, Officer Mike Tipton, made a special trip to the February board meeting to address BMTA officers on the subject. (And board members unanimously expressed gratitude to these men for their concern and plan of approach.)
At that time, it was still thought that the increasing damage was due to a relatively small number of miscreants, perhaps a few newcomers to the area. But GAFW continued to investigate and what they've since found is truly shocking. The perpetrators have established a large-scale network of illegal ATV trails all through the Mountaintown Inventoried Roadless Area. They have made the Benton MacKaye Trail an integral part of this web and added even more access points. These ATV trails appear to be well planned and coordinated, not the work of a few good ol' boys just out for a weekend of beer drinking and illegal ATV riding.
The key discovery was a new trail to the south of McKenny Gap that connects to a nearby hunting camp. This facility, located on private property, is reportedly equipped with several bunk beds. The 'developers' have been so brazen as to not only cut in a new trail from the camp across Forest Service land, but to blaze it with white paint as well! But why would locals need blazes to follow? The conclusion is that the camp is probably rented out commercially and the blazes help those who are unfamiliar with the area find their way.
But wait, there's more! Besides the blazed trail from the camp up to McKenny Gap at the BMT, there is another trail that runs from the camp up to the shoulder of Fowler Mt. at the BMT. This one is well established and traverses some steep terrain. That makes the unlawful ATV use especially destructive since the wheels lose traction and spin, thus excavating the topsoil as they go. Rain on the steep slope then washes the soil away.
Board members George Owen and Eric Eades are looking into this new information. Many thanks (again) to David Govus and Georgia Forest Watch (www.GAFW.org) for their excellent detective work in the field.
Recent Items
There are three road walks in Georgia targeted for elimination. This work poses a special challenge because it involves the coordination of access to both Federal and private lands. When done, the trail will walk roads only at right angles wherever possible. A Corridor Protection Committee is now being organized. If you'd like to help out, please contact George Owen at 706-374-4716.
The time has arrived. Spring is in its full-on splendor and the Annual Walk-thru is about to happen. To be held this year on April 28, the weekend after Earth Day, this Walk-thru is expected to cover a record number of sections. But many of the hikers will need shuttles and those volunteering for this important task of driving are also very much appreciated.
Choose your section or have one assigned, as you like. To see which ones are available or for more information, check the web page at www.BMTA.org/AnnualWalk-Thru.htm. To register contact Bill Lundin at 423-344-0823 for sections in Tennessee and North Carolina, or Tom Keene at 770-422-4838 for Georgia trail, or use the Contact form. Happy trail sections to you!
For any who may wish to access the official BMT mileage figures for personal use, the spreadsheet has been posted. The native format OpenDocument (www.OpenOffice.org) version at:
♦ www.BMTA.org/Mileage/Official_BMT_Mileage.ods (Download tip: Internet Explorer will rename the file (to a .zip). Restore the original name, .ods, before use.), and
♦ ...Official_BMT_Mileage.xls, the MS Excel format sheet.
The data inside each is identical to that found on the Section Mileages page, but with a little more detail and information.
Trail damage from unlawful off-road vehicle use in section eight has been a problem for years, but a recent increase in this activity - including the destruction of Forest Service barricades - indicates the problem is getting worse. After gaining forcible access, ATV users have cleared the old logging roads they use to reach the ridgeline, where the BMT is routed. They then turn onto the BMT and run up and down the trail, from Flat Top Mt. to Bushy Head Gap, tearing up the treadway (much of it hand-cut) as they go.
The number of distinct ATV trails that connect to the BMT has now grown to four, all are in active use, and all originate at the Double Knob subdivision (located south of the trail). Pressure from area real estate development has increased exponentially and some of the newcomers apparently believe they are entitled to play with their toy 4-wheelers anywhere they choose, without regard to the law. Though their numbers are few, the destruction is substantial.
Much of the trail being violated passes through the Mountaintown Roadless Area, which was proposed to be designated as a National Scenic Area in the last Congress. (See recent newsletters.) Cashes Valley, downslope of the trail, is one of the prettiest places in northwest Georgia. It's hard to see it being treated this way. Not to mention our trail!
This item has been placed on the agenda for the February board meeting. Ed.: Many thanks to our friend David Govus of Georgia Forest Watch for the updated information and pictures used in this article.
Volunteer trail maintainer hours on National Forest lands in 2006 were:
♦ For Georgia: 1181.5 work and 749.5 travel for a total of 1931.0 hours.
♦ For Tennessee and North Carolina: 981.0 work and 451.0 travel for a total of 1432.0 hours.
This yielded a grand total of 3363 hours for 2006, down slightly from the 2005 total of 3,677 hours. Most of the difference was accounted for in Georgia, as TN/NC totals remained constant. Both Tom Keene and Bill Lundin look for a good year in trail maintenance in '07. All members and friends of the BMTA are encouraged to try out at least one work trip this year. Most who do come back for more.
The Maintenance Director for BMT-Middle (Tennessee and North Carolina), Bill Lundin, has released the following summary statistics for 2006:
No. of sections w/ section maintainers: 28 (of 34 total)
No. of sections available for adoption: 6
Total Miles Maintained: 94.4 of 108.0 (87.4%)
Total No. of individual maintainers: 24
Average trail-miles-per-maintainer: 3.24 mi/person
No. of group maintainers: 4
Average trail-miles-per-group: 4.15 mi/group
No. of work trips in 2006: 80
Total number of unique participants: 41
Feet of treadway dug: 190
Miles brushed: 41
No. of blowdowns sawn out: 175
Total work hours: 981
Total travel hours: 451
Total volunteer hours for 2006 in BMT-Middle: 1432
Reports of innumerable blowdowns littering the trail abound after the second wild windstorm of the season, in December. The few intrepid hikers who ventured out into the backcountry in recent weeks have reported as many as 20 trees-per-mile down across the trail. Late autumn and early winter temperature extremes were blamed for the unusually tempestuous storms. As expected, damage seems to be worst on the ridgelines and adjacent trail segments. Section maintainers are asked to please check your slices of the BMT pie. Any treadway obstructions too big to handle should be reported to the local Maintenance Director.
"The road is dead."
Thus National Park Conservation Assn. Senior Vice President for Programs and long-time BMTA member Ron Tipton summarized one of the major outcomes of the November 7 congressional election of Heath Shuler over incumbent Charles Taylor in Western North Carolina.
The road is the infamous North Shore Road proposed through the southeastern reaches of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was originally proffered over a half-century ago to satisfy demands by Swain County (Bryson City) and the descendants of those buried in various cemeteries within this region of the park.
Eight-term Congressional Rep. Charles Taylor had supported the road and had initiated a $16 million study of the subject; and done so over the opposition of both conservationists and more-recent Swain County leaders who had opted to take the $50 million settlement, to be used for a long-term solution to some of that county's deepest needs. Estimates for building the entire road run to $0.6 billion and more.
Shuler, the new congressman, was raised in a home just over a mile off the notorious "Road to Nowhere," the initial stage of the proposed 35-mile North Shore Road. This portion has existed for decades from Bryson City to its terminus at a tunnel shortly after entering the park. The "North Shore" designation is because the extension would roughly parallel inland miles of Lake Fontana's north shore within the Park.
If built, this road would have absorbed some existing sections of the Benton MacKaye Trail in that area. This would have meant trail relocation and the presence, often close by, of a highway in one of the most remote and best-preserved portions of America's most-visited national park. The Benton MacKaye Trail Association has long opposed the road, as have Appalachian Trail groups and virtually every conservation organization.
Shuler, a moderate Democrat, is a hunter and outdoorsman. Taylor is on the bi-partisan League of Conservation Voters list of "dirty dozen" for his poor environmental voting record.
In a recent pre-election article in the Asheville Citizen-Times, Shuler said that he was strongly opposed to the road going through the national park, noted the need to preserve this national treasure without further invasive influence, and offered his support for the $50 million settlement money to go to Swain County.
We of the BMTA have long supported the same stand as Shuler's, and now trust that the matter of a needless and very expensive road is closed. This will secure both the beauty and remoteness of our beloved Benton MacKaye Trail in the area on and near the north shore of Fontana Lake.
Favorites
Okay so you're hiking section 12e (US Hwy 64, mile 91) southbound from FS 45 and you've only made about three-tenths of a mile. You come to the lovely little stream in the lush, deep holler when suddenly, what to your wandering eyes should appear? Not Santa and his eight tiny reindeer, but a mysterious monument made from hundreds of randomly-placed masonry blocks.
"Whence came this rough assemblage?" you wonder. A bereaved local? Pranksters? ALIENS?? The enigma has mystified many a hiker since nearly a decade ago when the strange conical pile first appeared.
But by an alignment of (cosmic?) circumstances, the mystery was solved on November 5, 2006. It so happened that several folks from the BMTA Annual Meeting were doing one of the traditional Sunday morning pick-up hikes before heading home. As they rounded the last corner coming into the cove, there stood several young people gathered. And lo, just beyond them, lined up like little soldiers at attention, was a row of blocks about to be added to the pile.
It was at this very moment that one of the hikers reportedly began jumping up and down exclaiming "The mystery's solved!" "The mystery's SOLVED!!"
Turns out, there's a social organization at a local university that began having this block-placing ceremony ten years ago. Their leaders were searching for just such a perfect setting when they stumbled upon our trail.
But alas, such a structure is illegal. So the responsible club will be dismantling it and carrying the elements to a new, permanent home located on private property. If you'd like to help with the cleanup, watch for an email from the Members List. (To join the list, free to all, Contact Us.) It's a neighborly thing to do, especially in this holiday season.
In August 1821, William Davenport and his party walked the Benton MacKaye Trail. His group was charged with the task of surveying the North Carolina - Tennessee boundary from the end of the 1799 survey at the Big Pigeon River to the Georgia state line. His notes were transcribed by Horace Kephart in 1928 into typed and readable form that tells us much about the land along the state line. The survey used certain trees as waypoints and the word “chestnut” regularly appears in the notes. While none of these chestnuts are left and any one tree described in the notes would be a truly rare find, the surveyors did leave behind some items that still survive.
While it is not recorded in the notes, we suppose, based on what we’ve seen on the ground, that the survey party set stone markers for each mile of the survey. There are two of these known to the members of the BMTA in the area either side of Sandy Gap. Each has engraved on it “NC” with a number below it. The number represents the number of miles along the border from the Big Pigeon River. Just west of the summit of Hazelnut Top is the marker for Mile 92. A BMTA work party found this one in January of 1992. At the time, we were not sure if it was a gravestone or something else. In 2004, Ken Jones pointed out the marker at Mile 95. Either marker is easily passed without recognizing its significance.
Maintainers are reminded to work with care around these pieces of history. All other visitors are invited to take plenty of pictures but avoid anything else that would damage or mar these markers. They have lasted 185 years in an area where people rarely visit. It would be a shame to lose them to vandalism or carelessness.
When we offer to let people Contact Us, there truly is no limit to the imagination of what might be sent in -- as this recent submission proves:
"Hello, Ya'll do not allow any 'pack' animals on the Benton MacKaye, but I will be hiking the entire trail next year and was wondering if I could get a 'pass' or something for my goat, not as a 'pack' animal but for its milk. It provides me with superb nutrition on the trail. I can have fresh goat's milk and other benefits are yogurt, kefir, and fresh goat's milk ice cream. I ask for some kind of exemption as a BIG favor for me."
Now, we like goats. (See Mother Earth News, issue #192.) But beyond the absurdity of taking one's milking goat on a 300-mile hike, there are animal cruelty issues, among others. (!) And while it would be entirely feasible to keep an active yogurt culture alive in one's pack, the extra weight (not to mention the possibility of making a huge mess) would not seem worth it. At least, not to some!
Of course, the BMTA has no say over which animals are allowed on public lands, and this gentleman was so advised. But if you're out working on trail and happen to hear 'ba-a-a-a', or see a hiker with a milk goat following along, remember you read it here first.
BMTA Home Contact Us Site Map Events Membership Info
All content copyright © 2003-2008 by Benton MacKaye Trail Association, Inc. All rights reserved.