The Southern Highland Reader

GSMNP–Congressman Heath Shuler recently helped secure a $13 million down-payment from the federal government to help put an end to the nearly-seven-decade controversy over a road once planned along the north shore of Lake Fontana.

The payment, part of a larger, undisclosed sum, would compensate Swain County for the federal government’s choice not to build the road, which was promised in 1943.

National Parks Traveler writer Danny Bernstein gives a history of the controversy here.

Here’s an excerpt:

The North Shore Road issue was revived again in 2001 when former Congressman Charles Taylor, a Republican from western North Carolina, obtained $16 million for further construction of the North Shore Road. This set off a process that looked into the environmental impact of a 35-mile road. The National Park Service held public input forums in various locations around the Smokies and accepted comments from anyone in the U.S. on various ways to resolve the 1943 agreement. Thousands of pages were generated, reviewed, and discussed. Descendants of the original settlers were the only ones who wanted a road in the park. Almost all comments were against the road and for a financial settlement with Swain County, where Fontana Dam is located, one of the four parties to the original agreement.

In December 2007, the Department of the Interior made a decision that officially called for a yet-to-be-specified multi-million-dollar monetary settlement to Swain County instead of a road through one of the most pristine and untouched areas in the East. Though the park is now protected and the North Shore Road will never be built, Congress still has to approve the funds to settle the 1943 agreement.

DILLSBORO–This story, in which Constance Richards writes up Barry Kennon’s tiki bar party spot outside his house on the Tuckasegee near Dillsboro, first ran in the August edition of swanky WNC Magazine.

It’s been posted online since, so, given that party journalism pieces are few and far between in the mountains, it obviously needed sharing.

Kennon, a championship kayaker, modeled his tiki bar after one he knew in Costa Rica, and built it around his boat takeout.

Here’s an excerpt:

As more decorations go up, including tiki totems and palm leaves, Dieter Kuhn, Sylva’s resident brewmeister and owner of Heinzelmännchen Brewery, takes the B.Y.O.B. standard to a master’s level and taps a keg of his seasonal Hoppy Gnome. The set-up crew continues their work with golden pints in hand.

“If you only eat your own food and drink your own beer, you’re selling yourself short,” says Kuhn. “We have so many great venues in this little area—people really come together and like to share what they have to offer.”

In the kitchen, [former Spring St. Cafe chef Karl] Engelmann is crisping slices of fresh ciabatta bread and sesame-covered filone from Annie’s Naturally Bakery in the oven, which will be served with a panoply of cheeses. For the early guests, he sends out a platter of thick triangles of farmstead cheeses from Yellow Branch Pottery & Cheese, globes of Dark Cove goat cheese covered in chopped chives, and crudités.

Moving on to the trout, he blends pork sausage from Nantahala Meats and Poultry in Franklin, chopped croutons, garlic, and herbs, and spoons the mixture into the whole trout before wrapping each with bright green banana leaves and tying them with string. “This will literally steam the fish, keep the moisture in, and enhance the flavors,” Engelmann says. He has another trick in mind, too. Shells from the boiled peanuts he’s serving with the Cobb salad will go into the grill flames to add a nutty flavor.

Read the whole story here.

STATEWIDE–When the state of North Carolina announced a new online reservation system for its state park campgrounds late last year, there was uncertainty about how the system would be received, and about how well it would work.

The Raleigh News and Observer reports that all is well. In fact, all is very well.

Over 1,300 reservations have been made for 2,000 available campsites for 2010, the paper reports.

An excerpt:

The new system was launched in July, making it easier for people to reserve spots up to 11 months in advance at any park. Reservations can be made for stays as short as one night or as long as two weeks.

The new system should eliminate what used to be long lines starting New Year’s Day at popular parks such as Kerr, Jordan and Falls lakes. Under the old system, about 2,000 campsites could only be reserved by paying in person at the park or taking the chance on the U.S. Postal Service. Visitors were permitted to reserve spots only up to a week in duration.

Read the story here.

STATEWIDE–The Charlotte Observer reports that state health officials now say Lyme Disease can be contracted in North Carolina. For years, officials thought the tick-borne ilness was unlikely to be contracted here.

An excerpt:

Based on the new evidence, Dr. Megan Davies, state epidemiologist, said the state is now working to get the word to doctors, who for years were reluctant to even test patients for Lyme because it wasn’t considered much of a possibility.

“What we’re trying to communicate to physicians is that it’s possible to acquire Lyme in North Carolina, so don’t hold to an old belief,” Davies said, noting that she and others are meeting with infectious disease doctors at the state’s medical schools to get the word out.

Read the story here from the Observer.

CULLOWHEE–When outfitter Burt Kornegay, owner of Slickrock Expeditions, got an email from a friend inviting him to a save-the-Dillsboro-Dam shindig, he fired off a pithy response. Naturally, it was immediately shared all around the interwebs, where by complete happenstance it filtered all the way down to me.

Here it is, with his permission:

First, the note from his friend:

Yo, read all about it….

Saturday night there is a benefit in support of saving the Dillsboro Dam. So, all you anti-establishment, anti-Duke Power people come on down and catch the 7:30 set of singer-songwriter Barbara Duncan. If you’ve not heard her, you owe it to yourself to check this out and to have a few beers in the process, not to mention to support a good cause. So, let’s make Sat. eve. a party night and fill up Guadalupe (that also serves great food).

Hope to see you there …

Then, Burt’s response:

Hey, Partner, Hold on there!

Why do you say that fighting to keep the Dillsboro dam is “a good cause”?  Because doing so spites bad ole Duke?  Let’s not forget that the dam plugs up and drowns the Tuckaseegee River, halting the travel of river creatures and backing up an unnatural mile-long trough of deadwater behind it. Also, from a human perspective now, the dam stands in the way of creating a real, honest-to-goodness “river park” in Dillsboro.  By honest-to-goodness river park, I mean a park with a river that actually flows, like at East LaPorte (probably the most popular public place in our county).  A real river park would make a pleasurable place for all of us to go, and it would be good for businesses in Dillsboro too.  Hundreds of old concrete plugs like the Dillsboro dam are coming down all across the US,  cheered on by river-loving and civic-minded people just like yourself, and I say, Right On!

As for your rebel claim that it is “anti-establishment” to fight for the dam, because doing so is anti-Duke, I say, wasn’t the dam built by the county’s moneyed “establishment” in the first place, back when other segments of the local “establishment” were as busy as beavers gnawing out railroad lines, felling the virgin forest, and turning the Tuckaseegee into flowing mud?  I mean, what could be more “establishment” than a dam?  (Well, perhaps a skyscraper or aircraft carrier.)  And what could be more “establishment” than to align yourself with the likes of county manager Ken “Dam or Die” Westmoreland, who doesn’t mind taxing us to the tune of more than a quarter-million-$ to pay lawyers, in his attempts to do  .  . . what?  Why, to milk still more $ from Duke! When it comes to the Dillsboro dam, the “anti-” lies in taking it down.

Kornegay’s longtime Jackson County business has been the focus of some media features lately. Here and here from the Smoky Mountain News, for example. The Sylva Herald has also written him up (you can search that story at their paid archives, here).

Recent news from the legal struggle over the dam from the Sylva Herald here (link will expire in one week), and from the Smoky Mountain News here.

REGIONAL–With a steady resurgence of the mountain black bear population in progress (and there was never any great shortage), its no surprise that they’re in the news so often these days. But even so, this week was a humdinger.

Bryson City is used to bears, given its proximity to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and lots of National Forest. Still, when a female and her cub came to town, found a tree they liked, and camped out, it caused a stir.

Clay Wilson at the Smoky Mountain Times got some mileage out of the story. Here’s an excerpt:

“I’ve never seen so many people,” said retired Swain County Schools teacher Shirley Sutton, who with her husband Eugene owns the property where the tree is.

Sutton had spotted the bears early Monday morning. She called the police to report the situation.

“They said just leave (them) alone, and they would come down,” Sutton said just before noon on Tuesday, with the bears still visible out her living room window. “But they haven’t come down.”

Also this week a Cherokee man was brought up on federal charges of dealing in poached bear parts, some of which are used in homeopathic treatments in Asia and elsewhere. Jon Ostendorff at the Asheville Citizen-Times wrote it up. His lead:

A Cherokee man must make a public apology for illegally selling 51 bear gall bladders, the U.S. Department of Justice ruled.

Last but by no means least was the misadventure in Cherokee, where a handler at one of the tourist attraction “bear parks” made famous recently by game show host Bob Barker was bitten by one of her charges. The feds are looking in to this incident.

Again, on the bear beat, Ostendorff:

Mary Clapsaddle, 75, who has been managing the park for about 20 years, was recovering at Mission Hospital from injuries to her hand and arm, said her son, Kole Clapsaddle. He owns the business.

She was airlifted to the hospital after the attack on Monday. A bear bit her while she was giving water to the animal about 12:45 p.m.

Clapsaddle said his mother broke safety rules when she stepped into a pen with a bear. He said handlers are supposed to place food and water in one part of the pen while the bear is secured in another part.

“She didn’t follow the rules,” he said. “If you follow the rules, you don’t get hurt.”

Here’s the rest of Ostendorff’s story.

REGIONAL-The ongoing conflict over usage rights on the Chattooga River is worth following, if, for no other reason, as a harbinger of things to come.

In its December issue, Blue Ridge Outdoors writer Graham Averill does a nice job of making the issue clear, and the magazine throws in maps, a timeline and a “headwaters highlights” section.

Here is Averill’s lead:

For three decades, paddlers have yearned to paddle the pristine waters of the Upper Chattooga River. Earlier this year, the U.S. Forest Service finally granted limited access of the Upper Chattooga to paddlers, but a flurry of legal threats—including a legal challenge from the paddling community—prompted the Forest Service to rescind their decision a few weeks ago, once again leaving boaters high and dry.

Paddlers have been banned from the entire 21-mile headwaters of the Chattooga and its tributaries since 1976, after the U.S. Forest Service divided the river in two parts due to a series of user conflicts. Citing fistfights, slashed boats, and gun play, the forest service separated the two user groups: Boating would be allowed on the lower Chattooga, but the upper 21 miles of the river and its headwaters would be reserved for fishing.

Another clip:

Many conservation groups, including Georgia Forest Watch and the Chattooga Conservancy, support the current zoning of the river into boating and non-boating sections. Other popular recreation areas like Tsali and Bent Creek are also zoned; some trails allow mountain bikes, ATVs or horses, while others are designated foot traffic only. Anglers also support the current zoning of the Chattooga, saying that it’s a more-than-equitable compromise: the 36-mile lower Chattooga is given to boaters, while the 21-mile upper Chattooga is protected for fishermen and hikers seeking a wilderness experience.

Ironically, no parties concerned in the Chattooga access issue seemed to be happy with the Forest Service’s recent decision. Soon after it was announced, the Forest Service was threatened with legal action from all sides: four separate appeals were filed by boaters, anglers, and conservation organizations. As a result, the Forest Service withdrew its decision to fully consider the concerns raised by the user groups.

Averill sources the Cullowhee-based group American Whitewater quite a bit in the story, and offers quotes from all sides.

Read the story here.

REGIONAL–Smoky Mountain Times outdoor writer Jim Casada continues his series of columns on literature of the Smokies with a piece about waterfall books.

An excerpt:

For people who find joy in the incredible beauty and majesty of waterfalls, visiting them is an ideal way to find peace of mind. Some may stand in wonder while listening to their music – perhaps the crashing crescendo of a powerful fall or the cymbal-like tinkling of a tiny one dripping and dropping across a rock face.

Recognizing the enduring appeal and magnetism of waterfalls, writers have produced a number of guidebooks to the ones in the Great Smokies as well as surrounding mountains. Have one (or several) of these available when planning a hike, seeking advice on photography, or seeking new destinations.

Read the column here.

REGIONAL–Charlotte Observer Associate Editor Jack Betts posts about the season’s first snow.

A clip:

The snow gave up its ghosts around dusk when it thinned, bucked, coughed and stopped. An hour later the clouds parted and a cold luminescence lit up the landscape, giving these old hills an eerie specter until the wind began to pick up, blowing snow devils around like little white upside-down tornadoes. We threw more locust on the fire and poured a wee dram, and wondered briefly and idly if we might be able to salvage a snowed-in call to the office out of this lovely gift of late fall in the Blue Ridge.

Read the post at his blog here.

Lower Falls (“Gulahiyi” photo)

CASHIERS–Ruminations from the Distant Hills shares a hike, some history and a few images from the Whitewater River, which flows south from Cashiers into the Palmetto State.

An excerpt:

The final stretch of the Whitewater River is the part that I will never see, since it is lost forever beneath the waters of Lake Jocassee, built by Duke Power in the 1970s. Among the worlds lost to the Jocassee damnation was the trail of the French botanist Andre Michaux who explored the Keowee and its headwaters in 1878 and 1788.

Somewhere between the Whitewater and the Toxaway Rivers, he took notes on one unusual plant. The subsequent efforts of botanists to find the Shortia galacifolia described by Michaux continued for a century before the mystery of the Oconee Bells was finally solved.

Read Gulahiyi’s post here.

GSMNP–Smoky Mountain News outdoor writer Don Hendershot wrote last week that the 2010 omnibus spending bill, due to be signed in a couple of weeks, might  include the long-awaited cash settlement that would (in theory) lay to rest Swain County’s North Shore Road controversy.

Hendershot quotes anonymous sources, and hints that the dollar amount could be greater than the projected $30 million.

Here’s an excerpt from Hendershot’s story:

After more fits, there was another start at construction back in 2000 when then Rep. Charles Taylor and then Sen. Jesse Helms appropriated $16 million for construction of the North Shore Road. Even though the $16 million was about $550 million short of the estimated cost of such a road, the appropriation spurred some Swain County residents to action.

The Citizens for the Economic Future of Swain County was created in 2001. Although totally lacking in acronym-imagination, the CEFSC did strike a chord with many Swain County residents and environmental groups with its proposal for a cash settlement in lieu of the improbable North Shore Road. Through some mathematical calisthenics the group came up with a settlement figure of $52 million.

Read the whole piece here

See a timeline through 2001, also from the Smoky Mountain News, here.

GSMNP-The Knoxville News-Sentinel reported over the weekend about cautious optimism on the part of Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials about their efforts to curtail the invasion of the hemlock woolly adelgid.

An excerpt:

“The work to preserve Eastern hemlock trees and forests in 2009 progressed and showed successes despite increased decline and obvious mortality of trees throughout the park,” the report states.

“‘Cautiously optimistic’ is a good term for it,” said park spokesman Bob Miller.

A three-pronged strategy, using a combination of predatory beetles, foliar treatments and systemic treatments, is being followed to destroy hemlock woolly adelgids on the trees.

Because of cost, accessibility issues and priorities given to most-visited areas, the treatment area is limited in scope and includes about 132,000 hemlocks in the park.

Read the story here.Read a post at Ruminations from the Distant Hills here.Our post “Saying Goodbye to the Hemlock”, from last year, is here.

BRYSON CITY–The Smoky Mountain Times’s Jim Casada takes a break from recent reviews of outdoor literature to share some Thanksgiving memories of eating and hunting in the Smokies.

An excerpt:

From that point on throughout my boyhood and beyond, rabbit hunting loomed large in Thanksgiving weekends. Hunts on Thanksgiving Day were normally abbreviated, because we had a grand feast and family gathering commencing sometime in early afternoon and culminating with a feast featuring fare like Grandma’s cathead biscuits and gravy, Aunt Emma’s ambrosia, Mom’s applesauce cake, and of course, turkey.

The trimmings included things which aren’t standard everywhere, as Grandma Minnie provided delicacies such as watermelon and peach pickles, leather britches beans, and a brown-sugar topped casserole using cushaws – an old-time winter squash.

Read Casada’s piece here.

NANTAHALA–Nantahala Outdoor Center has announced its title sponsorship of the 2010 Outdoor Industry Association Rendezvous in Asheville, NC. OIA’s Rendezvous is an annual leadership conference for the outdoor industry, and NOC along with the Asheville Chamber of Commerce welcome these leaders October 5-7, 2010.

“In a way, we’re welcoming home a group whose industry is a fundamental part of why the Asheville area is such a compelling destination,” said Tim Lampkin, Director of Convention Sales & Group Services at the Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau. “This is a region that celebrates its natural treasures, so we heartily welcome the businesses and associations that help us make our natural assets economic ones.”

Rendezvous will bring together leaders from across the country for a week of keynote speakers, breakout sessions, networking opportunities, recreation and entertainment, capped off with a volunteer service project to give back to the host community.

“We are excited to partner with NOC for Rendezvous 2010 and look forward to bringing the industry to Asheville next fall to showcase their efforts, as well as all the density of outdoor recreation and retailers in the area,” said Ann Obenchain, vice president of marketing and member services for OIA. “NOC’s leadership as a business in the Southeast and as a retailer in the outdoor industry is paramount and we are looking forward adding more paddlesports and retail influences to the event with their help.”

On the final day of Rendezvous, OIA attendees will give back to the community by working together to cleanup recreation areas in and around Asheville. This event will prove to be a special opportunity for leaders in the outdoor industry to make an impact on Asheville’s outdoor and paddling communities.

BRYSON CITY–Jim Casada churns out an amazing amount of outdoors writing for the Smoky Mountain Times, and his current series of book reviews is invaluable.

His most recent column takes a lengthy look at these hiking guidebooks of the Smokies:

Ken Wise’s “Hiking Trails of the Great Smoky Mountains.”

Russ Manning’s “100 Hikes in the great Smoky Mountains National Park”

“The Best of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park: A Hiker’s Guide to Trails and Attractions” by Russ Manning and Sondra Jamieson

Danny Bernstein’s “Hiking the Carolina Mountains.”

“North Carolina Hiking Trails” by Allen de Hart

Johnny Molloy’s “Trial by Trail: Backpacking in the Smoky Mountains,”

Michal Strutin’s “History Hikes of the Smokies”

Casada’s closing paragraph:

By all means, seek some armchair adventure through works such as those mentioned above, but the ultimate adventure, whatever the season, comes through being on the trail. Whether it’s a leisurely walk up lower Deep Creek – the sort scores of folks make daily – or one of those strenuous 20-plus mile ventures my brother Don enjoys, to be afoot in the park is to tread paths of wonder.

Read Casada’s column here.

ROBBINSVILLE-Zelerie Rose at the Graham Star writes that $120,000 of funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act supports a program to control invasive plant species and support habitat of two federally-listed endangered species along the Cheoah River.

Here’s a clip from Rose’s story:

The three-year project started this fall, involves nine miles of river and will protect the Virginia Spiraea, a federally-threatened shrub, and the Appalachian Elktoe, a federally-endangered mussel.

The treatment of the non-native species such as mimosa, Oriental bittersweet, yam, privet, Japanese honeysuckle, princess tree, kudzu, and multiflora rose, is the collaborative effort of Western North Carolina Alliance, the Cherokee Environmental Natural Resource Office, and North Carolina National Forests.

“Our job is to work with the various organizations involved in the project and educate them about non-native invasive plants,” said Bob Gale, ecologist for WNC Alliance. “These plants were introduced both intentionally and accidentally and have no natural controls limiting their spread. Left untreated they can threaten or endanger native habitats and native wildlife species.”

Read the story from the Graham Star here.

REGIONAL–David Tell at the Macon County News reports on the opening of deer season this Monday.

The season, which is expected to be an active one, runs until December 12.

Tell’s lead:

Deer hunting season opens Monday, and it’s expected to be a good one.

Whitetails are numerous, active, mobile — and hungry, according to wildlife officials, and hunter interest and presence are seen as strong.

Read the whole piece here.

CHARLOTTE–The Charlotte Observer reports that two Cullowhee area men were sentenced to federal prison Monday for “… attempting to transport, buy or sell an American black bear”.

Bobby Allen Gibson, 24, and Steven Louis Broom, 31, were charged in July of last year.

Both will spend ten months in prison, a year on federal parole and perform 100 hours of community service. Their punishment also includes banishment from federal lands, revocation of hunting and fishing privileges, and, in Broom’s case the revocation of the right to own a dog of any kind.

The Observer story is here.

Asheville Citizen-Times story here.

BALSAM–Hiking in the leaf-strewn woods feels colorful and messy, like a kid’s taped-together scrapbook. I am inspired to play the I Spy game. Spying the work of an industrious sapsucker drilled neatly into the bark of a tall tulip tree, I ask Sam (my six year old son) what made the neat line of bark holes.

Contributor Blair Ogburn is Senior Naturalist at Balsam Mountain Preserve. She, her husband Jon and son Sam live in Addie Community

“Woodpeckers” he says and I explain that a woodpecker did indeed tap out these little caverns. From the holes, tree sap will flow and provide nourishment to animals via sticky goo. Sapsuckers, other birds, and insects will come to the tree café and enjoy lapping some sap.

Sam takes a turn at I Spy and delights me with “I spy a tree’s nose”. I look around for a nose, perhaps nostril holes or a slimy fungus, but my eyes find only twigs and vines. Then I notice a wooden wedge pushed forth from furrowed bark of a dead standing tree (or snag). The growth Sam spied is actually a fungal shelf, appearing like a big black nose on the face of a dying tree. We take a closer look and find a pulsing web of life on the mossy shelf nose. There are beetles, scarlet colored mites, and dark spiders in webs from underneath.

Shelf fungi

Shelf fungi form dense anchors and send fungal fingers through snags and logs to weaken them. The wood then begins to rot and decompose. Wood munching insects and other recyclers move into softened wood to take advantage of a food source. Mother nature is on the job to create ‘new’ soil from old wood.

Peeking from a little nature nook in the snag, Sam and I find a golden mouse, our last discovery in today’s game of I Spy. The mouse’s fluffy fibrous nest is tucked inside the safe haven of the rotting tree. Thanks to decomposers like the shelf fungi, a mouse can find warmth and shelter from cold, wind and rain. As Sam and I are done spying on nature for the day, we turn back home to seek shelter of our own.

FRANKLIN–On Saturday, November 7, come celebrate ten years of stewardship on the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee’s Tessentee property in Otto. The Celebration begins at 11:00 and continues until 4:00 and includes music by the Frog Town 5, tours of the property, annual conservation award presentation, and demonstrations by Cherokee artisans and others. All activities are FREE for the entire

Tessentee Bottomland Preserve. Ralph Preston photo.

family, and food may be purchased on-site from Big Mountain BB-Q. In November of 1999 LTLT purchased 60 acres at the confluence of Tessentee Creek and the Little Tennessee River. This was the first land protected on the free-flowing Little Tennessee, and now a decade later – with 30 land protection projects – more than 5200 acres and 35 miles of river frontage have been conserved.

LTLT’s purchase of the Tessentee Bottomland Preserve not only launched an extraordinary river corridor conservation initiative, it also created a laboratory for land restoration and stewardship in the valley. At Tessentee LTLT purchased an old dairy farm with diverse soils, abundant water, and an historic farmstead. LTLT conducted a detailed inventory and sought expert advice in developing a management plan to restore the rich and diverse natural and cultural heritage resources found here in the heart of the upper Little Tennessee River Valley.

The riverbanks have been stabilized and reforested, and a wetland area has been partially restored. LTLT began their invasive exotic plant control program at Tessentee and initiated the long process of converting fescue pastures to more diverse grassland habitats and open woodlands.

At Tessentee LTLT first began its collaboration with Cherokee artisans in the management and harvest of rivercane. This collaboration has expanded to the establishment of experimental plantations of butternut and white oak for production of other traditional artisan materials. The Tessentee Preserve is stop #53 on the NC Birding Trail with the preserve’s bird list at 115 species and butterfly list at 42 species and counting. Here one can hike the most extensive trail system found on any LTLT property. Volunteers have also helped to restore the historic farmstead – by restoring the apple house, smoke house, and in recent months the foundation of the historic farmhouse.

Now a decade later, the Tessentee Preserve is a rich mosaic of wildlife and plant habitats, and it serves as a microcosm of LTLT’s stewardship and restoration work in this historic valley. It is a wonderful place to walk and to appreciate the extraordinary richness and diversity of the upper Little Tennessee.