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Home My WebLink AboutR4440 (9)William 0. McLarney, Ph.D. CoiisultingBiologist 'TIP Pvo?\\'ect k-44ya Mr. JamilleX Robbins NCDOT- Human Environment Unit 1598 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-1598 Dear Mr. Robbins: 1120 Meadows Road Franklin, North Carolina 28734 Telephone: (828) 524-8369 September 24, 2010 You will probably recall that I spoke at the hearing in Swain County on the Needmore Road on Sept. 21, and presented you with several copies of the attached document. I am remalling it, together with a few other comments I did not have time for and some follow-up points to you, copied to the members of the Merger team and others. To'begin with the main point 1, in mycapacity as a Needmore area resident recreational user. of the Needmore' Game L""ands and, professional aquatic conservation biologist, consider that Alternatives D and E as proposed by the DOT are-unacceptable by virtue of being extremely risky environmentally, outrageously expensjve and totally out of keeping with the purpose an'd'character of the,Needmore Game Lands. So far, the DOT has failed to honor the purposes'for which you, and several other entities generously donated to the purchase of what we then knew as the Needmore Tract. I have read the comments of the members of the Merger Team and fully support them. By my count, the other night speakers opposed to Alternatives D and E outnumbered their supporters by more than 2 to 1. And this was at a meeting in Swain County where, unless I am mistaken, all DOT meetings related to the Needmore Road have been held. I support the call by the Macon County Board of Commissioners for a hearing in Macon County (which has half of the project area), but I can assure that if you do grant this request you will find an audience even more favorable to a low impact solution. Most of us concerned citizens thought until very recently that the idea of turning the Needmore Road into a wide, high speed through road was dead. And we are dismayed that the DOT has not given more attention to studying real alternatives to a plan which is antithetical to the main reasons we all got together a decade ago to put the Needmore Tract in public ownership. Any time the DOT wants to live up to its rhetoric about consulting the public, and to assume a role among the stewards of a priceless area it helped to protect, I can assure.you that a broad sector of the public is ready and,eager to help in selecting the best alternative. While I cannot speak for the members of. the Merger Team, every, indication'to date is that they'and.the agencies they represent are also ready to participate,... A point made by (correctly) by someof the proponents'of,Alternative E at the hearing was that. "I trust DOT to know how to build a road"..By'the same token agencies such as the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commissicm, who are primarily responsible for the Needmore Game Lands, know. . how to manage a protected area, and the users of that area know what they want. Please respect all of us as together we define the future of the Needmore Road and the Needmore Game Lands. Sincerely, Dr. William 0. McLarney (y12C. cc: Marla Chambers, Western NCDOT Permit Coordinator i Chris Militischer, EPA Brian Wrenn, NDCWQ Linda Pearsall, NC Natural Heritage Program Lori Beckwith, USAGE Marella Buncick, USFWS Jenny Sanders, Little Tennessee Watershed Association Ronnie Beale, Macon County Board of Commissioners Wif iam O, McLarney, Ph.D. Biologist ~T !? f V-0 2 - c+ 'a 4 O STATEMENT: For Public Hearing on Needmore Road September 21, 2010 1120 Meadows Road Franklin, North Carolina 28734 Telephone: (828) 524-8369 The following personal statement, re plans for the future of the Needmore Road , is prepared for the DOT and other concerned parties. This hearing appears likely to attract a large attendance, and ! it is both likely and reasonable that strict limits will'be placed on speakers' time. In anticipation of this eventuality, the following statement should be considered as what I would like to say/would have said. It will be presented to the DOT on Sept. 21, but is being made available to other interested parties ahead of time. Thank you and good evening. My name is Bill McLarney and I am a member of the Little Tennessee Watershed Association, whose position, which will be presented by Executive Director Jenny + Sanders, I support. I have three additional justifications for speaking out on this issue: I 1. 1 am a resident of extreme northern Macon County, who drives the Needmore Road frequently, in all kinds of weather. 2. 1 am a frequent recreational user of the Needmore Game Lands. 3. 1 am a professional conservation biologist who has spent the past 25 years (and counting) studying the Little Tennessee River and its tributaries; and so have strong opinions about how the Needmore Road, in its present condition and all foreseeable future conditions, will _ affect the river, and particularly the threatened and endangered species therein. To finish bragging on myself, I would like to point out that I was probably the first peson to publicly suggest that Nantahala Power might want to consider putting the 4,600 acre Needmore Tract, as it was known then, in some form of public ownership. That was at the Little Tennessee Watershed Conference, held in 1993, with the Town of Franklin and the Western North Carolina Alliance as principal sponsors. Since then, that dream has become reality, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank some of the individuals and organizations who made that possible, many of whom are here tonight: • The Western North Carolina Alliance continued to play a key role throughout the acquisition process. They remain concerned, and a number of members are here tonight. • Paul Carlson is present tonight, representing the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee, which did so much to facilitate the purchase. • Local interests, and especially the heritage factor, were defended by Needmore Neighbors, represented here by Cheryl Taylor and others. + I'm proud that both the Macon and Swain County Commissions voted unanimously to support the acquisition. There were also important roles played by larger organizations and government agencies: • Of course the Clean Water Management Trust Fund made it all possible. • The Nature Conservancy played an important role in the end game. • Agencies such as the US Fish & Wildlife Service and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission contributed enormously. The Wildlife Commission presently manages the area, and deserves special thanks for dealing with the formerly disastrous trash situation along the road - probably the single best thing that's ever been done for the Needmore Road. • And while I'm saying thank you, we should not forget the DOT, who chipped in $8 million of mitigation funds to help preserve what is today known as the Needmore Game Lands. I'd like to focus the rest of what I have to say not just on the road and the river but on the Needmore Game Lands through which they both pass. At the start there was some talk of a State Park - but that would have eliminated some traditional uses, and created the danger of turning Needmore into another Nantahala Gorge. For very clear economic reasons neither the Land Trust nor the Nature Conservancy wanted to hold title to the property in the long run. Needmore might have been added to the National Forest. But in the end the decision was Game Lands, and I am thankful for that. Game Lands designation has protected Needmore and its biodiversity in a low profile way which assures that local people are the primary beneficiaries. And it has permitted people like me, and people whose history here is much longer than mine, to continue to use the area for hunting, fishing, hiking and boating. So what should be the future of the Needmore Road in relation to the Needmore Game Lands? I am on record as being concerned about the effect on the Little Tennessee River of sediment from the Needmore Road. Paving the road would largely correct that problem. However in my opinion - and I note that most of the commenting agencies concur- paving the Needmore Road as proposed by the DOT=Alternative E -would simply replace one set of problems with another. The Needmore Road needs to serve the people who live along it and recreational users of the Game Lands. Spending $13 million of taxpayers' money by Inviting more and faster traffic by people who don't fall into those two categories is antithetical to the purposes for which the DOT and other agencies invested so much money and effort a decade ago. I know that if one were to poll the people in this room right now, one would find many shades of opinion, and we need to respect all these opinions. There are people who sincerely favor Alternative A, which is to do nothing and leave things just like they are. There may be people who have made up their minds for one of the other alternatives. I personally don't believe that we know enough to pick an alternative with confidence. While none of us can presume to speak for the community, I will say that I have confidence that there is a strong majority opinion among those to whom the Needmore Game Lands matter most, that Alternative E is the wrong alternative. And I sincerely hope that in the near future we will be able to once again thank the DOT- for scaling back their ambitions for the Needmore Road.