U.S. Forest Service Announces Closure of Upper Tellico OHV Trails
System
Asheville, NC, Oct
14, 2009 - The US Forest Service announced today that it is permanently
closing the Upper Tellico OHV trail system in order to correct serious
erosion problems in the Upper Tellico River watershed in Cherokee
County, NC.
"When we first
began our analysis we hoped we could make repairs and modifications to
the existing OHV Trail system that would correct the water quality
problems while still allowing for some level of OHV use in this area to
continue," said National Forests in North Carolina Supervisor Marisue
Hilliard. "Unfortunately we discovered that repairing the existing
problems and maintaining these Upper Tellico OHV trails in the future
would be much more difficult than we expected," Hilliard said.
"Our analysis
has shown the problems to be worse than we first thought," said Forest
Supervisor Hilliard. "The 39 mile Upper Tellico OHV Trail System is
currently contributing unacceptable levels of sediment into the Tellico
River and its tributaries. The Forest Service is in violation of its
own standards and North Carolina state water quality standards because
visible sediment from the OHV trails is reaching the Tellico River and
its tributaries in hundreds of locations. Many of the trails are on
steep slopes and they all occur on very erodible soils. Much of the
Tellico OHV trail system runs parallel to streams in the area, with
over six miles within 100 feet of streams. The locations of these
trails make it extremely difficult to prevent sediment from reaching
the streams even if we are successful in repairing existing problems. "
Hilliard said.
In February,
2009, the Forest Service sought public comment on a detailed
environmental assessment which looked at six alternatives for future
management of the Upper Tellico OHV trail system including a preferred
alternative of closing the OHV trail system.
"After careful
considering the 2,400 public comments we received and thoroughly
reviewing all alternatives in the environmental assessment, I have
selected Alternative C, which closes the OHV System," said Hilliard.
"While we are closing the 39 mile OHV Trail system we will be keeping
13 miles of FS system roads in the area open year round or seasonally
for highway legal vehicles. This will provide access for hunting,
fishing and other recreation activities. We also will be paving and
reconstructing a portion of HW 420-1 which accesses private land and
serves as a through route from TN to NC for recreationists visiting the
Tellico area. Closed roads and trails will be stabilized and
rehabilitated to eliminate future sedimentation into the Tellico
River," Hilliard said.
"While I realize
that our OHV recreationists are understandably disappointed with this
decision on Tellico, I want to reassure our OHV users that we are
committed to maintaining other OHV trail opportunities on the National
Forests in North Carolina which are located on more suitable sites"
said Hilliard.
Other national
forest OHV trail systems in North Carolina include:
Wayehutta,
Nantahala NF, 21 miles (21 miles ATV and motorcycle),
Brown Mountain,
Pisgah NF, 34 miles (6 miles 4WD, 27 miles ATV, 34 miles motorcycle)
Badin Lake,
Uwharrie NF, 16 miles (16 miles 4WD, ATV and motorcycle)
Black Swamp,
Croatan NF, 8 miles (8 miles 4WD, ATV and motorcycle)
Copies of the
decision notice, environmental assessment, proposed additional
supporting documentation can be found at http://www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc/nepa/tusquitee/tellico.htm
For more
information contact:
Tellico Project
Coordinator, Candace Wyman 828-230-5039 (cell)
Tusquitee
District Ranger, Steve Lohr 828-712-6317 (cell)
