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February 26, 2006
What is the Southern Appalachians Initiative?
The Southern Appalachians Initiative is a project of the American Hiking Society that seeks to build a 5,000-mile interconnected network of hiking trails in a 9-state region that includes Tennessee. The effort is based in Chattanooga and is directed by Jeffrey Hunter, the Southeasteern Trail Programs Director for American Hiking.
Locally, the project involves the Cumberland Trail Conference, the Chattanooga Hiking Club, the Cleveland, Tennessee based Cherokee Hiking Club, the Georgia Pinhoti Trail Association, and twenty seven other trail & conservation organizations based in the Southeast.
The Lula lake Land Trust and Tennessee River Gorge Trust are also involved in this exciting project.
This BLOG will chronicle the effort by American Hiking Society to build, protect, and promote this grand 5,000-mile trail system, which will eventually run right through the heart of Chattanooga.
This coming week, Jeffrey Hunter will be hiking the 36-mile long Lakeshore Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This trail and the surrounding parklands are imperiled by a proposal to build a road inside our most beloved National Park. While this is a complex issue dating back to 1943, this blog will illustrate the beauty of the area, and try to explain what will be lost if the North Shore Road is developed.
So, if you like to hike or want to get involved in hiking or volunteering, please bookmark this site and visit it regularly. Happy Trails!
Jeffrey Hunter
American Hiking Happenings | By Jeffrey Hunter | 9:10 PM
Comments
awesome, you doing anything in St. Elmo on the ridge?
Posted by: JosiahQ at February 27, 2006 10:59 AM
Josiah:
We sure are! We're working with the Lula Lake Land Trust to help develop a new 11-mile trail from their core property to Cloudland Canyon State Park. Checkout the Lula Lake Land Trust website for volunteer days, or signup for our free e-newsletter from our links. I try and list new developments and volunteer opportunities as they arise in the e-newsletter.
Jeffrey Hunter
Posted by: Jeffrey Hunter at February 27, 2006 11:08 AM
I assume the North Shore Road will pick up at the road to no where and come out on the other side of the dam? I have backpacked that area before, and it does not seem like a bad idea to make the area more accessible, or does it? What are some of the draw backs that you see?
Posted by: gid at March 8, 2006 12:36 PM
Thanks for the post Gid. The area where the Lakeshore Trail passes is home to Bobcat, Black Bear and a myriad other species. In fact, the Smoky Mountain National Park is arguably the most biologically rich temperate forest on the planet.
The Smokies are under assault. The park receives more visitors than any other National Park in the country. Wild hogs chew up the forest. Air pollution is stressing the high elevation forests. The hemlock woolly adelgid recently arrived in the park and is killing off the hemlocks. The Balsam Fir at high elevation has been killed off by a similar non-native pest. Most of the pines are already killed off by the Pine Beetle infestation.
Building a 30-mile road into this area at an estimated cost of $590 million makes no sense. Especially considering the maintenance backlog in the park, and the fact that the park is understaffed. The road will also facilitate the movement of additional invasive species into the park.
I hope that provides some additional perspective.
Posted by: Jeffrey Hunter at March 9, 2006 5:37 PM
