Park Planning Projects:
Park planners are now defining the alternatives in sufficient detail to allow modeling of their expected natural and cultural impacts as well as the estimated cost of each alternative.
Elkmont Historic District Planning Website
The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) was published February 10, 2006 and the official public comment period ended May 11, 2006. The planning team is currently in the process of reviewing these comments and will respond to substantive comments in the Final Environmental Impact Statement.
North Shore Road
The National Park Service (NPS) and the Federal Highway Administration released a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) that outlined the Agency’s Preferred Alternative for the North Shore Road in October 2007. The FEIS was completed to evaluate various alternatives to discharge and satisfy any obligations on the part of the United States that exist as a result of a July 30, 1943, Memorandum of Agreement among the U.S. Department of the Interior, Tennessee Valley Authority, Swain County, North Carolina, and the State of North Carolina. The FEIS evaluated the natural and cultural resource impacts and the costs of building the proposed road and four other alternatives. The NPS Preferred Alternative was a recommendation that a monetary settlement be provided to Swain County in lieu of constructing 29 to 34 miles of new road through the national park along the north shore of Fontana Lake.
Tremont Development Concept Planning Website
The National Park Service is in the beginning phase of a project to improve the facilities at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont through preparation of a Development Concept Plan/Environmental Assessment. The objective is to evaluate existing facilities as they relate to meeting current program needs, and to develop conceptual designs for alternative facilities that will better support the Tremont program.
Roaring Fork-Cherokee Orchard Road Rehabilitation Project Newsletter
The park has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) evaluating the impacts of rehabilitating Cherokee Orchard Road and Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. This project newsletter was prepared to publicly announce the availability of the EA and provides a description of the projects goals, how to obtain the EA and how to comment on the proposed actions of the project.
Briefing Statements:
Environmental Assessments:
Strategic Plan:
Resource Education:
Laws and Policies:
Regulations applying specifically to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Title 36 Regulations covering all National Park Service units.
