Date: January 16, 2008
Contact: Nancy Gray, (865) 436-1208
The National Park Service announced its Record of Decision on the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the North Shore Road in December 2007 calling for a monetary settlement to Swain County, North Carolina. The Record of Decision is now available for review at the project’s website (http://www.northshoreroad.info/documents.htm) and several locations noted below:
Asheville, NC: Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood Street
Bryson City, NC: Marianna Black Library, 33 Fryemont Street
Charlotte, NC: Charlotte Mecklenburg County Main Library, 310 North Tryon Street
Cherokee, NC: NPS Oconaluftee Visitor Center, 150 Highway 441 North
Raleigh, NC: Cameron Village Regional Library, 1930 Clark Avenue
Robbinsville, NC: Graham County Public Library, 80 Knight Street
Gatlinburg, TN: Anna Porter Public Library, 207 Cherokee Orchard Road
GSMNP Headquarters, 107 Park Headquarters Road
Knoxville, TN: Lawson-McGee Library, 500 West Church Avenue
The Record of Decision culminates the North Shore Road public process and authorizes for the development of a new agreement to replace a 1943 agreement which called for construction of a 34-mile long road on the North Shore of Fontana Lake. Negotiations will begin on the monetary settlement early this year between the signatories of the 1943 agreement: U.S. Department of the Interior, Swain County, State of North Carolina, and Tennessee Valley Authority. In anticipation of a new agreement and a monetary settlement, Representative Heath Shuler (NC) and Senator Lamar Alexander (TN) were able to provide $6 million to the FY 2008 Interior Department budget to be used in the settlement procedures.
The 12-page Record of Decision summarizes the key points for selection of the monetary settlement stated as the National Park Service’s preferred alternative in the FEIS and provides a brief background of the project and key issues surrounding the project. For further reference, the Draft EIS and the Final EIS documents are also available on the website and should also be available at the above locations.
