19,556 MORE Acres of Wilderness in East Tennessee

WASHINGTON — A total of 19,556 acres in the Cherokee National Forest in East Tennessee would be designated as wilderness under legislation introduced Wednesday by Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker.

The areas were recommended for wilderness status by the U.S. Forest Service in its 2004 comprehensive plan for the forest and have been managed as Wilderness Study Areas since then.

The wilderness designation provides a higher level of protection for public lands and prevents most human intrusion.

The Tennessee Wilderness Act of 2010 creates one new wilderness area and expands the boundaries of five existing areas.

The areas involved include:

• 9,038 acres in the newly created Upper Bald River Wilderness in Monroe County.
• 348 acres added to Big Frog Wilderness in Polk County.
• 966 acres added to Little Frog Wilderness in Polk County.
• 2,922 acres added to Sampson Mountain Wilderness in Washington and Unicoi counties.
• 4,446 acres added to the Big Laurel Branch Wilderness in Carter and Johnson counties.
• 1,836 acres added to the Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness in Monroe County.

"This bill … is an important first step in conserving some of the most pristine areas in Tennessee," Alexander said.

Source . . . http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100610/NEWS02/6100323/Sens.-Alexander-Corker-want-E.-Tenn.-land-protected-as-wilderness

More here . . . http://www.greenevillesun.com/story/309842

The Lyin King wrote:

"This bill … is an important first step in conserving some of the most pristine areas in Tennessee", Alexander said.

Source . . . http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100610/NEWS02/6100323/Sens.-Alexander-Corker-want-E.-Tenn.-land-protected-as-wilderness

More here . . . http://www.greenevillesun.com/story/309842

First step. Key word.

Yank wrote:

The Lyin King wrote:

"This bill … is an important first step in conserving some of the most pristine areas in Tennessee", Alexander said.

Source . . . http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100610/NEWS02/6100323/Sens.-Alexander-Corker-want-E.-Tenn.-land-protected-as-wilderness

More here . . . http://www.greenevillesun.com/story/309842

First step. Key word.

Yes and I read it as MORE TO COME!!!

Where are the stats in this fight. TN is a very friendly OHV state.

Big-R wrote:

Where are the stats in this fight. TN is a very friendly OHV state.

Ok, no offense intended please!

I'll do the foot work via a simple Google search to provide the information requested.

http://alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=1526f7eb-f4a1-4727-903a-4c9ab949cc51

http://corker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=News&ContentRecord_id=9af4ddb5-45e2-411f-b01c-a199ed675f1e

And here's a little bonus for those of you who are "Middle Class" folks just like me . . . http://www.themiddleclass.org/legislator/lamar-alexander-406?gclid=CLT0kKPmlqICFRGkiQoduh5vVg

Wow....Lamar Alexander is a real piece of ....just how did this dick get into office?????? Seems to me that he has not done one thing for the pep's of Tenn.

Foxfire wrote:

Wow....Lamar Alexander is a real piece of ....just how did this dick get into office?????? Seems to me that he has not done one thing for the pep's of Tenn.

No fooling! Hopefully folks across the Nation will do some simple research like this before casting their vote in November!!!

Here's the deal . . . it appears as though that area of TN is part of the Wildlands Network's "Wildways Project" that is an off-shoot of discussions and agreements which took place at United Nations meetings (yes, that’s right . . . the “UN”) many moons ago.

Anyway, here's a link to their "plan" . . . http://www.twp.org/wildways

Have a look at the map included in the link above and then recall where all of the areas are that have been locked up in the past decade or two and where recent "Wilderness" has been created or is proposed to be created. Don't forget WSAs (Wilderness Study Areas) since they are managed as wilderness even though the law doesn't specify that this designation requires the same management.

Ok ....LK, I looked at the map.

Here's the problem that I seem to deal with. I understand that "some" of this is a good thing.

For an example, in the Keweenaw peninsula of Upper Michigan the Kennecot (sp) Corp had done some exploration for minerals. Found several large deposits of silver and set in motion the steps to obtain permits to mine said silver. All sounds good until one looks deeper into the picture. The result of mining the silver will be sulfide ......right in the middle of one of the most pristine, coolest places I have ever been.

So now, if this where to have passed, which through much objection it has not, yet, it puts a rare type of Trout, found only in this area, in harms way. Not to mention the water table that feeds all of the streams and small rivers in this area and just the beauty of the area.
Now, you can ride your UTV in and around this area, as a result of the logging roads that meander along and around said area.

The above is my example of the fact that I totally see the need for some type of a control mechanism to protect these pristine areas from devastation. And after reading through the link that you presented to me, I find myself standing with a leg on both sides of the fence here. It truly sounds like what they are doing in that link is a good thing.

Surely, the fact that some of this was discussed at a UN meeting has me scratching my head.....why??????? Was there a trade going on? Was this being used as a bargaining tool ??? Here in, for me, is where the problem lies!!!! I do not trust our Government, or all of the Lobbyists that make all of these deals, usually at my expense.

I see these sections of land as mine, I am a citizen of the U.S. and there fore know that they are in fact mine....right along with every other citizen of the U.S. I want to see them "Managed" so as to keep the nature and beauty that GOD created, but I also want to use them, with respect.

So dude....help me out here with some good old hard facts, that a knuckle headed truck driver can understand.

Foxfire wrote:

Ok ....LK, I looked at the map.

Here's the problem that I seem to deal with. I understand that "some" of this is a good thing.

For an example, in the Keweenaw peninsula of Upper Michigan the Kennecot (sp) Corp had done some exploration for minerals. Found several large deposits of silver and set in motion the steps to obtain permits to mine said silver. All sounds good until one looks deeper into the picture. The result of mining the silver will be sulfide ......right in the middle of one of the most pristine, coolest places I have ever been.

So now, if this where to have passed, which through much objection it has not, yet, it puts a rare type of Trout, found only in this area, in harms way. Not to mention the water table that feeds all of the streams and small rivers in this area and just the beauty of the area.
Now, you can ride your UTV in and around this area, as a result of the logging roads that meander along and around said area.

The above is my example of the fact that I totally see the need for some type of a control mechanism to protect these pristine areas from devastation. And after reading through the link that you presented to me, I find myself standing with a leg on both sides of the fence here. It truly sounds like what they are doing in that link is a good thing.

Surely, the fact that some of this was discussed at a UN meeting has me scratching my head.....why??????? Was there a trade going on? Was this being used as a bargaining tool ??? Here in, for me, is where the problem lies!!!! I do not trust our Government, or all of the Lobbyists that make all of these deals, usually at my expense.

I see these sections of land as mine, I am a citizen of the U.S. and there fore know that they are in fact mine....right along with every other citizen of the U.S. I want to see them "Managed" so as to keep the nature and beauty that GOD created, but I also want to use them, with respect.

So dude....help me out here with some good old hard facts, that a knuckle headed truck driver can understand.

Be careful what you ask for . . .

I am with you on protecting OUR pristine Public Lands from devastating activities like those you cite.

The problem is much of the land that would be designated as Wilderness does not meet the criteria set forth in the 1964 Wilderness Act. http://www.foresthistory.org/ASPNET/policy/Wilderness/1964_Wilderness.aspx

Many of Our Public Lands include roads, bridges, campgrounds, trails, etc. This contradicts the intent of the original Wilderness Act, which essentially defines wilderness areas as lands that show little or no signs of human involvement. Also, Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) are intended to be managed as they were prior to the designation http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/prog/wilderness/wsa.html until such time as they are deemed suitable for the "Wilderness" designation or released yet many are in fact currently being managed as “Wilderness" essentially locking out any forms of mechanized access or tools.

These areas are not National Parks, they are lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and National Forest Service and should be managed as such. Most importantly, Congress should honor the established protocol of respecting State and local rights by not imposing wilderness designations on people whose elected Congressional delegation are not in full support of the designations.

Back in the 60s development of America's wild lands and backcountry was a threat. Now the threats are the Wilderness Act, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and many other environmental protection laws passed by Congress due to the way they are being used by Wilderness lobbies to lock recreationalists out of our public lands via “Wilderness” designations.

Public lands are important recreational opportunities; there are other alternatives like National Conservation Areas or National Recreation Areas which would provide the same level of protection from development that the “Wilderness” designation carries while still preserving a diverse array of opportunities for recreation.

The Rewilding Project is brought to us from the United Nations. A relevant tentacle of UN Local Agenda 21 the Rewilding Project is designed to restore a major portion of the planet to its 'original' state before man.

http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/agenda21/?utm_source=OldRedirect&utm_medium=redirect&utm_content=dsd&utm_campaign=OldRedirect


http://www.amerikanexpose.com/agenda21/

Massive Wealth Drives Green Agenda
http://www.sharetrails.org/magazine/article/?id=1252

I don’t trust OUR government either and these ARE OUR Public Lands!!!

Common sense.........what has happened to it????????

Thank you very much LK for taking the time to "Break it Down" for all to see......Now we'll just hope that the pep's here will read the much easier to understand format and do what they are led to do!!!!!!!!

Foxfire wrote:

Thank you very much LK for taking the time to "Break it Down" for all to see......Now we'll just hope that the pep's here will read the much easier to understand format and do what they are led to do!!!!!!!!

My pleasure!

According to the National Forest Service in 2005 there were between 48-51 million OHV folks, that's 1/6th of the population in the US. If we were all to become engaged in sensible OHV Access preservation efforts we wouldn't have to put up with the loss of Recreational opportunities that we have experienced and will continue to experience.

Apathy stinks, knowledge and action rules!!!