If it proceeds, this proposed road widening and paving would forever change the wild character of this place and could cause many tons of mud to erode into this beautiful trout stream.  It would also place pedestrians at risk, because drivers go faster when roads are paved and widened.

We generally oppose this pair of U.S. Forest Service proposals: one to pave and widen portions of Tallulah River Road and another (still in the planning stages) to replace, widen and lengthen several bridges along this remarkably wild streamside backcountry area -- gateway to the Southern Nantahala Wilderness.  However, embedded within the project is some legitimate maintenance that appears to be needed (we cover this in the talking points below.)

We're asking our members to help by submitting comments opposing this proposed road project and requesting that these related proposals be considered as a whole with necessary environmental study.

What to say:

Please craft an e-mail in your own words that includes the following talking points:

• I SUPPORT repaving the 3,700 feet of roadway that is already paved and in need of repair.
• I OPPOSE paving and widening of the 1,000 feet of gravel road between the Tallulah River Campground entrance and the Coleman River hiking trail, immediately adjacent to a bridge over the Coleman River, largely for reasons of pedestrian safety. Turning this stretch into a wider two-lane road will endanger hikers moving between the campground and the Coleman River Trail as drivers speed up on this section.
• I QUESTION whether the box culvert/bridge located at the north end of the road, just before the Tate City community, really needs to be widened at all.
• I SUPPORT previous decisions of the Chattooga River District Ranger not to pave the entire seven-plus miles of this pristine and popular backcountry road, and urge that any thought of reviving the paving of this entire road not be reopened.
• I SUGGEST that any decision on the initial paving/repaving be deferred until the public can better understand the Federal Highway Administration bridge plans, and how much additional traffic from large recreational vehicles this would allow. The entire environmental review for all the proposed projects should be handled at the same time, rather than piecemeal, as they appear to be connected actions which should be considered in the same environmental analysis. Certainly, when taken together, these similar proposals likely will have cumulative impacts which should be considered in the same analysis before deciding whether to proceed with either project. It will be particularly important to consider the direct, indirect and cumulative impacts of both proposals on traffic, on safety for all users of the area (various types of motorized use, pedestrians, bikers, horseback riders, etc.), and on the level and type of use in the area, and to assess whether the use likely to result is appropriate for the area.
• OPTIONAL: If you are interested in more info, ask both the Forest Service and the Federal Highway Administration to place you on their mailing lists for all environmental reviews and public comment opportunities for the possible road/bridge work
  

Where to send your comments:

E-mail your comments to the Forest Service and also to the Federal Highway Administration (4 e-mail addresses below):

Ranger David W. Jensen
Chattooga River Ranger District
ATTN: BLAINE BOYDSTUN and/or ALLEN SMITH
USDA Forest Service

dwjensen@fs.fed.us

bboydstun@fs.fed.us

asmith02@fs.fed.us

Kevin Rose, Environmental
Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division
Federal Highway Administration

Kevin.Rose@fhwa.dot.gov

More Info:

For a map of the vicinity, click here.

For a zoomed in map of the project area, click here.

For the USFS scoping letter, click here.

Tallulah River Road (Forest Road 70) is the only road link from the small community of Tate City (located just below the GA-NC boundary & the Southern Nantahala Wilderness) to the Persimmon Valley area of Rabun County. It is a much beloved and heavily visited public area that encompasses three campgrounds now managed by a private contractor; one of the best trout streams in north Georgia; and a dedicated hiking trail along another remarkably wild and pristine waterway, the Coleman River. Most of this road is a single-track highway, with cut-outs and small parking areas. The bridges currently are all single-lane bridges.

The Tallulah Ranger District (predecessor to today's Chattooga River Ranger District) advertised, but then denied a proposal to widen and pave Tallulah River Road in its entirely six years ago -- despite heavy pressure from some landed interests in Tate City to do so. The environmental cost to do so would have been too great, according to Ranger David W. Jensen.

Today, he reports the bridges are failing and cannot accommodate the mobile homes, recreational vehicles and the like that want access to the Tate City campground, and the cement and large construction trucks that serve the burgeoning land development of some private property owners there. (The campground management firm reports that only "small RVs" can currently access the area safely.

For safety's sake, the bridges eventually must be replaced, Jensen asserts.

Georgia ForestWatch, however, believes that the repaving, new paving, road widening and bridge proposals are connected or similar actions with common timing and geography. Therefore, the direct, indirect and cumulative impacts of these actions should be assessed in the same environmental analysis, rather than segmented and handled piecemeal, so that the public can truly understand and evaluate the cumulative impact of what would happen to this area and its backcountry values if this road is refashioned into a more suburban-like double-lane highway.

And, with Ranger Jensen, we urge you to resist any further thoughts of paving Forest Service No. 70 in its entirety. (The private land interests in Tate City are already using the latest proposal to get a second bite at this asphalt apple.)

The future of the Tallulah River area is at issue. Don't let it get "suburbanized" like so much of the rest of north Georgia!