Rough Ridge Timber Sale (TN)
Logging in Cherokee National Forest threatens trout stream, tourism economy
The Laurel Fork area of the Cherokee National Forest has been a favorite place to camp, picnic, hike and fish for generations of Tennesseans. Tucked into the mountains of Carter County, just east of Johnson City, the area encompasses recreation and wilderness areas, trout streams, black bear habitat and a network of trails, including the Appalachian Trail.
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The pristine streams and walking trails in Laurel Fork would be ruined by the 267-acre Rough Ridge logging project.
Unfortunately, the Forest Service has plans to log 267 acres of the area in eight chunks scattered throughout the watershed of Laurel Fork. The project, called the Rough Ridge timber sale, also involves building or rebuilding almost five miles of logging roads. Muddy runoff from these activities would harm water quality in Laurel Fork, a premier trout stream that draws many anglers.
Further, the Rough Ridge sale would mar scenic views and spoil the outdoors experience for many visitors, jeopardizing the tourism-related economies of local communities. According to the state of Tennessee, travel and tourism pump some $25 million a year into Carter County; much of this is likely due to the multiple outdoors attractions in the national forest.
The Southern Environmental Law Center filed an appeal of this logging project on August 20, 2007 on behalf of the Cherokee Forest Voices and Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition. We are calling the Forest Service on its failure to protect water quality and recreational values of this area, and its failure to designate existing and future old-growth forest stands.
We also aim to prevent the Rough Ridge sale – one of the first
major projects under the agency’s new management plan – from setting a
bad precedent for how the agency manages the natural resources on these
public lands for the next 10 to 15 years.
