Tellico EA due out Friday, Feb 27th (1 Viewer)

[CandyPants]

Get ready, it's comin'!

To summarize, the EA will be out (released to the public) on Friday. Southern has been asked to attend a meeting where they will summarize their findings and their alternatives. We will be attending.

To combat their science, SFWDA has been working behind the scenes and paid for our own analysis and has developed our own alternatives. THIS IS WHAT YOUR RESCUE TELLICO MONEY IS PAYING FOR.

Our study is meant to give us good solid standing for our comments to the EA. It is also a short and long term maintenence plan for the area. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THE USFS HAS FAILED TO DO FOR 10 YEARS. We decided that if we are going to keep these trails open, we were going to have to do their jobs and take matters into our own hands.

We will be posting our study up on Southern's website (www.sfwda.org) as soon as we can too.

So it's time folks. Get ready...we'll report back as soon as we know anything.

 

[pillguy]

SORRY TO EDIT BUT THIS IS NOT THE EA. THIS IS A LINK TO A STUDY THAT SFWDA COMMISSIONED FOR OUR USE DURING THE EA COMMENT PERIOD AND TO SUBMIT TO THE USFS TO SHOW THEM THAT THERE ARE OTHER ALTERNATIVES OUT THERE BESIDES CLOSURE!

I think this is the link....From a scientific perspective, I thought it was well done. Recommended Trail System Repair and Maintenance Plan Upper Tellico OHV System

An exerpt below....
Below is the summary and the recommendation to reroute some trails.
The Tellico River, Peckerwood Creek, Tipton Creek, and Jenks Branch all have excellent water quality per NCDWQ standards. These stream systems are also transporting the water and sediment supplied to them by their watersheds in a manner that does not include deterioration of the channel dimension, pattern or profile. Based on this evidence there appears to be no deterioration of water quality or aquatic habitat​

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Upper Tellico OHV Trail System Repair and Maintenance Plan January 23, 2009 39 within the stream systems of the Upper Tellico OHV Area. Because of the high water quality and stable
channel forms, there appears to be adequate habitat for all species of trout within the stream systems. In addition, aquatic habitat features upstream of the natural fish barriers appear to be more than adequate for​

the retention and propagation of the Southern Appalachian Brook Trout.