Opinion

How many visitors are too many?

The Smokies region is an outdoor mecca that attracts millions of people each year. For better or worse, that onslaught of visitors is increasing and likely to continue doing so.

The National Park Service has recently released visitation numbers for 2020, and they verify what many of us thought was true from our anecdotal observations: people flocked here during the pandemic. The Blue Ridge Parkway was again the most-visited park unit in the country, topping out at over about 14.1 million. Yes, not all of those were in this region, but anyone who drives the 469-mile Parkway knows it has been busy despite the closures associated with the pandemic and the weather.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park had more than 12 million visitors in 2020. According to a press release from the Smokies, the near-record visitation occurred despite 46 days of closure due to the pandemic. And those visitors weren’t just driving through. Front-country camping was up 33 percent from September to December compared with 2019 and backcountry camping permits jumped 47 percent from June through December.

We who live here were eyewitnesses to this surge in visitors while metropolitan areas were shut down. People came to get outside, to find some sense of normalcy amid the strange year that was 2020. Every county in the region had record hotel/motel occupancy for many months in 2020. Those visitors dropped money while here, which led to sales tax revenue hikes that are going to be a boon for our local governments as we head into budget season. Those tourists also provided accommodation owners and tourism development authorities with even more money to continue marketing this region to the masses. But the outdoors isn’t the only reason people come here. As we all know, the food and beverage scene in this region is one of the best in the country, and the word is out. After early struggles during the pandemic, it seems most breweries and restaurants have figured out how to survive and even thrive as we ever-so-slowly head toward normalcy.

The downside of all this? Well, the GSMNP has a backlog of maintenance needs totaling around $230 million. Trails, campsites, roads and other amenities are in serious need of repair, and the Blue Ridge Parkway has some of the same maintenance concerns. Many of us recall with shock what happened on Max Patch in the Pisgah National Forest in September 2020 when it was overloaded with campers, many who shamelessly left trash and other waste on top of the scenic bald. The phrase “love it to death” comes to mind.

Over in Buncombe County and Asheville, many are complaining about too many tourists. There is a movement to use some of the money now going toward marketing to improve the lives of those who live here. That money, advocates say, could build greenways, ballfields, and other amenities that improve the lives of the locals and that are often too expensive for local governments to fund. That idea has promise, and it’s my guess that the room tax legislation will be re-written happens at some point in the near future. That could also happen in counties further west.

It’s a razor’s edge we’re walking, it seems: we need tourists in our region for this economy to work, but how many and how do we know when we’ve reached the tipping point? I don’t know the answer, but it’s pretty certain that the pent-up desire to travel from the pandemic is going to lead to a staggering number of visitors as we head into spring and summer. (Scott McLeod can be reached at info@smokymountainnews.com)

Scott McLeod Editor

Election fraud evidence is slim to none

To the Editor:

I am alarmed by the variety and sheer numbers of claims of election fraud we still see, claims that change or evolve over time to fit a multitude of narratives of mistrust this country has never seen. The fraud was allegedly plotted by thousands of election officials across nine states, by electronic voting vendors with alleged nefarious ties to failed authoritarian states, and by the 80-plus courts and judges that have adjudicated civil lawsuits filed against multiple states and counties.

The former President has won only one “frau” lawsuit related to the results of the 2020 election, and that case did not prove any widespread voter fraud had any effect on the outcome. Judges across the political spectrum have rejected scores of other cases filed before and after Nov. 3 that sought to overturn the election.

Almost all cases were dismissed on procedural grounds, which does not mean they weren’t duly considered. These cases were dismissed because the plaintiffs: • were unable to demonstrate a sufficient connection to and harm from the law or action challenged (standing). • had no credible evidence (without merit). • had no regard for the merit of their own arguments (frivolous). There are currently still 21 civil lawsuits pending across the country today. These lawsuits argue: • against extended state the vote-by-mail deadlines to no more than seven days (10). • more than one drop box per county is illegal (five). • for additional, punitive, and highly restrictive vote-by-mail requirements (four). • against allowing five days to remedy voteby-mail signatures problems (one). • against allowing vote-by-mail for first time voters (one) • against action taken by the USPS just prior to elections which restricted vote-by-mail (one). • against allowing voters over the age of 65 from using vote-by-mail without a “valid excuse” (one) • against mail votes not notarized or countersigned by two adults either not living in the same household or by people who are immediate family (one). • against ranked voting (one).

None of these pending lawsuits make any claim that election fraud was committed.

There are websites where there are compilations of alleged 2020 election law violations. None of these alleged violations were presented to law enforcement. No state, county or federal law enforcement have indicted any person, organization or corporation for voter fraud. None of these alleged violations have evidence acceptable by any county, state, or federal court. None of the affidavits from witnesses to the alleged election law violations were given under oath of law with criminal penalties for lying.

This letter will not change the minds of most readers. Events and speech leading up to and after the 2020 election have fueled an intense emotional investment many people have made in their candidate. I get it. I have felt that same fervent enthusiasm for other candidates in the past, some of whom lost. But we must all find a way to trust in our sacred institution of democratic elections, to trust in God as the authors of the Constitution did, so that our democratic republic will continue to flourish.

John Barry Franklin

LETTERS

Letter writer has her facts wrong

To the Editor:

This is in response to the recent letter by Carol Adams of Glenville: “Trump was 1,000 Percent Correct.”

She attempts to refute the “accusation” that the acts of violence committed at the U.S. Capitol were committed by people supporting Donald Trump. To save space, I’ll refer you to the Department of Justice/F.B.I. and Forbes magazine www.justice.gov/opa/investigations-regarding-violence-capitol, and generally: www.fbi.gov/wanted/capitol-violence The first link lists various specifics in the affidavits and statements of facts as to the individual defendants. A number of those specifics refer to far right organizations or beliefs. Some of the F.B.I. press releases section linked in the second link also make reference to far-right organizations

The F.B.I. stated that they had no indication of antifa involvement at that time www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2021/01/ 08/fbi-no-evidence-antifa-involved-in-capitolchaos/?sh=1b075f256379.

There hasn’t been anything that has arisen since. I’ll also note that the Department of Justice and the F.B.I. were parts of the Trump administration when these things were said. Although the charges have not been proven and the F.B.I. is not always right, I think that they’re better informed than Ms. Adams.

She says: “No court, state, federal or even the Supreme Court, would hear any case from Trump lawyers with election fraud evidence.” It’s hard for me to understand how approximately 60 cases by Trump lawyers were lost and one was won with any case being heard. They were heard and were dismissed. (Reading between the lines of legal language, it seems that some of them were laughed out of court.) What happened was that the Trump lawyers filed their claims (those claims were often a lot less than the claims they made at their press conferences), the other side challenged them, and the challenge resulted in both sides filing documents stating what their evidence was. The (many) courts determined that the Trump evidence and legal claims were simply wrong, not good enough to prove their cases, or both. Most, if not all, of the remainder of the cases were dismissed because of a lack of what is known as “standing.” An example was the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding that Texas and other states did not have standing to challenge Pennsylvania’s election proceedings. Those proceedings and results could be and were challenged in Pennsylvania state court and federal court in Pennsylvania. With one exception, those are included in the 60 or so cases that were lost. The case that was won involved a relative handful of votes.

She makes a number of other claims, but I’ll only address one more. She says: “There would be no Covid vaccine without President Trump who pushed its development….”