Opinion
Smoky Mountain News
19
Substance still matters in politics H
Forest plan lacks water quality measures To the Editor: The Nantahala and Pisgah national forests are the headwaters of seven major river systems, providing drinking water for millions of people in four southeastern states and wildlife habitat for a bewildering array of native species such as the hellbender and native brook trout. Right now, the U.S. Forest Service is drafting the next forest management plan for these forests — a blueprint for how our forests will be managed for the next 15-20 years — and, unfortunately, the current draft is inadequate in a few very important ways when it comes to protecting water quality. First and foremost, the Forest Service needs to meet or exceed the stream protection standards that they’ve set for other Southern Appalachian National Forests such as the Chattahoochee, the Cherokee, and the Jefferson. While the 100-foot buffer on perennial streams is good, the draft plan only affords intermittent streams a 15-foot buffer, and provides no protection at all for ephemeral streams — the type of streams that make up the very beginning of the watershed networks we depend on. Compare this to Cherokee National Forest, across the border in Tennessee, which has a default riparian buffer of 100 feet on perennial streams and 50 feet on intermittent streams, as well as some protections within 25 feet of ephemeral stream channels. Cherokee
home somewhere close to the Asheville airport so he could hurry to Washington, and eventually became so drunk with power that he left the district without a representative in Congress with 10 months left on his term so he could serve as White House chief of staff. As for Meadows, the safe bet is he’ll end up fired or forced to resign like his predecessors. Once that happens, there’s little doubt he’ll land somewhere in the Fox News stratosphere or as a consultant or lobbyist, another creature of the swamp he and his boss promised to drain. As far as this race goes, Meadows tried to anoint Bennett in a very scurrilous sequence of events. As most in the district know, Meadows’ brother Editor had registered a Bennett for Congress website prior to Rep. Meadows’ announcement of his resignation. He — Meadows — announced his resignation one day before the deadline for registering to run in the race, leaving other potential candidates scrambling to get to Raleigh and register. She then got the endorsement of such GOP high-ups as Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio and the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus. Even the president Tweeted his endorsement, and on her website we get a photo of Trump
Scott McLeod
aywood County resident Lynda Bennett was beaten badly in the Republican runoff primary for Congress last week against 24-year-old political newcomer Madison Cawthorn. As a reporter and editor who has been involved in the coverage of more than a dozen races for this congressional seat, I was heartened by her loss. You know why? It’s not due to her party affiliation or even her views on the big issues facing this country and which Congress will have to grapple with over the next few years. As far as issues go, she differs very little from the candidate who thrashed her by an almost 2-to-1 margin on June 23. The problem is that even before she held elected office, Bennett had become a politician who blamed others and the media for her problems (she even has a “fake news” section on her website), would not talk to the press or constituents, skirted campaign laws and acted as if she was entitled to the seat due to her endorsements from on-high. Bennett’s loss was good for the voters of Western North Carolina. And the margin of the loss showed that voters in the district are paying attention. Look, when former Congressman Mark Meadows won this seat in 2012, he lived in Cashiers, was easily accessible to the media and constituents, and was all over the district holding town hall meetings. As he became a conservative media darling once in D.C., he transformed into the kind of politician most of us loathe — he became inaccessible to those he represents, he forsook Cashiers for a
LETTERS National Forest also allows buffers to be increased to 264 feet in areas with steeper slopes, although limited harvest is allowed. These buffers prevent stream banks from being degraded, provide shade, and reduce sediment pollution due to timber harvesting, road building and other development. When these protective buffers are removed, water temperatures increase and sediment makes its way into streams and rivers. That excess sediment suffocates aquatic habitats and reduces populations of species such as trout, freshwater mussels and hellbenders. The Forest Service should also adapt better timbering practices and improve road and trail maintenance to reduce sediment pollution. Forest roads in backcountry areas that will be passively managed should be decommissioned or repurposed for trails. This would help prevent erosion and sediment pollution and extreme flooding in forest rivers and streams due to the heavy rains and storms and stormwater runoff. Finally, there are nine Outstanding Resource Waters in the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests. These are watersheds that are determined to have excellent water quality and exceptional ecological or recreational significance, and the Forest Service should make sure they are named and protected in the final plan. The Forest Service’s deadline for public comment is June 29 and this is our last significant chance to have our say. Submit your comment today at
even before we see Bennett. Talk about trying to ride in on the coattails of others. Here’s the truth of it: Bennett was the lesser of the two candidates. She had positioned herself in seemingly all the right ways politically except one — getting in front of her constituents. Her refusal to debate or talk to the media — especially in a campaign that occurred during a global pandemic — left voters with only the hype and no substantive picture of who this candidate was. What kind of person was she? Most voters still don’t know and never will. Now it doesn’t matter. The race for the 11th District seat now comes down to Cawthorn and Democrat Moe Davis, two seemingly quality candidates. My bet is we will all see plenty of these two, that they’ll hold debates and do lots of interviews, let the public have a clear choice of who they are and who they should support. There’s sure to be some nastiness as many outside-theregion national PACs are likely to get involved, but voters will decide who is best for this region. Hopefully this is a lesson to other politicians. Yes, you can convince high-ups of your value to get their endorsements, and social media and other digital platforms can be useful in many ways. But voters want to know who you are, which may seem old-fashioned. Bennett forgot that simple truth, but the voters who sent her packing didn’t. (Scott McLeod can be reached at info@smokymountainnews.com)
mountaintrue.org/forestplancomment, through the Forest Services CARA portal, or by US Mail addressed to Plan Revision Team, National Forests in North Carolina, 160 Zillicoa St, Asheville NC 28801, and help us win better protections for the 1,200 miles of streams and rivers of Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests. Callie Moore, MountainTrue Western Regional Director David Caldwell, Broad Riverkeeper Hartwell Carson, French Broad Riverkeeper Gray Jernigan, Green Riverkeeper Andy Hill, Watauga Riverkeeper
Pipeline is a threat to Appalachian Trail To the Editor: The Appalachian Trail, spanning nearly 2,200 miles from Georgia to Maine, maintains a natural mystique that cannot be found anywhere else on earth. It attracts over 3 million visitors annually and is the longest hiking-only footpath in the world. Regrettably, this national treasure is imperiled by the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which is set to pass through the George Washington and Monongahela National Forests and bisect the Appalachian Trail and the Blue Ridge Parkway. The 600-mile pipeline begins in Harrison County, West Virginia, travels through Virginia, extends into southern and eastern North Carolina, ending in Robeson County.
In a dispute between the National Park Service and the United States Forest Service, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2018 that the Appalachian Trail and the 600 feet below it, which is necessary for the construction of the pipeline, fell under the jurisdiction of the National Parks Service. On June 15, 2020, in a 7-2 reversal of the 4th Circuit decision, the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted the 1968 Trails System Act to mean that although the National Parks Service may run a footpath over the land, the land underneath belongs to the National Forest Service. In their dissent, Justices Sotomayor and Kagan asserted that if the National Parks Service administers the trail, it must also administer the land underneath, as the trail cannot be separated from the underlying land. As a result of this ruling, the U.S. Forest Service has the authority to issue a permit to pipeline developers. The preservation of the Appalachian Trail is of considerable significance to many of us, and I’ve spent countless summer days mesmerized by its beauty, awed by its challenges, and felt the sense of wonder that arises when hiking through these mountains. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline is destructive, dangerous, and unnecessary. Its negative impacts, which include restricted access to clean water and breathable air, disproportionately fall on lowincome workers and people of color. Corporate greed should not take precedence over the livelihood of entire communities. Grace Feichter Waynesville
S EE LETTERS, PAGE 20
