Stop I-3 Coalition Newsletter
January, 2008
From the Director
Stop I-3 Coalition has been busy these past few months as
you will read in this newsletter, from an Interstate 3 rerouting
proposal through South Carolina, to Tennessee and North Carolina
DOT environmental studies of Corridor K, to bringing on new,
exciting people and supporting organizations.
The Georgia Department
of Transportation Board of Directors meetings that I attended
in December were lively, to say the least.
The presentation on rail studies
was postponed while Governor Sonny Perdue held a closed-door
session with the board over grave department-wide, management
concerns that new Commissioner Gena Abraham had raised. The
board of directors continue to scrounge for more funds for
their existing transportation priorities, while Interstate
3 continues to be a road that they can't afford.
I was blessed with a crisp day
to hike in the Cherokee National Forest in southeast Tennessee,
along the area proposed for destruction for Corridor K, with
members of the American Hiking Society, the Benton MacKaye
Trail Association, the Chattanooga Hiking Club, and a reporter
from the Chattanooga Times Free Press. (See CTFP
1/15/08.)
As we enjoyed the quiet solitude of the area, listening to
the birds and wind -- not onrushing 18-wheelers— we found
some irony in the fact that the Benton MacKaye Trail Association
had to jump through multiple hoops with the U.S. Forest Service
to create the trail through the area, and assess the various
impacts of three-foot-wide trail on delicate ecosystems, and
its ensuing realignments. Compare that to the potential impact
of a major truck thoroughfare through the same region. In meeting
with staff from the Regional Planning Organization of the Southeast
Tennessee Development District and Wilbur Smith and Associates
consultants, they emphasized that this was one of only many
route possibilities as we all were urged to "think outside
the box." ....
In North Carolina, as part of
the State Transportation Improvement Program, public comments
were registered into the record in opposition to Corridor K
from several Stop I-3 Coalition representatives. North Carolina
Department of Transportation board member Conrad Burrell, who
represents the westernmost counties of the state, expressed
concern about decades-old expectations people had of the Corridor
K being "completed," despite other road improvements
that have been made since the road was proposed in 1965. (Read
more in the Corridor K article below.)
Stop I-3 Coalition also refocused
on South Carolina with renewed zest, as Rep. Paul Broun's proposal
to limit the study of Interstate 3 to a corridor up to Greenville
simmers on a low boil. Upstate Forever is our newest
supporting organization, with their board passing a resolution
just last week opposing I-3. We are pleased to have another
organization advocating for the protection of special places
on board. Conversations and meetings continue with them and
other organizations focused on the Augusta to Greenville area—including
the Chattooga Conservancy, Sierra Clubs, etc.
Coming up...
The Stop I-3 Coalition will be meeting with the Savannah
River Sierra Club in Augusta on Tuesday, March
18th at 6:30pm. We will be sharing our vision
of sustainable transportation, explaining the details behind
Interstate 3, and discussing how to continue to raise awareness
and support for stopping I-3 in the Augusta area. If you
are in the area, I hope you will join us. Please let your
Augustan friends and colleagues know about this opportunity
to learn more about I-3 and the work of the Coalition.
We will also be hosting our winter Stop I-3 Coalition supporting
organization conference call in early February. This
is an opportunity for supporting organizations to better
understand how recent transportation developments affect
them and to collaborate on solutions. If you are a member
of a local, regional, or national organization concerned
about historic preservation, rural and small town economic
development, landscape conservation, or environmental preservation,
that is not already a supporting organization of the Stop
I-3 Coalition, this would be a great time to introduce your
organization to the Coalition.
The Coalition represents people and organizations with different
passions, but the same goal. Read on for more details about
how the Stop I-3 Coalition is working right now to preserve
and protect the unique heritage and environment of Southern
Appalachia and nearby Piedmont communities by promoting sustainable
transportation practices. The caliber of individuals involved
and the collective work being accomplished is outstanding.
We will be asking for your help in the near future with letting
elected officials and highway agencies know about your concern
regarding disastrous roads that are a waste of money. Stand
ready, the studies are coming.
— Holly Demuth, executive director, Stop I-3 Coalition
Broun's I-3 route proposal: move it to South
Carolina
Georgia's Rep. Paul Broun, R-10, has
been working to introduce legislative language in Washington
that would reroute the Interstate 3 from Savannah to Augusta
to Knoxville -- via the Greenville or Clinton, South
Carolina, area, instead of directly through the mountains of
north Georgia. The idea, billed as a technical correction
that would be part of a larger group of corrections to the
Transportation Act of 2005 (SAFETEA-LU),
has gotten a lot of attention, as you can see by the many newspaper
articles posted on our website. Some newspapers incorrectly
attributed the concept to the Stop I-3 Coalition. Most of the
articles, though, captured the complex issues at stake as the
Coalition continues to advocate for sustainable transportation
needs in the Southern Appalachians and nearby Piedmont.
The Coalition's position on this
is clear— we do not support such a move. Broun's technical
correction does not safeguard the Southern Appalachian Mountains
from a ruinous, and unnecessary, highway. Many of our partner
organizations in South Carolina also oppose it. (See 1/15
Anderson Independent-Mail article.)
I-3 Routing Proposals
Proposed Technical Correction and Original Proposed Route
(Click
on image for a larger view)
The Stop I-3 Coalition has one overriding objective: To stop
Interstate 3, under that name or any other name, and to do
so by killing it and not by foisting it off on others. We are
reaching out to those sister organizations in South Carolina
to make them aware of the issues related to the road proposals
and to encourage them to join our effort to stop this wasteful
effort.
The Federal Highway Administration in Washington, which has
responsibility for executing the study, apparently has it on
hold until the technical correction issue is resolved. We
continue to work to stop the study before it starts, while
also preparing to affect it, if it were to begin.
The case against I-3 is simple. Its justifications—connecting
Ft. Gordon and Ft. Stewart to Knoxville, economic development
for the mountains, and a memorial for the 3rd Infantry
Division—are bogus.
When Army units travel, they fly and they move their heavy
equipment that does not fly by rail and by sea. The intent
of the new road is to move traffic through the
mountains, not to them. This road will devastate
our tourist and retirement based economy. People come to the
mountains to get away from traffic not enjoy more of it. Can
we not be more creative in thinking of a way to honor the sacrifices
of our military than a multi-billion dollar, unneeded, wasteful
and destructive road? And finally, the environmental damage
to our mountains will be beyond description. In brief, this
road would be a pork-barrel boondoggle for the road construction
lobbies and industries.
In summary, the I-3 project is still alive but possibly changing.
We need to marshal our forces, stay alert and on top of things
and be prepared to counter proponents moves wherever we find
them.
—Charley Kraus, Stop I-3
Coalition board director
and Holly
Demuth, executive
director, Stop I-3 Coalition
Corridor K update
Road-building efforts continue apace in the North Carolina
and Tennessee mountains
— which literally would pave the way for Interstate 3 in
the most technically challenging, environmentally sensitive,
and exorbitantly expensive portion of the original route. Momentum
ignited in 2007 and continues to build for this 1965 relic
of the Appalachian
Development Highway System: Corridor K.
Momentum
is also building to ensure that environmental, historical,
and community interests are valued and preserved.
The Stop
I-3 Coalition has been organizing groups and individuals in
the affected areas to help build awareness around Corridor
K and its potentially disastrous implications. Our message
is clear: building a high speed four lane highway in these
sensitive areas will do lasting damage to our precious watersheds,
forests, wildlife, and the natural beauty of the mountains,
including protected areas, wilderness areas, and critical bear
and bird habitat. Historic treasures and rural ways of life
will be destroyed and forever altered. Construction of a through
highway, be it Corridor K or Interstate 3 would leave the mountains
with poorer air quality, polluted streams, and noisy truck
traffic. The enormous funding requirements would divert funds
from maintaining existing roads and bridges and making them
safer.
Fervent proponents of Corridor K have voiced the need to take
these interests under consideration. Our challenge is to hold
them to that, and to elevate these concerns to not only be
considered, but of primary importance. It is then that the
true, long term needs of the communities and land will be met.
Stop I-3 Coalition, along with its supporting organizations,
will be at the table in both states, demanding rigorous decision-making
processes, including thorough environmental impact statements
and full public involvement. We will ensure that robust public
input informs that decision making process. Stay abreast of
the issues by checking our Corridor
K section of our website. We will also let you
know who to contact and when, sending you action alerts, as
the two state transportation agencies and various interest
groups continue their processes and prodding. If you want to
become more involved with this particular project of the Stop
I-3 Coalition, please contact our volunteer coordinator, M.J.
Bridges.
The NCDOT is putting the finishing touches on a Draft Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement for two of the three sections
on the North Carolina side, to be released this spring with
a formal public comment period to follow. These studies were
done without looking at the bigger picture of the entire Tennessee
/North Carolina Corridor, not even considering the third portion
of the road in North Carolina, which according to previous
studies would require massive tunneling through the Snowbird
Mountains.
In Tennessee, the Southeast Tennessee Development District
continues to encourage "outside-the-box" thinking
with respect to a road that would provide an east-west shipping
corridor for Chattanooga, an economic boom for the rural counties
it would slice through, and increased recreational
and heritage tourism, all in an environmentally
sound manner. That is a tall order to fill as the Tennessee
Department of Transportation begins the process of requesting
letters of interest from design and environmental management
firms for the improvement of US 64 either through or around
the Ocoee Gorge to Ducktown.
These goals are accentuated in an economic needs study conducted
by consultants Wilbur Smith and Associates, financed by the
Southeastern Industrial Development Association (SEIDA), a
group of electric power distributors from Tennessee, North
Carolina and Georgia. The consultants hosted multiple meetings
over the summer to review the results, which advanced a case
for the economic need for expanding road access between Chattanooga
and Asheville. Stop I-3 Coalition board members, supporting
organizations, and supporters attended multiples of these meetings.
The final report will be released in the next few weeks. You
will be able to access it through a link will be posted on
the Stop I-3 Coalition website. Preliminary report drafts
have not been persuasive and have not included the economic
impact of the environmental devastation on the area. For example,
how much would it cost to purify polluted water or sequester
carbon for Chattanooga's fragile air quality, services that
the Cherokee National Forest currently offers for free? If
this east-west corridor was effective in increasing access
to markets, and therefore increasing diesel truck traffic in
the Chattanooga area, how would the costs associated with decreased
quality affect the broader economic picture? (i.e. non
attainment status: federal fines, loss of federal highway funds)
The Stop I-3 Coalition initially became concerned about Corridor
K because of its impact on the I-3 proposal, in that it overlays
part of the potential I-3 routing and thus suffers from all
the same negatives that we see for I-3. The issues of need,
economic benefit, environmental and scenic damage to our mountains
are all the same.
We continue our involvement as an organization advocating
for sustainable transportation in the Southern Appalachians
and nearby Piedmont, bringing together people and groups of
diverse interests dedicated to ensuring we have a transportation
infrastructure that is in balance with the unique environmental
and cultural assets of the region.
—Holly Demuth, executive
director, Stop I-3 Coalition
Many Thanks, All Donors
On behalf of all the Stop I-3 Board of Directors, Coalition
member organizations, and our supporters, we offer a special
thanks to all of you who contributed to our organization
since we started this effort. You are our lifeblood! It's
folks like you who take responsibility for your environment
and communities who help make the world in general, and
the Southern Appalachians and nearby Piedmont in particular,
a better place to live. Thanks for standing up for
the unique character of our region.
If you're not
already, we would love for you to get even more involved
by donating your time and skills as well as supporting
Stop I-3 financially. If
you have time even a small amount of time, we can use your
skills! Please contact our volunteer coordinator,
M. J. Bridges at 706-508-3711, and let us know that you
would like to help. Thanks for your dedication
and generosity.
—Ted Doll, vice-chair,
Stop I-3 Coalition
Businesses:
Babbling Brook Cabins
Go! Production Inc
Goldhagen Art Glass
Granite & Marble Tops & Tiles
Baker Place Originals
Simply Homegrown Farmer's Market
Kingwood Golf Club & Resort
Lee Johnson Gallery
Old Sautee Store
Skip Bartlett Photography
Sunny Side Studio
Tekakwitha,
American Indian Tribal Arts
Tiger Mountain Vineyarda
Foundations:
Lyndhurst Foundation
Sapelo Foundation
Supporting Organizations:
Georgia Council, Trout Unlimited
NRDC
Rabun Chapter, Trout Unlimited
Towns County
Homeowners Assoc
Individuals:
Adams, Allison
Adams, Brenda
Aderhold, Tom
Balser, Mark
Balthazar, Robert & Norma
Bartlett, Harry & Lucy
Bartlett, Lisa
Bartlett, Lucy
Belew, Susan
Bertelson, Leonard & Nancy
Bishop, James
Bolding, Bob
Bowen, Alma
Brinson, Margaret
Brook, Arthur
Buchanan, Jim
Calhoun, Emily
Carien, Marilyn
Carmichael, Steve
Coger, Chloe
Cullifer, Carol
Davant, Reynolds
Dixon, Roger
Doll, Ted & Lynda
Drake, Mollie
Dunkle, Marie
Durham, Robert & Cynthia
Ezzard, Martha |
Individuals
(continued):
Fail, Joseph Meta Thompson
Fain, Karen
Fain, Michael & Karen
Fisher, Richard & Judith
Foste,r Charles & Edna
Freedland, Martin
Gatins, Joe & Frances
Gerken, Austin
Gray, Kendall
Groft, Keely
Groft, Keely & Jamie
Grove, Judy
Hatcher, Robert & Margaret
Hawkins, Charles
Heard, John
Heckel, Ginny
Heckel, Todd
Hemmerich, Hugo
Hendry, James & Donis
Hicks, Keith & Kathryn
Hinderliter, David & Carolyn
Hood, IV, William
Humphlett, Mary & William
Hunt, Andrew
Irwin, Hugh
James-Chung, Hillery
Johnston, Eugenia
Jones, Leslie
Kendrick, Cynthia
Kenyon, Bill and Tallulah
Kidd, Gregory
King, Jr, Edward Lewis
Kirkley, Dorothy
Kraus, Charles and Ann
Lawless, Mignon
Line, Mary & Robin
Lombard, Oly
Lowe, Roy
Lyndon, Sandy
Manning, Thomas
Martin, Carolyn
Martin, Daniel
Martin, Lucinda
Massell, Steve & Krista
McAuliffe, Paul Donna Stroud-McAuliffe
McCain, Stephen
McCann, Marie
McDowell, Edward
McGinness, Shelley
McPhail, Ray
McWilliams, Robert & Brenda
Meadors, Helen
Melton, Eston & Peggy
Metzgar, Dick |
Individuals
(continued):
Milikin,
David & Elizabeth
Miller, Phyllis
Oliver, William
O'Sullivan, John
Otis, Gail
Otis, George
Owenby, Jr., Ermine
Patton, Phillip
Peckham, Mary Ann
Pelphrey, James
Pepperd, Cora
Price-Williams, Tim
Quinlan, Lilith
Ramsey, Ramsey
Ranson, William
Retter, Candy & Frank
Rhodes, Denny
Rinker, Jack
Rodeghiero, M H
Rolland, Anthony
Ruddock, Fred
Ruf, Joe
Salazar, Ronald
Samples, Jr., Charles Lamar
Shirely, Nancy
Singley, Elizabeth
Smith, Carter & Laura
Sousa, Judy & Anthony
Stack, Leckie
Stevens, Jeff
Strangia, Robert
Suich, Ann
Suzuki, Howard & Tetsuko
Tenney, James
Tompkins, Darryl
Trimble, Grace
Turner, Noel & LaJean
Vaughn, Judith
Verges, Leornard & Lisa
Vines, William
Warren, Jr, Edus & Harriet
Wehunt, Terry
Weimann, P.L.
Welden, David & Janie
Wells, Eric
Wilkie, Lorraine & Scott
Williams, Elizabeth
Williams, George & Harriet
Williams, Sam
Wilson, Robert
Wimmersberger, Marjorie
Wise, Stancil
Zicker, Robert |
Stop I-3 website update
Stop I-3 Coalition's website
is a great resource for I-3 related information. New
postings since our last newsletter went out:
STOP
I-3 Coalition's expanded mission and goals. While
continuing to organize in opposition to I-3, we are
now monitoring Corridor K and researching sensible
transportation options for our region, including rail;
- Information
page on Corridor K (Chattanooga to Ashville)
with impact maps, articles re survey, hearings, Tennessee
Department of Transportation (TDOT) environmental study;
- New
South Carolina Supporting Group: Upstate Forever;
- STOP I-3 Coalition press release reaffirming
our board's position opposing I-3 in response
to Rep. Paul Broun's suggested "technical correction;"
- News
articles since September '07 from papers in
Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee
covering issues of nuclear waste transport, GADOT disarray,
needs for infrastructure repair, Rep. Broun's considered
technical correction route and responses to it;
- Improved links to legislative
information and maps;
- News and photos of our October
party in Tiger, Georgia...and
- COMING
SOON:
video courtesy of George Sloan, which he produced for
his Channel 4 show, "Art in the Mountains."
—Lilith
Quinlan, Stop I-3 Coalition board director
Welcome, Grace Trimble
The Coalition welcomes a new member of the board of directors,
Grace M. Trimble, senior communications coordinator for
the Atlanta Regional Commission. Grace, an Atlanta resident
with long experience in environmental and transportation
issues, will be a key member of the board.
Plus, she and her husband have a second home in Rabun
County, Georgia, right in the middle of the mountains we
are all trying to protect.
So
Many Ways You Can Help
You can make a bigger difference—volunteer!!!
If you've wanted to share your time and expertise to help
keep bad road proposals from coming to fruition like I-3
and Corridor K, now it the time to jump in. We now
have a volunteer coordinator, M.J. Bridges, who will help
plug in your particular interests and skills where they
are most needed. Look over the Stop I-3 Coalition list
of volunteer needs or contact M.J.
directly,
706.508.3711.
Below are some specific needs we need
right now!
-
Monitoring
news sources for transportation articles
Do
you regularly read or listen to a particular news source? We
have a section on our website devoted to I-3, Corridor
K, and transportation related news and need help identifying
those articles.
-
Entering
data
We
gather information about new supporters at tabling events
who want to be kept abreast of Stop I-3 news. Their
information is entered into our database by very special
dedicated volunteers who are discreet, detail oriented,
and comfortable with computers.
-
Rail
Task Force
If
you are knowledgeable about or interested in the rail system,
specifically in the Southern Appalachians, the Stop I-3
Coalition can use your help. In order to better understand
how rail fits into a sustainable transportation system
for our mountains, the coalition is forming a task force
to research rail (both freight and passenger). We want
to know what groups are actively promoting freight and
passenger rail in the region, and what, if any, proposals
are there for expanding rail capacity in the region. This
is a short-term project to gather information to enable
the coalition to speak and act knowledgeably about rail
as part of the sustainable transportation solution for
the Southern Appalachians and nearby Piedmont.
The Stop I-3 Coalition is thrilled to have M.J. assisting
with volunteer coordination. M.J. reports that she
is "excited to be working with the Stop I-3 Coalition.
I want to help preserve the beauty and integrity of the
land in order for my children's children to enjoy it—after
all that is part of all of our legacies—what we leave
for the future generations to enjoy." In
the past, she worked on U.S. Senator Paul Coverdell's Operation
Drug Free Georgia, as well as for a local newspaper covering
everything from kindergarten registration to state and local
politics. Currently, in addition to coordinating volunteers
for the Stop I-3 Coalition, she focuses her attention on
her photography business, serving as the Deputy Commander
of Cadets and Public Affairs officer of the Civil Air Patrol
of Jackson County, Georgia, and raising her children. Shoot
M.J. an email or
give her a call today, 706.508.3711, and see how you fit
into the Stop I-3 Coalition.
Burma Shave matters
The Stop I-3 Coalition reminds you that we still have some
great Burma Shave Sign sets available for your yard
or pasture fence and yard signs (16" x 24")
with our name and web address to place in your yard to show
your support of stopping I-3. For more information or to
order your signs call Sandy Lyndon at 706.754.0046 or email
her at sandy@bbinc.org
Send
the money!
Stop I-3 Coalition is a lean, low-budget enterprise—always
has been—whose success has largely depended on the hard
work of willing volunteers who pitched in to further the cause.
Meeting our goals, both short- and long-term, also means that
we are going to have to raise a bit more cold, hard cash. That's
a fact.
Please support the Stop I-3 Coaliton by donating
today online or mail
checks or money orders (made out to Stop I-3 Coalition)
to:
Stop I-3 Coalition
1074 Arbor Drive
Lakemont, Georgia 30552
Stop I-3 Coalition is a 501 (c) 3 corporation whose contributions
are tax-exempt to the extent permitted by law.
