10/5/08, Chattanooga Times Free Press
Cleveland: Tracking forest history
CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Most people who visit the Cherokee National Forest have never heard of Quentin Bass. But if they walk on the Old Copper Road, read interpretive signs or hear of historic discoveries in the forest, they are seeing work largely due to the forest’s archaeologist.

Sitting at his somewhat cluttered desk in a hidden corner of the district office in Cleveland, Mr. Bass has a low-key way of explaining his job. Read more...

10/13/08, New York Times
Thinking Anew About a Migratory Barrier: Roads
SALTESE, Mont. — Dr. Chris Servheen spends a lot of time mulling a serious scientific question: why didn’t the grizzly bear cross the road? The future of the bear may depend on the answer.
The mountains in and around Glacier National Park teem with bears. A recently concluded five-year census found 765 grizzlies in northwestern Montana, more than three times the number of bears as when it was listed as a threatened species in 1975. To the south lies a swath of federally protected wilderness much larger than Yellowstone, where the habitat is good, and there are no known grizzlies. They were wiped out 50 years ago to protect sheep. Read more...

10/8/08, Smoky Mountain News
Corridor K alternatives need to be developed
On a hot Sunday in August my wife and I walked the Appalachian Trail out of Stecoah Gap in Graham County to climb the 5,062-foot Cheoah Bald. All week the news had reported code-red ozone days for the higher elevations, and since this 11-mile round trip hike was particularly demanding, we thought we might have been better off breathing second-hand smoke somewhere while eating French fries. Read more...

8/21/08, Environment News Service
North Carolina Plans Four-Lane Highway in National Forest
ROBBINSVILLE, North Carolina, August 21, 2008 (ENS) - A four-lane highway that would cut through a portion of the Nantahala National Forest in North Carolina would have little impact on the ecosystem, according to a new draft environmental impact study by the North Carolina Department of Transportation.
Area conservation groups say that conclusion is wrong. Read more...

8/28/08, Citizen-Times.com
Here's a road that simply shouldn't get built
A recently released environmental impact statement (EIS) gave a thumbs-up to construction of a section of a project called Corridor K. The section would relocate part of U.S. 74 in Graham County from U.S. 129 in Robbinsville to N.C. 28 in Stecoah.
The statement, released by the N.C. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, concludes that environmental damage resulting from building the road can be mitigated. Read more...

8/26/08, Mountain Xpress Files
The Green Scene - Looking on the bright side
It’s late August in Western North Carolina, and the trees are drooping due to lack of rain. The French Broad River is at a record low level, gas prices are higher than ever and the skies are stained with smog.
Yet the message at the kickoff of the Southern Energy & Environment Expo in Fletcher on Aug. 21 was distinctly optimistic. Some prominent figures in the region’s environmental community assembled at the start of the three-day event to sound off about solutions to widespread energy issues that they say can be embraced immediately. Read more...

8/26/08, Cherokee Scout
Corridor K would not benefit Volkswagen
"Len James tried to make a case for the construction of a four-lane bypass of the Ocoee Gorge on the basis of the needs of the new Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn.
There are a number of errors in his reasoning that can be easily verified by consulting the coverage in the business press. " Read more...

3/27/08, U.S. News & World Report
Mass Transit Systems Have a Hard Time Paying the Bills
The good news, ridership is up; the bad news, ridership is up
Strong-arming recalcitrant aldermen, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley recently framed the debate this way: Either support a property tax increase to fund the city's cash-strapped transportation authority or "stand up and say, 'I want the CTA to bypass my ward.'" Minutes later, the 40 percent tax increase on city property buyers passed overwhelmingly, 41 to 6. If only it were that easy in every burg where the aging rail lines keep rotting, the fares keep rising, and the trains have to keep rolling. Read more..

3/19/08, Augusta Chronicle
Highway plan criticized: Opponents want alternate route
'Opponents of a proposed interstate highway from Savannah to Knoxville, Tenn., hope to move its potential route to South Carolina to avoid any environmental or economic disruption of north Georgia's mountains.
"We don't want I-3 at all," said Reagan Williams, an aide to 10th District U.S. Rep. Paul Broun.' Read more...

February, 2008, Upstate Update, Number 91
Stop I-3 through South Carolina!
"Upstate Forever's Board of Directors voted unanimously on January 15 to oppose the study of a new interstate corridor (tentatively named I-3) which would connect Savannah to Knoxville." Read more...

Feb 08, National I-73/74 Association Newsletter
Graham reaffirms Interstate 73 as top priority
'When it comes to Interstate 73, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham is sticking to his guns. In early January, the Senator’s office was asked how they felt about a possible study for Interstate 3 in South Carolina. Without hesitation, Kevin Bishop a spokesman for Sen. Graham said, “The Senator’s focus is getting funding for I-73 to Myrtle Beach…I-73 is the top dog in South Carolina. We’re still a long ways away from that road, even though we’ve made a lot of progress.” South Carolina Representative and Chairman of the National I-73/74 Corridor Association, Alan Clemmons was thrilled with Sen. Graham’s comment, “The Senator’s statement on I-73 really does speak volumes for the depth of his support for the project.”' (See January article from The State here.)

1/21/08, Anderson Independent-Mail
I-3: Highway to progress or ruin?
Environmentalists oppose proposed interstate route
"Economic developers and politicians often see highways as the path to better living, while environmentalists and conservationists see highways as the road to more congestion and pollution. The two sides are beginning to crank up their engines as the proposed Interstate 3 turns from talk to studies, and the possibilities of a new interstate route become more real." Read more...

1/16/08, Flagpole
Remember This One?
"Remember This One?: It had been a while since the proposed Interstate 3 - you know, the one that would blast through the mountains on its way from Savannah to Knoxville - had been in the news, and you might have even been forgiven if you had figured I-3 for dying a slow death, but the start of the year brought news that our Congressman, Paul Broun, has been feeling out a change to I-3’s route that would push part of the road into South Carolina and keep it out of Georgia’s mountains. Funny thing: all the news reports agree that Broun opposed the road when he was campaigning; now here he comes implying that with a detour it might not be so bad after all. At least the environmentalists and mountain-lovers of the Stop I-3 Coalition [ www.stopi-3.org ] aren’t fooled."

...with permission from fFlagpole, author news editor Ben Emanuel in City Dope: Athens news and views section, originally published, Jan. 16, 2008.

1/15/08, Chattanooga Times Free Press
Corridor K alternate proposal draws fire
'GREASY CREEK, Tenn. -- A road built across Little Frog Mountain near the Ocoee Gorge would leave a footprint, no matter how "green" roadbuilders made it, environmentalists said this week. "There's ways to build highway with less impact," said Holly Demuth, executive director of the Stop I-3 Coalition. "But it still brings in 18-wheelers."' Read more...

1/15/08, Anderson Independent-Mail
Upstate Forever opposes Interstate 3 study for South Carolina
'Upstate Forever, one of the leading conservation groups that helped save Stumphouse Mountain in Oconee County, took a stance Tuesday against studying an interstate highway through South Carolina.The proposed Interstate 3 that was originally planned through northeast Georgia from Savannah to Knoxville, Tenn., now is being considered for a portion of South Carolina that could include U.S. 25. “It was a bad idea for Georgia. It’s a bad idea for South Carolina,” said Brad Wyche, executive director of Upstate Forever.' Read more...

1/15/08, CNN
Panel: Increase gas tax to fix roadways
"WASHINGTON (AP) -- A special commission is urging the government to raise federal gasoline taxes by as much as 40 cents per gallon over five years as part of a sweeping overhaul designed to ease traffic congestion and repair the nation's decaying bridges and roads." Read more...

1/10/08, Aiken Standard
Latest shipment of weapons grade plutonium arrives safely at SRS
'The latest shipment of nuclear weapons grade plutonium from a national laboratory in California recently arrived safely at the Savannah River Site, federal officials announced Monday. The cross-country shipment from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory arrived under "high security," according to the National Nuclear Security Administration, a separately organized agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. The shipment is part of plans to consolidate all surplus non-pit plutonium at SRS where the excess material is to be turned into fuel at the future mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel fabrication facility. Construction on the MOX plant began in August of last year and, according to the NNSA, the project is now 25 percent complete.' Read more...

1/9/08, Anderson Independent-Mail
Congressman says interstate plan for north Georgia not economically feasible
'A new interstate highway through the mountains of North Georgia would not be economically feasible and environmentally harmful, according to U.S. Rep. Paul Broun. “(Interstate) 3 as currently proposed is just totally economically not viable,” said Rep. Broun, R-Ga. “ If they tried to build the road, the cost would be so high that it would require high totals to build the road, and that’s just never going to happen.” When he won the House of Representatives seat left vacant after the death of Charlie Norwood, Rep. Broun inherited a plan to study a proposal for putting I-3 through north Georgia as a means to get from Knoxville, Tenn., to Savannah. Rep. Broun said he believes a corridor is necessary to bring economic growth to the 10th Congressional District in Georgia, which he represents, but he disagrees with the proposed route of the highway.' Read more...

1/9/08, Smoky Mountain News
DOT road hearings have potential for controversy
"A public hearing on dozens of proposed road projects in the region — including the controversial Southern Loop in Jackson County, the Siler Road extension in Macon County, and Corridor K through Swain County — will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 15, outside Andrews." Read more...

1/8/08, Athens Banner-Herald
Broun seeks new route for proposed interstate
"An East Georgia congressman says he will work to push the route of a proposed Interstate 3 east into South Carolina, but opposition groups still are against the plan. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens, said Monday that he has talking to representatives of the Federal Highway Administration about shifting the basic path of the Savannah-to-Knoxville interstate to pass through Greenville or Clinton, S.C., instead of through the mountains." Read more...

1/7/08, Chattanooga Times Free Press
Despite route change, road could still impact Southern Appalachians, environmentalists say
"Environmentalists in Georgia and North Carolina said Monday the proposed interstate from Savannah, Ga., to Knoxville remains a threat to the region, even if it skirts the mountains. The proposed road, called "Interstate 3" or I-3 for short, has not been designated as an interstate, but has been proposed as one, officials said. U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., said this week the route of the highway could pass the Northeast Georgia mountains and instead head for Greenville, S.C. Holly Demuth, executive director of the Stop I-3 Coalition, said Monday that despite the change, the road could still harm the region by spurring more residential development. The Stop I-3 Coalition also opposes improvements or widening of U.S. Highway 64, or Corridor K, through the Ocoee Gorge in Tennessee, between Chattanooga and the North Carolina border." Read more...

1/5/08, The State
I-3 might go through S.C.
"Opposition to a new freeway in Georgia has sparked plans to re-route part of the highway through western South Carolina. U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., said he wants the federal government to study an alternative route for Interstate 3 from Augusta to Greenville or Clinton. He may seek a change in federal law to require that. As originally planned, the proposed road from Savannah to Knoxville would cross the Blue Ridge mountains in northeast Georgia. That has upset environmentalists and some citizens groups in Georgia. They say I-3 would wreck the landscape, pollute clear-running mountain creeks and cost too much. . . ." Read more...

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