The Environmental Journal of Southern Appalachia

Displaying items by tag: foothills parkway environmental assessment

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Conservation groups have cautioned against the zombie roadway between Wears Valley and Gatlinburg; EIS-level study uncertain

This story will be updated.

The National Park Service (NPS) said Dec. 9 it “will conduct additional design work and technical studies for Foothills Parkway Section 8D. This decision was based on feedback from subject matter experts and public comments received during a 30-day public comment period that ended Aug. 21.
“The NPS will reinitiate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process and inform the public of opportunities for future public engagement once this additional work is completed. A schedule for completing the additional work has not yet been established,” according to a release from NPS public affairs specialist Dave Barak.
 
Conservation groups, including the National Parks Conservation Association, say the road would further fragment forest habitat and present unacceptable water-quality hazards.
 
The NEPA offers a range of alternatives, however, and it was not immediately known whether the park service would again embark on a more detailed environmental impact statement (EIS) or proceed with a relatively cursory environmental assessment.
 
A draft of the previous EIS process for this parkway project were completed decades ago, as reported by Hellbender Press.
 
The federal government last year opened the latest round of public comment on the project, which would traverse Buckeye Knob and Cove Mountain and multiple aquatic and karst environments.

 

Concerns raised by the public over the decades range from impacts on domestic water supplies and endangered or threatened species to the fact the roadway might be a catalyst for excessive tourism infrastructure in Townsend and Wears Valley. 

Published in News

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GATLINBURG — The National Park Service has posted the Foothills Parkway Section 8D Environmental Assessment (EA) for a 30-day public comment period ending Aug. 21. The EA evaluates the construction of nine miles of new parkway from Wears Valley to the Gatlinburg Spur near Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.

(Hellbender Press first reported on this proposal in 2021.) 

A virtual public meeting about the EA and the proposed action will be held at 5 p.m. July 30. The meeting will include a presentation about the overview of the project and give time for the public to ask questions.

Read the EA, learn more about the proposed Foothills Parkway Section 8D project, and provide comments

The preferred manner for providing comments is via an online form through the NPS Planning, Environment and Public Comment website (linked above), which the agency uses to manage official correspondence and analyze public comments in the planning process. 
 
Comments can also be submitted in writing and postmarked by August 21 to:  
Great Smoky Mountains National Park  
ATTN: Foothills Parkway 8D 
107 Park Headquarters Road, Gatlinburg, Tenn. 37738 
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