Hon. Dirk Kempthorne,
Secretary of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington, DC
20240
Re: Great Smoky
Mountains National Park
Dear Secretary
Kempthorne:
The Carolina Mountain Club urges you to settle immediately the claim of
Swain County, North Carolina for a monetary settlement arising out of the 1943
Agreement.
With over 900 members, the Carolina Mountain Club maintains about 400
miles of trails in Western North Carolina leads over 175 scheduled hikes per
year, including hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In our judgment, the monetary settlement
is a matter of the utmost urgency.
A settlement needs to be effected immediately.
The National Park Service has conducted an Environmental Impact Statement
on this issue. It chose a monetary settlement with Swain County as the agency
preferred alternative in September 2007. The Record of Decision confirming that
was signed on 26 November 2007. Nearly a full year has passed, more than enough
time to implement the decision.
We are nearing a new national election and state elections. The president
and Department of the Interior appointees will change. A new governor will be
elected in North Carolina. We urge you as strongly as we can to reach a
settlement with Swain County before we encounter the time consuming delays that
accompany a change of administrations, both national and
state.
The issue of compensation for Swain County has been batted back and forth
for too many years. Please use the best effort of your office to produce an
immediate settlement.
Yours very
truly,
Ruth E.
Hartzler
Conservation
Chair
Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20240
Dirk_Kempthorne@ios.doi.gov
Lyle Laverty, Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks
1849 C Street, N.W. , Room 3161 Washington, DC 20240
Lyle_Laverty@ios.doi.gov 202/208-5347
Dale A. Ditmanson, Superintendent Great Smoky Mountains National Park
107 Park Headquarters Road Gatlinburg, TN 37738
Dale_Ditmanson@nps.gov 865/436-1201