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Tellico...........................

6K views 45 replies 24 participants last post by  kb8ymf 
#1 ·
Tellico's day in court has arrived, today @ 9:30ish I believe.
I don't suspect an actual ruling will come today but the case will be presented.
If I hear anything, I'llpost up.
Jim-kb8ymf
 
#3 ·
I have never personally been there since I have never had a rig that capable. But I am for preserving every bit of land we can wheel on. Will I ever compete in the Hammers? Probably not. Will I do what I can from across the country in Hooiserville? Fuck yes I will.
 
#5 ·
Having been there Tellico had a lot to offer. Not only did they have extream trails but many that mildly built rigs could handle and even some for stockers. It could be very entertaining to watch the extream rigs on some of the trails.

Even though the dammage has already been done I hope they win this battle.
 
#13 ·
It was a fun place, even for smaller rigs. Our main group in 2006 was mostly on 35-37s, and that was a good size to go through all of the trails there.

What I really liked about Tellico, is that they were trails, not just obstacles. you kinda all had to go down the trail, or turn back. Kind of the anti-Harlan. (just my personal preference, I know lots of people like shorter trails and play areas with smooth roads between) Had to work to get all of your vehicles through. Also, the scenery is really nice. We camped close by, on the river. That was a nice spot.
 
#8 ·
Once upon a time there was a cool place to off-road. People abused their privilidges, others acted responsibly, and yet others didn't even get a chance to go. Along came concerns of erosion, environmental impact, trail sustainability, fish, wildlife, and hippies. Bye bye place to off-road. Hello battle in court over land and opportunity to continue to access the land for orb recreation.
 
#12 ·
Thanks for the updates Jim.

Tellico started having seasonal closures in the mid-2000s, kinda similar to the Mounds. I think they did it one or two years.

Then Trout Unlimited file suit against the Forest Service saying that the ORV area was the cause of too high of silt levels in the local river. The Forest Service responded by closing the area to allow for a study with a promise to reopen. It has not been open since.

Southern Four Wheel Drive Association (SFWDA), UFWDA, Blue Ribbon and other groups have been fighting to get it reopened.

Currently they are trying to sue for illegal closue, as SFWDA hired an independent engineering firm that showed water levels were within limits.

Since closing the park, Trail 1 that connected NC to Tennesee has been paved (literally) for thru traffic. The area is being extensively logged, and pictures show that little to no changes have been made to reduce the silt that was the original reason for closing the area to ORVers.

There is a Tellico section on pirate4x4 that has pictures from a few years ago of the logging operation.
 
#25 ·
Tellico was awesome, especially in the rain. I lived in NC and was only a 2-3 hours away, awesome place to go for the weekend.
 
#28 ·
I heard that was all the time. It rained pretty much every day I was there.
 
#29 ·
Arguments have been entered. Judge said he would have ruling in 30 days. Here's hoping for a happy September 22nd.

Jim-kb8ymf
:thumb: - Hoping for the best. Looks like a beautiful place and if it did reopen it would be added to the top of my list of the next places to go visit.
 
#30 ·
It will certainly be interesting to see what timeline USFS is given to reopen the trails. I suspect Southern will insist on a few weeks or maybe months to run trails and bring up to snuff all the water bars and drainage lines. The drainage was after all the whole issue that the USFS and D.U. hung their hat on for the closures. It will also be interesting to see if we win, just what stipulations the judge places on the facility. Just like the Mounds. the judge making the ruling has the ability to place all sorts of restrictions on it. If you remember the whole fiasco started when the USFS said they wanted to close it during the 'sensitive' time of the year, spring. But would reopen it once it was dried out.
They could do something as crazy as closing it if it starts to rain! Stranger things have occured when a singular entity, namely the judge, gets to make all the decisions.

jim-kb8ymf
 
#35 ·
This case being judged in favor of SFWDA and setting precedent would be nice. TU has been fighting to close down not only 4x4 trails all over the country but mountain bike trails too, they feel any non-foot mode of transportation is evil.

The worst part is much of their member base is completely clueless about what the group actually does with membership money and donations :/
 
#39 ·
seen this on pirate yesterday:

Link: http://blogs2.citizen-times.com/outd...t-brook-trout/

Federal Court upholds Tellico ORV Area closure to protect brook trout
Filed under: Uncategorized — Karen Chavez @ 10:15 pm

A federal judge today upheld a decision to protect native brook trout in the Nantahala National Forest.

Below is the press release from the Southern Environmental Law Center:

Rejecting a challenge from ORV enthusiasts, a federal judge today upheld U.S. Forest Service and conservation groups’ efforts to protect the Tellico River watershed in the Nantahala National Forest, including streams critical to native brook trout, from pollution caused by excessive off-road vehicle use. Heavy usage of the Tellico ORV trails system damaged habitat in the Nantahala National Forest, so the Forest Service closed it as required by law and ORV enthusiasts subsequently sued.

The Southern Environmental Law Center intervened in the lawsuit to defend the Forest Service’s decision on behalf of Trout Unlimited, Wild South and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

Today’s court decision brings to a close a decade-long process that began when Trout Unlimited and other groups held annual meetings with the Forest Service and ORV enthusiasts about erosion from the Tellico ORV area. When years of discussion failed to prompt action, conservation groups threatened to sue the Forest Service in 2007 because muddy runoff from the ORV area was devastating one of the last, best strongholds for brook trout, a native species in decline in North Carolina and Tennessee. The Forest Service then initiated a thorough assessment of the watershed, ultimately concluding that the ORV trails could not be sustained in the highly-erodible soils near the Tellico River.

“Under the law, the Forest Service didn’t have the option of allowing ORVs on the Tellico trails to do more damage to forest streams and brook trout,” said DJ Gerken, senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “The Court recognized this duty to protect the forest’s waters from pollution and upheld the agency’s decision.”

“The facts were clear – the Forest Service simply couldn’t maintain the trails to minimum standards,” said Michael “Squeak” Smith with the North Carolina Council of Trout Unlimited. “The Forest Service didn’t have the massive funding required to reconstruct eroded trails and maintain them permanently. Closure was the only affordable option to protect water quality.”

The Forest Service’s action will improve water quality in the Tellico River which flows from North Carolina to Tennessee. “I’ve fished in the Tellico River my whole life,” said George Lane, past council chair of the Tennessee Council of Trout Unlimited. “Now I look forward to many more years of fishing in streams spared by the Forest Service’s decision to close the ORV trails.”

ORV driving on public lands can cause significant damage when it is not adequately managed. In Tellico, intensive ORV use eroded many ORV trails into deep ditches, some more than seven feet deep.

“If agencies choose to make federal lands available for ORV driving, they have no choice but to spend the taxpayer dollars required to maintain them and prevent water quality problems,” said Barry Sulkin, director of the Tennessee office of PEER. “If they lack resources to do the job right, then they shouldn’t do it at all and the trails have to be closed. Tellico is an example of an agency stepping up to the plate and doing what the law required.”

Ben Prater, associate director of Wild South, agreed. “The National Forests are an important recreation resource,” said Prater, “but water quality must come first.”

:(:( guess I will never wheel there
 
#42 ·
Major Suck Ass. Always wanted to go there but I will never get the chance.

Sad thing is I bet the USFS wanted to close it down not just because of the fish but they got some huge kick backs for the Logging company's as well as TU.
 
#46 · (Edited)
Sorry I didn't get it post here yet but we've been try to get the word out to all our RSS feeds and e-mail lists.
Not what we were hoping for but the alternative of sitting still and letting our recreation get trampled and run over is a sure fire recipe for turning our trucks into flower planters.
Showing the other side we are ready for a fight isn't a bad message to be sending.

An interesting point to remember is that in SELC's (Southern Enviromental Law Center) press release above, they metioned that the Forest service couldn't mitigate the runnoff from the trails in the Tellico OHV area. What isn't mentioned is that NO RIVER is able to meet the runoff specification that the USFS themselves established, ANYWHERE! Even in the midst of a wilderness area. One has to wonder how these specifications get established.

Jim-kb8ymf
 

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