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October 14, 2009
Conservationists back USFS action to restore water quality in NC’s Tellico ORV area
Asheville – Conservation groups concerned about water quality in the Tellico River watershed in national forests in North Carolina and Tennessee from a degraded off-road vehicle (ORV) area hailed the final decision announced today by the U.S. Forest Service as a win-win approach to resolving the problem. The agency will close most trails in the Tellico area and invest substantial resources to restore those lands, and convert the remaining ORV trails to forest roads for public access for other types of recreation. ORV use will no longer be allowed anywhere in the area.
Today’s decision brings to a close a years-long process that began when the conservation groups took steps to sue the agency in 2007 for failing to meet federal law and its own standards to protect the watershed from pollution caused by excessive ORV use in the area.
“The Forest Service has a legal mandate to protect water quality and wildlife habitat. “The National Forests are an important recreation resource,” said Ben Prater, Associate Director of WildSouth, “but no recreation use can be allowed to degrade wildlife habitat entrusted to the Forest Service’s stewardship. Water quality must come first.”
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