Bill Could Protect Tennessee Wilderness
Monday, December 17, 2012
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Congress is winding down its current session, but Tennessee Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker are hoping that a wilderness bill that's been delayed for nearly two years will be passed by year's end. The Tennessee Wilderness Act, which is part of the bill, seeks to expand five existing wilderness areas in the Cherokee National Forest and create the first new wilderness area in Tennessee in 25 years. It would establish more than 9000 acres of new wilderness area.
Jeff Hunter, Director of the Tennessee Wilderness Campaign, says Congress needs to act now to protect Tennessee's precious wild areas.
"We have a window of opportunity to protect these lands while they're recommended for wilderness by the agency that manages them, the Forest Service."
Hunter says there is no fiscal reason for objection to the measure, because it would not cost taxpayers anything and many say that it would in fact enhance tourism revenues across the region.
In 2004 the U.S. Forest Service released recommendations for expanding wilderness in the Cherokee National Forest. All the lands slated for protection are currently in public ownership and are being managed by the Forest Service. The bill also would enhance the wildlife corridor in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Hunter says preserving more than 19,000 acres as wilderness would do nothing but enhance the state's image as a premier outdoor recreation destination.
"Oh, it's very much about tourism. There are tens of thousands of jobs in Tennessee that are dependent on tourism. That is quite simply a fact. We're a service industry now in terms of our economy in East Tennessee."
The Tennessee Department of Tourism estimates that more than 177,000 Tennesseans are now employed in the state's tourism industry. According to national figures, Tennessee's tourism generated more than $15 billion for the state's economy in 2011.
More information is at Wildsouth.org.
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