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Murphy – The board of commissioners unanimously approved a “petition for redress of grievances” to the federal government over federally owned land, forest management and wilderness designations they say are harming Cherokee County’s economy at its April 21 meeting.
Proposed by Dr. Dan Eichenbaum, chair of the board, the petition lacks the force of law but may tap in to the Trump Administration’s sensitivity to federal overreach.
Federal bureaucracy has, over time and without remedy, deprived the citizens of Cherokee County of their “respective and collective rights to utilize property within the borders of the county,” the petition says.
Cherokee County consists of 298,482 acres, of which the U.S. Forest Service owns 31% – a total of 92,637 acres. Much of that land was acquired by the Tennessee Valley Authority when it built Hiwassee Dam.
“The TVA took more land than necessary to build the dam and fill the lake,” according to the petition. “Instead of giving the land back to the original owners, the TVA deeded the land to the USFS (U.S. Forest Service), which now owns almost all the shoreline. The USFS actively restricts private and commercial development of the land.”
The petition states that lakefront land should be made available for private and commercial developers to enhance the county’s property tax base.
“TVA lakes in our neighboring counties allow such development, putting our county at a disadvantage in terms of recreational facilities, property tax and tourism dollars,” the petition says.
The petition also calls on the forest service to loosen restrictions on logging and cease any requests for wilderness designations.
“The Forest Service is not capable of maintaining roads and property it now owns,” the petition says. “This limits citizen access to forest areas for recreation and hampers wildfire control. USFS has been guilty of ‘windshield management,’ i.e., managing its property from the cab of a USFS truck.”
The petition also calls on the Forest Service to relinquish a portion of its holdings in Cherokee County for the state to build a state park. The U.S. Forest Service closed its only public campground in Cherokee County near Hanging Dog.
“The Cherokee County Board of
Commissioners petitions and demands action by the executive office of the president and its cabinet departments as well as the U.S. Congress, without delay, to address and grant the relief herein above stated by the petitioners,” the petition concludes.