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Our View: Cherokee County
Tuesday, July 31, 2012 8:05 PM CDT
Cherokee County Commissioners Steve Jordan and Lorraine Meltz bowed to public pressure and turned down a proposal to place 8.45 acres of county property on the Valley River into a permanent conservation easement during a meeting on June 18.
Phillip Moore, representing the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee, presented a letter of intent for the county to donate the property with the intent to create the easement by December. The letter, submitted for county commissioners to sign, states that the easement “legally assures that our land will remain in its natural, non-developed state into the future.”
The county property is across from the airport, southeast of U.S. 19/74 in Marble on the northwest bank of the Valley River. The letters state this is a joint effort by and between the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee and the county in “preserving the unique qualities of this land on a voluntary basis.”
The letter of intent states the land could be used for agriculture, horticulture, forestry and passive recreation. However, there would be a 30-foot-wide undisturbed vegetated buffer on the Valley River and commercial, industrial and residential uses would be restricted. The county would retain the right to a pervious surfaced walking trail no more than 6 feet wide and outside a minimum 15-foot-wide buffer from the river.
All this sounds good. However, the 9-12 Project was on hand to spout conspiracies about the United Nations somehow taking control of our land, and that wild speculation negatively influenced the local vote.
We fail to see how protecting our natural resources is a U.N. conspiracy. Sadly, Jordan and Meltz bowed to pressure and voted against preserving the property. Shame on them.
This story was written by the Cherokee Scout http://cherokeescout.com/articles/2012/08/04/opinions/doc501818849676f964017813.txt
Fish and Wildlife students Participate in a Service Learning Project
This past month, LTLT received a big helping hand when a group of students from Haywood Community College’s Fish and Wildlife Management program participated in a service learning project at the Morrison House property along Lakey Creek. Twenty two students worked two solid hours each along a portion of the fencerow leading to the historic house, clearing out invasive exotic plants such as Chinese privet, Japanese honeysuckle, and multiflora rose. The project was part of LTLT’s continuing efforts to clean up and restore the house and the land. LTLT has partnered with Preservation N.C. to market the property to potential conservation buyers interested in restoring the 1830’s era house and protecting the 130 acre farm property.
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