|
March 22, 2006
Stop I-3 Coalition to hold public information meeting
in Clarkesville
February 22, 2006
More county commissions vote to oppose I-3 corridor
February 6, 2006
Macon County commissioners vote to oppose interstate
corridor
December 21, 2005
Stop I-3 partners with SAFC
December 14, 2005
Stop I-3 Petition Drive Underway
September 7, 2005
Stop I-3 Coalition calls on Congress to redirect
highway money to Gulf reconstruction
August 24, 2005
Mountain residents raise common-sense questions
and concerns about Interstate
August 8, 2005
Norwood goes into "neutral" on I-3 for
constituents in Georgia mountains
August 4, 2005
White County Commissioners Take Strong Stand, Oppose
Interstate 3
July 27, 2005
Federal studies cast doubt on economic benefit of
Interstates
July 26, 2005
Mountain communities organize to fight new interstate
highway
July 9, 2005
Rabun commissioners declare unanimous opposition
to Interstate
July 4, 2005
Rabun residents form Stop I-3 chapter,
Urge large turn-out at board meet Thursday |
(Correction: The Clay County (N.C.) board of
commissioners adopted a
resolution in opposition to Interstate 3 on Dec. 1, 2005.
This makes that
board the first in Western North Carolina to vote such a stand.
The
Coalition regrets the error.)
For immediate release, February 6, 2006
Macon County commissioners vote to oppose interstate corridor
FRANKLIN, N.C.— The Macon County (N.C.) board of commissioners
voted unanimously tonight to oppose construction of the Interstate
3 corridor in its backyard.
The board’s resolution noted construction of such an
interstate “through the rugged terrain of Western North
Carolina would have a devastating environmental, economic,
cultural and aesthetic impact on these mountains…”
The vote marks the first time local elected officials in
the Tar Heel state have formally taken a stand against the
route that would cut a wide swath through Southern Appalachia
on its way from Savannah to Knoxville, via Augusta.
They did so, the Macon commissioners’ resolution said,
“in support and solidarity with our neighboring counties
in northeast Georgia, who have expressed their clear opposition
to this Interstate Highway.”
Officials in four neighboring counties of north Georgia
(Habersham, Rabun, Towns and White counties) already have
adopted similar resolutions in opposition to the road, and
several other localities in both states, are said to be considering
similar resolutions.
“We are truly grateful one of North Carolina’s
elected bodies has taken this stand,” said Elizabeth
Wells, chairperson of the Stop I-3 Coalition, a regional group
organizing opposition to the corridor.
Although federal officials have not yet selected a proposed
route for the new interstate, last night’s vote was deemed
particularly important because the U.S. 441 corridor, which
connects Macon and Rabun counties via Rabun Gap, is known
to be one of the alternatives under consideration by would-be
road builders.
The impetus for the interstate proposal originated with
state and federal officials in Georgia, but talk of such a
highway is beginning to attract growing concern in North Carolina,
several speakers said last night, since the downstate politicians
in Georgia who are pushing the road the hardest did so without
much of a by-your-leave to their neighbors.
Roger Turner, an organizer with the Western North Carolina
Alliance and a spokesman for the Stop I-3 Coalition, coordinated
the presentation that preceded the unanimous Macon vote tonight.
Both he and several other WNCA speakers skillfully played
on that budding resentment.
Edna Foster, representing the Highlands, N.C.-based Jackson
Macon Conservation Alliance – another group working with
the coalition, also presented Macon commissioners with a petition
containing better than 280 signatures, which registered opposition
to the proposed roadway.
The coalition represents a growing confederation of community
organizations and conservation groups located in the four-state
Appalachian region (see www.StopI-3.org for details, as well
as copies of the petition.)
The group is dedicated to stopping an unneeded highway that
it believes would do irreparable harm to mountain economies,
forests, farms, and streams, and to rural qualities of life
rooted in a strong sense of place.
Contacts:
Elizabeth Wells, (706) 878-2030
Roger Turner, (828) 349-1549
Correction: The Clay County (N.C.) board of
commissioners adopted a
resolution in opposition to Interstate 3 on Dec. 1, 2005.
This makes that
board the first in Western North Carolina to vote such a stand.
The
Coalition regrets the error.
|
