The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners has backed off its effort to make public land around Lake Hiwassee available to the highest bidder, thanks in large part to a grassroots effort in Cherokee County.
At a meeting January 20, the board voted 5-0 to rescind a “petition for the redress of grievances” that they submitted to the federal government last year, asking the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to make lakefront land “available for private and commercial development”. Initially passed unanimously last April, the letter also requested that the USFS loosen restrictions on logging and cease approving wilderness designations.
Commissioners’ initial support for the petition sparked a grassroots campaign to save the public lands, supported by MountainTrue, which eventually obtained more than 4,000 signatures on a “People’s Petition” asking commissioners to withdraw their letter and “prioritize conservation, clean water and public recreation over private or commercial expansion”.
“The outpouring of support from the residents of Cherokee County shows how important one of our greatest shared resources — public land — is to all of us, no matter your political persuasion. We at MountainTrue stand with the people of Cherokee County to protect this cherished lakefront from getting locked up by private developers,” said MountainTrue’s Southwestern Regional Director, Callie Moore.
At the January 20 board meeting, several commissioners voiced support for their initial petition. Commissioner Dan Eichenbaum, who was first to propose it, made a nearly 14-minute speech asserting that Cherokee County families were unjustly harmed in the 1930’s when the Tennessee Valley Authority forced property owners to sell their land for creation of the Hiwassee Dam. That land was ultimately deeded to the USFS. He added that current residents’ fears that lakefront property would be developed were unjustified.
“All your worries about what might happen are nonsense. Take it from me. Total nonsense,” he said.
But in a meeting last summer, it was Eichenbaum who suggested a certain kind of private development would be worthwhile.
“Wouldn’t it be nice, for instance, to have a Marriott Resort on the lake?” he said, to a chorus of boos from the packed room of residents. “Not for you, but for the other people in the county,” he responded. “It would be nice because that would add to our tax base. It would also be nice to have a few high-priced homes on the lake to also add to our tax base.”
Despite supporting the petition, Commissioner Ben Adams ultimately made the motion to rescind it January 20, citing widespread support for rescission from residents.
“It’s what the people want. I would love to see that land sold off. That’s what I would want, but the people want to rescind it,” Adams noted before the board voted 5-0 to take back the petition they had initially sent to Washington, D.C. last year.
Despite the win, public land supporters like MountainTrue are worried that commissioners could look for other ways to get public land developed.
Commissioner: USFS is the enemy
In a meeting July 29, Eichenbaum framed the USFS as the enemy, complaining about their wildfire prevention and forest management practices. He bemoaned the loss of the logging industry in Cherokee County, blaming the USFS for declining revenues from timber.
“The claims that the U.S. Forest Service is an enemy to Cherokee County and that they are responsible for the decline of the timber industry could not be farther from the truth,” countered MountainTrue Resilient Forests Director Josh Kelly. “Nantahala National Forest employs dozens of locals, including the District Ranger and Fire Management Officer, for example.”
“Further, the Nantahala National Forest provides public access for hunting, fishing, firewood collection, and recreation, and is the primary source of clean and abundant water for our farms, rivers, and communities,” Kelly added. “These assets are the backbone of the tourism and real estate economy in the Southern Blue Ridge Mountains. People simply want to be in and near national forests.”
Though Eichenbaum seeks to pit the local logging industry against the Forest Service, Kelly points out that the nationwide decline in timber harvests are more accurately attributable to international trade policies, while logging in Nantahala National Forest continues.
“Over 800 acres of Nantahala National Forest totaling 9.6 million board feet have been harvested in Cherokee County since 2017. More than 2,000 acres of national forest timber have been approved for sale in Cherokee and Clay County in the past 10 years, although not all of that has been sold. Further, the Forest Service has invested over $3 million in grants to wood products companies in North Carolina since 2024, offering public timber up for sale to private companies, and subsidizing purchases of new equipment.” Kelly noted. “While there is room for improvement in the way Forest Service timber sales are managed economically and environmentally, the decline in the US timber industry is based on international economics.”
Moore said Eichenbaum’s rhetoric got residents fired up and spurred them to circulate paper petitions at local businesses and launch a public lands for all website, where the online version of the “People’s Petition” is posted. Paper petitions garnered hundreds of signatures, supplementing thousands of others that signed the petition online.
What’s next
If this can happen in Cherokee County, it can happen elsewhere in the Southern Blue Ridge, and MountainTrue will be ready to fight to protect this precious resource.
“Nothing crosses political divides like a shared love of our public lands. MountainTrue will continue to fight for the protection of common land that we can all share, whether we access the land to hunt, fish, bike, hike, meditate or learn about our natural surroundings. Public lands are for all of us,” Moore said.
Despite the vote to rescind the petition, organizers’ work isn’t done. Supporters of the People’s Petition plan to appear at the regular board of commissioners meeting Monday, Feb. 16 to present the signed petitions and call on the commissioners to go one step further — pass a resolution in support of keeping public lands in Cherokee County public.
“While it’s great that they rescinded their original petition, residents of Cherokee County want assurances that these lands will continue to be publicly accessible for their children and grandchildren,” Moore said.
Stay tuned to MountainTrue’s website and social media channels for how you can get involved in our collective efforts to protect public lands in the Southern Blue Ridge.
