Trails & Recreation: D

  • Logging is planned in the A.T. National Scenic Trail Corridor and protections for the trail are weakened.
  • Logging is planned for the National Historic Trail of Tears corridor and on a sacred Cherokee village site.
  • Parts of the Mountains to Sea Trail—North Carolina’s state trail—are placed in highest priority logging designations.
  • The Bartram Trail corridor is already scheduled for logging and protections for the trail are weakened.
  • The Benton MacKaye Trail corridor is open to logging and protections for the trail are weakened.
  • Logging is allowed in the corridor of the Mountains to Sea Trail, North Carolina’s state trail.
  • The Snowball Trail, one of the most popular hiking trails along the Blue Ridge Parkway, is placed in the highest priority logging designation.
  • Logging is now permitted in the viewsheds of the Pisgah-Nantahala’s most popular recreational trail corridors.
  • The plan weakens protections for all trails—including national scenic and historic trails.
  • The plan threatens access for climbers and defers climbing guidance to a future plan.
  • Chattooga River paddling limits were not reviewed or adjusted.
  • Recreation provides nine times more jobs and revenue than timber harvests, according to the plan’s own analysis.
  • The Pisgah-Nantahala—the most popular national forest in the country—prioritizes timber over recreation, especially in the forest’s most visited recreation hotspots.

More Issues • Please Read

Protected Areas: F

The plan fails to protect over 101,000 acres of most important conservation and recreation hotspots. More than half of the most popular forest in the country is in highest priority logging designations.

Craggy National Scenic Area: D

The Forest Scenic Area designation for part of Craggy provides key support for the proposed Craggy National Scenic Area, and the final plan included an additional 700 acres. However, the plan places