Resource Name (Heading 1) - USDA Forest Service - US ...

Summary of Public Comments - Managing Recreation Uses in the
Upper Segment of the Chattooga Wild and Scenic River Corridor EA
G) Consider the effects from new access points, portage trails and parking
areas to private property;
H) The Green Creek access will cause trespass on private property and is
unsuitable;
I) Clarify how boaters will access put-ins and take-outs;
J) New access must remain by foot and only on numbered Forest Service
trails, as this would be consistent with the original Wild and Scenic River
plan;
K) Disclose specifics for access at Whiteside Cove Road, including associated
costs;
L) Portaging is done over bedrock, thus there will be no impacts;
M) Lower flows require less shore access as rapids can be scouted by boat
and become easier to traverse and it allows for easy portaging within the
river channel;
N) Damage resulting from portage trails that will be mitigated and/or corrected
with adaptive management present unacceptable risk to ORVs;
O) Consider restricting access at Big Bend Road for put-in and take-out at Lick
Log;
P) Consider restricting access to the Bull Pen Bridge (all comments from 2009
EA comment period);
Q) North Carolina law prohibits any fishing activity from impeding any form of
navigations (all comments from 2009 EA comment period);
R) Consider the Crane Creek Road for access (all comments from 2009 EA
comment period);
S) Eliminate all roadside parking within ¼ mile of all bridges (all comments
from 2009 EA comment period);
T) Portage trails will cause more user-created campsites (all comments from
2009 EA comment period);
U) There should be signage at the Burrells Ford Bridge take-out that includes
all restrictions (all comments from 2009 EA comment period); and
V) Close and reclaim the County Line Road/Trail and parking should remain at
Whiteside Cove Road (all comments from 2009 EA comment period).
Response to PC 71
A) No alternative considered expanding the parking areas. Alternative 2 considered reducing
capacities. Alternative 15 considered increasing capacities, but were not evaluated because the
desired condition described by the public in the fall 2005 public meetings included not increasing
capacities.
B) Potential sedimentation effects were analyzed in Chapter 3 of the Environmental Assessment,
Managing Recreation Uses in the Upper Segment of the Chattooga Wild and Scenic River,
specifically in Section 3.3.2 Water Quality.
C) Any new trails would require a site-specific analysis including consideration of legal mandates
in the Wild and Scenic River Act.
D) Some questions have arisen regarding the Green Creek put-in. In the Environmental
Assessment, Managing Recreation Uses in the Upper Segment of the Chattooga Wild and Scenic
River Corridor, Table 3.1-6 lists past, present and reasonably foreseeable future actions on
national forest lands. Green Creek designated put-in is listed as the reasonably foreseeable future
action. This foreseeable future action includes providing access from the Chattooga River trail
down to the Chattooga Wild and Scenic River (WSR). There are no plans to provide roaded
access down to the Green Creek put-in. The access will be walk-in only. While the Green Creek
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