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
management direction would “preserve the natural conditions, wilderness character, ‘outstanding
opportunities for solitude’ and a ‘primitive and unconfined type of recreation’” as required under the
Wilderness Act. Rather, if implemented, the Environmental Assessment will greatly diminish all of these
characteristics of the three affected National Forests. The selected Alternative 12 would for the first time
since 1976 formally open these headwaters to boating and improperly intensify use of the Upper Chattooga
Corridor. We thus request that the Forest Service maintain that portion of current zoning of the Chattooga
River that prohibits all boating in the Headwaters above Highway 28, as well as continuing to prohibit all
boating from tributaries on the Upper Chattooga. (Ltr# 166, Cmt# 1)
Subconcern # R
I do not agree with the findings of the Environmental Assessment, nor do I support the proposed
"Alternative 12," the selection of which confirms, I believe, the inadequacy of the biological, economic and
management analyses held up to support that alternative. (Ltr# 185, Cmt# 3)
Subconcern # R S
History and the administrative record support the current zoning of uses to different segments of the entire
Chattooga River and indicate that new limitations for all users of the Chattooga Corridor and Ellicott Rock
Wilderness are now appropriate and necessary to protect these resources, and are thus required by law.
The most realistic, efficient, and workable solutions to address the need to protect the qualities for which
the Chattooga Corridor is covered under the Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Acts would be to
adopt those portions of Alternative 12 that would place greater limits on pedestrian and camper access –
but continue the current zoning that prohibits all boating and floating on the entire 21 miles of the Upper
Chattooga headwaters. Such a decision would be supported by the EA with a few modifications (such as
improved management coordination and adoption of identical amendments to the Land and Resource
Management Plans of the three National Forests, as suggested in the EA for management of Large Woody
Debris). For the reasons explained above, Georgia Forest Watch and Wilderness Watch oppose the
boating proposed in Alternative 12. The record reveals a lack of consideration or discussion by the Forest
Service of the biological, economic, and management impacts of the boating proposed in Alternative 12.
For all the reasons discussed in these comments, the record does not support the boating proposed in
Alternative 12 or any other alternative that would open the Upper Chattooga to boating or intensify use of
the Upper Chattooga Corridor. As such, the Forest Service must either find that a “no boating” alternative
is appropriate or find that Alternative 12 will have a significant impact on the quality of the human
environment and that an Environmental Impact Statement must be prepared. (Ltr# 166, Cmt# 37)
Public Concern 11
The Forest Service should not select Alternative 13 because:
A) User conflicts would be amplified;
B) New access points and portage trails are not suitable;
C) New parking areas are limited and a long distance from the Chattooga
River;
D) It will increase trespassing on private land as a result of overflow parking,
and possible search and rescue incidents; and
E) Expansion of the trailhead facilities on Green Creek Cemetery Road would
be inconsistent with the purpose for which the land was donated.
Response to PC 11
A) Chapter 3 of the Environmental Assessment, Managing Recreation Uses in the Upper
Segment of the Chattooga Wild and Scenic River Corridor includes effects to users from
alternative 13 in Section 3.2.1 Recreation ORV, 1. Potential Recreation Use Conflicts and
Boating Access, items a-d.
B) The exact location of the designated trail would be decided with additional site-specific
NEPA. The final decision on trails to be designated would be informed from public input and
potential effects to resources. The effects analysis in the Environmental Assessment, Managing
Recreation Uses in the Upper Segment of the Chattooga Wild and Scenic River Corridor has
44