Environmental groups so far are not objecting to the project wholesale, but are asking that a small portion of the roughly 250 acres slated for logging be taken off the table, specifically a roadless area and an space around Tellico Bald that is classified as a state Natural Heritage Area. Meanwhile, Jeff Johnson, president of the Ruffed Grouse Society Chapter based in Franklin, expressed complete support for the project, averring that it would “enhance opportunities for game and non-game species.” Sportsmen in the region have been concerned recently about declines in game populations and believe shrinking acreage of young forest habitat has a lot to do with it. 

Dubbed the BBQ Project, the area includes land on the north slope of Trimont Ridge and the Swain/Macon line along Cowee Bald. A segment of the Bartram Trail and small portion of the Appalachian Trail between Wayah and Burningtown balds fall within it, but hunters and anglers are the primary recreation users in the area.  

The plan calls for 256 acres of selective commercial logging. The forest would be logged to leave two age classes for the future, meaning that some trees would be left behind and some logged. Another 23 acres along Forest Service roads would be thinned to increased sunlight to the roads, allowing them to dry out sooner. Prescribed burning would occur on 164 acres. 

The project also aims to improve and maintain wildlife openings, using a combination of burning and herbicide treatments. Herbicides would also be used to help control invasive species. After timber harvest, saplings growing up on logging access roads would be sprayed to allow grasses to occupy the paths for longer. 

Environmental groups claim a portion of the 256 acres slated for logging is in a sensitive and special area and should be off-limits to commercial timbering. The 34 acres of concern include an N.C. Significant Natural Heritage Area and Tellico Bald, identified by The Wilderness Society as a Mountain Treasure. 

“Tellico Bald Mountain Treasure Area should have been inventoried as a roadless area in the 1990s and should have been included as one of the areas protected by the Roadless Rule,” said Hugh Irwin, landscape conservation planner for The Wilderness Society. “The BBQ project could disqualify it from future consideration as a potential wilderness area.”

The Forest Service is currently working to identify areas in the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests that could qualify as new Congressionally designated wilderness areas, part of its overall task of creating a new management plan for the forest. 

Removing the 34 acres from the logging footprint is a reasonable request, according to Ben Prater, director of conservation for Wild South.

“If dropped it should not significantly affect the economics of the sale and likewise will minimize impacts to conservation values,” said Prater.

None of the work would be within sight of the A.T. However, the scoping notice did not state whether it would be visible from the Bartram Trail. 

Submit comments by March 23 to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or to the Nantahala National Forest office in Franklin, or fax to 828.837.8510. 

— By Holly Kays