The Trump administration’s proposed Roadless Rule rescission — which The Smoky Mountain News has covered at each stage — dominated part of the Sept. 15 Swain County meeting when Kimberly Smith, an Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians enrolled member and The Wilderness Society’s southeastern states conservation specialist, urged commissioners to give public comment. She used an Indigenous perspective to frame the sites a rescission would impact.
“The forest, rivers, and wildlife were here before us, and if we make the right choices, they will be here after us. We often think about stewardship as something to do to a place, but stewardship is also about understanding we have a relationship with a place, and with that comes responsibilities,” she said.
