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Forest Fire Lookout Association |
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North Carolina |
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Chapter |
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How To Help
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WRITE A LETTER! In 2008, the NPS removed their radio communications equipment from the Shuckstack lookout tower. With its official park function eliminated, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will soon make a decision on the future of the tower. Considering Shuckstack’s dismal condition and potential safety hazard, access restriction, or entire dismantling of the tower, is a possibility.
The NPS will eventually make a decision for action regarding the Shuckstack lookout. Prior to most park actions, public input is gathered and taken into consideration. Therefore, one of the most influential actions that you can take to help the restoration of Shuckstack become a reality is to write a letter to the NPS.
When composing your letter, try to express the historical and scenic value of the tower. Include personal stories that relay your own attachment to the lookout. Below are several facts and figures that can be used to write about the tower: - Built in 1934 by the Public Works Administraton (PWA) - Provided fire protection, safeguarding the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Nantahala National Forest for nearly 40 years - Had a bird’s eye view of the start to finish construction of the Fontana Dam, the highest dam in the eastern U.S., as well as the damming of the Little Tennessee River and the subsequent creation of 35 mile long Fontana Lake, probably Western North Carolina’s most dramatic landscape change - An important landmark on the Appalachian Trail, a 2,100+ mile National Scenic Trail that leads from Georgia to Maine. The tower provides northbound thru-hikers their first vista of the rugged Great Smoky Mountains on which they are about to traverse. - Provides breathtaking views of Fontana Lake, Fontana Dam, Yellow Creek Mountains, Unicoi Mountains, and tall of the western Great Smoky Mountains National Park extending to Clingmans Dome. - Tower operator position provided employment to local residents who formerly lived on lands inside the national park. Send letters (the same letter if you wish) to both park officials below:
Dale Ditmanson Park Superintendent Great Smoky Mountains National Park 107 Park Headquarters Rd. Gatlinburg, TN 37738
Dianne Flaugh Landscape Architect Great Smoky Mountains National Park 107 Park Headquarters Rd. Gatlinburg, TN 37738
Feel free to send copies of your letter to the NC chapter of FFLA for keeping in the chapter’s tower file. It is strongly requested that you please copy and mail or email the response you receive from the NPS to the NC chapter of FFLA: Forest Fire Lookout Association—NC Chapter 807 Samuel Adams Cir. Concord, NC 28027
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