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12/29/05 - White County News-Telegraph
Stop I-3 partners with
green group: I-3 opponents can make tax-free donations
Local citizens now may make tax-deductible contributions
to the effort to stop the interstate that is planned to traverse
the North Georgia mountains. The White County-based Stop I-3
Coalition has announced its partnership this week with the
Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition, a large, eight-state,
non-profit. The partnership, Stop I-3 Chairperson Elizabeth
Wells of Sautee-Nacoochee said, enables the anti-interstate
to solicit tax-free donations to its effort on its Web site
(www.stopi-3.org). Read more...
12/19/05 - Athens Banner-Herald
I-3
opponents too late to fight for mountains
EDITORIAL
Opponents of the nascent proposal for an interstate highway
linking Savannah with Knoxville, Tenn. - along a route that
would, if unchanged from the current scheme, roughly follow
the east Georgia state line - are a generation or two too
late in their quest to save the north Georgia mountains from
massive human encroachment. Read
more...
(And read a response here...)
11/14/05 - Newsweek
Once
Unique, Soon a Place Like Any Other
It's heartbreaking to watch the Appalachia I love disappear
under endless condos and cabins. Read
more...
11/9/05 - Smoky Mountain Sentinel
Commissioners:
“I’ve learned more, I’m not for (Interstate
3).”
Although County Commission Chairman Stephen “Doc”
Sellers said it is highly unlikely that Interstate-3 will
ever become a reality, County Commissioners did all but make
an official statement against the Interstate which would connect
Knoxville, TN with Savannah, GA via the Blue Ridge and Smokey
Mountains. Read
more...
11/04/05, Greenwire/Environment and Energy Publishing
LLC.
Epic battle looms
over coast-to-mountains highway proposal
A new interstate highway linking coastal Georgia to the Appalachian
Mountains would -- depending on how you see it -- provide
a critical link in the Southeast's underdeveloped transportation
network or plunge a knife in one of the richest wildlife habitats
in the eastern United States. Such is the high stakes battle
looming over what could become Interstate 3, a highway project
that promises to become one of the nation's biggest rights-of-way
battles in decades. Read
more...
11/2 - Creative Loafing
Road
Rage
Norwood likes to refer to us as a fringe group. But when I
got interested in the road, I went to a meeting in Hiawassee.
I thought there would be 20 people there. But there were more
than 600 people, and half of them are loyal, staunch Republicans.
Fringe? I don't think so. I'd call them mainstream.. Read
more...
10/27 - The Times (Gainesville, GA)
Critics:
New interstate a waste of funds
As the federal government sinks deeper into debt, opponents
of a proposed new interstate highway through the Southern
Appalachians are urging Congress not to spend money on the
project. More than two dozen environmental groups in Georgia,
Tennessee and the Carolinas have joined a coalition to fight
Interstate 3, which would run from Savannah to Knoxville,
Tenn. Read
more...
10/4 - NPR's "Morning Edition"
Mountain
Interstate Plans Raise Alarm
The newly signed transportation bill provides money to start
planning an interstate highway from Chattanooga, Tenn., into
Georgia and the mountains of North Carolina. Many people who
live along the route don't want it. Listen
to the story...
October-November, 2005 - The Cherokee Scout
Two editorials re-printed with permission:
I-3 not right for our area
Without question, Cherokee and surrounding counties need
more good, decent-paying jobs with some medical benefits,
the kind of employment that can take care of a family. So,
again without question, our elected officials owe it to us
to look into any and all possibilities for economic development.
However, the proposed Interstate 3 is not the answer in this
area. Read more...
Don't get fooled by the
rhetoric
Sitting in Enloe Auditorium on Thursday night proved to be
an interesting experience. About 300 people gathered to learn
more at Interstate 3 and the effects – good and bad
– the proposed road would have on our area. Read
more...
9/8 - White County News-Telegraph
'Boondoggle'
Got a map? Trace all the towns and roads listed above from
Savannah to Knoxville. Then you will be able to see the impact
of this proposed superhighway. Whether this asphalt and concrete
monstrosity is on the edge of your town, goes in your town,
or through your front door, it is guaranteed to change your
neighborhood forever. And not for the better. Read
more...
9/7 - St Petersburg Times
From
disaster to disgrace
As we wonder why relief was so long in coming after Katrina,
we should consider what other disasters the nation is not
prepared for.
Most people are familiar with the fable of the little Dutch
boy who, shivering through the night, kept his finger in the
dike to prevent a small leak from becoming a disastrous torrent.
The story is fiction but the premise is true, as the world
has now seen to its shock, horror and rage. Read
more...
9/2 - Savannah Morning News
Detour
highway bill
Congress on Friday approved a $10 billion disaster relief
bill for hurricane-stricken Gulf Coast. That is just a downpayment
on what will be an epic recovery project for years to come.
Washington is going to have re-prioritize its spending to
deal with the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.
It can begin by rescinding the bloated transportation bill
it passed last July, and President Bush signed into law.
The six-year, $286 billion monstrosity is the largest public
works bill ever, and would have been even if it had not exceeded
a spending cap that had been agreed to by Congress and the
White House. Read
more...
9/2 - Towns County Sentinel
"STOP I-3" presented
to Rotarians
The biggest controversy in this area in recent years is
the proposed I-3 which is presently being talked about and
studied by a variety of agencies, private and government.
This Interstate is proposed to run from Savannah via Augusta
to Knoxville. During this routing it is to possibly go through
White and Towns County. Read
more...
8/31 - Georgia ForestWatch's Quarterly Newsletter, "Forest
News," Autumn 2005
Our back yards must get
bigger if the Stop I-3 fight is to succeed
Instinctive inclinations to protect one’s back yard
are going to have to be redefined if conservation and community
organizations are to prevent a new Interstate highway from
rampaging across Southern Appalachia.
These organizations also are going to have to resist natural
inclinations to become their own worst enemies if the long,
hard fight looming against “Interstate 3” is to
succeed.
The back yard, for starters, is a whole lot bigger than many
in the conservation community are used to dealing with –
much bigger than a single ranger district, wilderness or wildlife
management area, individual national trail, national forest,
national park, stream, creek or wild and scenic river. Read
more...
8/29 - The New York Times
Destroying
the National Parks
Most of us think of America's national parks as everlasting
places, parts of the bedrock of how we know our own country.
But they are shaped and protected by an underlying body of
legislation, which is distilled into a basic policy document
that governs their operation. Read
more...
8/28 - The Times (Gainesville, GA)
I-3
should not be built just to carry nuclear materials
Hundreds of people have met in three states recently for
the purpose of stopping Interstate 3, which is proposed to
run through the mountains of Northeast Georgia.
So far, the only people who have spoken out publicly in support
of an I-3 route study are the U.S. senators and representatives
who made sure the funds for it were included in the $286 billion
transportation bill signed this month by President Bush.
No one has offered a valid reason for building such an expensive,
damaging interstate route, and officials are not anxious to
provide one. But we finally think we know one plausible, but
disturbing, motive. Read
more...
8/28 - White County News-Telegraph
Interstate
3 opponents ask why
Members of the multi-state Stop I-3 organization want to
know why an interstate is being planned for Southern Appalachians.
Elizabeth Wells, Chairperson of the Georgia division of the
anti-interstate group formed this spring as a reaction to
a proposed interstate from Savannah to Knoxville, said Tuesday
that U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson has communicated by letter with
the group, telling them a $1.3 million feasibility study being
financed by the federal government will determine if an interstate
is a good idea. "However, he didn't answer the most important
question," Wells said, "which is who wants this
interstate and why." Read
more...
8/26 - White County News-Telegraph
Our
View
At Tuesday's Interstate 3 public information meeting at White
County High School, North Georgia citizens were told that
their opinion will count when it is being decided whether
to build an interstate that would traverse the North Georgia
mountains.
D.J. Gerken, an attorney with the Southern Environmental
Law Center, told the more than 200 people in attendance that
during the feasibility study for the highway, there will be
"an important and significant role for public participation."
Read
more...
8/24 - The Gainesville Times
Chambliss takes no stance
on mountain interstate
Sen. Saxby Chambliss speaks during a visit Tuesday to The
Times. The Republican from Moultrie called the controversial
plan to build a superhighway that runs from Knoxville, Tenn.,
to Savannah a "quality of life" issue, and that
he wants to wait until the feasibility study is complete before
taking a position.
U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss called the plan to build an interstate
from Savannah to Knoxville, Tenn., a "quality of life"
issue Tuesday, saying he would wait to take a stance on it.
Read more...
8/24 - The Gainesville Times
I-3 opponents say politicians
invited to rally, but most didn't show
About 250 people showed up Tuesday night at White County
High School to learn more about a proposed interstate highway
through the Blue Ridge Mountains.
President Bush signed a federal transportation bill Aug.
10 that allocates $1.3 million for a feasibility study on
Interstate 3, a hypothetical route that would link Savannah
to Knoxville, Tenn., by cutting across North Georgia.
The meeting was organized by the Stop I-3 coalition, a partnership
of grassroots groups in Northeast Georgia, East Tennessee
and the western Carolinas. Coalition leaders earlier said
the event would allow the public to "hear all sides of
the issue." Read more...
8/23 - The Toccoa Record
Norwood
holds closed meeting
The Toccoa Record U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood met with local
city and county commissioners as well as Development Authority
members on Aug. 11 to discuss the proposed I-3 project and
other economic development issues.
However, a representative of The Toccoa Record was not allowed
to attend the meeting. Read
more...
8/22 - Atlanta Journal Constitution
Opposition
lines road to proposed interstates
Robbinsville, N.C. --- This far-western corner of North Carolina
is home to an assortment of folks who have only a few things
in common. One of them is a deepening opposition to an interstate
highway project that has been proposed as a fix for Atlanta's
traffic problems and a boon to rural development. Read
more...
8/12 - The Northeast Georgian
Norwood says no I-3 route being
considered
Congressman Charlie Norwood is finished talking about proposed
Interstate 3. Norwood told Habersham County officials Saturday
that rumors continue to run wild about the project, and that
all information is premature at this point. He said a study,
funded in this year's highway appropriations bill, will determine
if and where Interstate 3, from Savannah to Knoxville, Tenn.,
and Interstate 14, from Augusta to Natchez, Miss., would run.
That study will include both routing and potential environmental
impact.
"This is the last time I'm going to talk about it until
after the study comes out," Norwood told members of the
Habersham County Commission in a meeting at the Habersham
County Airport. Read more...
8/11 - The Clayton Tribune
Norwood: Wait and see on I-3
U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood, a 9th District Republican, received
an earful of negative opinions Monday from Rabun County residents
concerned about the proposed Interstate 3. Read
more...
8/10 - Asheville Citizen-Times
Not
so fast on this whole I-3 thing
We here in the mountains squabble, it seems sometimes endlessly,
over all manner of issues great and small.
What we need sometimes to bring us together — conservatives
and liberals, Republicans and Democrats, Baptists and Unitarians,
newcomers and natives, you name it — is a common enemy.
Something to galvanize and unify us.
Interstate 3 looks like such a common enemy. Read
more...
8/8 - Asheville Citizen-Times
Interstate
3 study stirs WNC protest - Residents organize to fight road
plan
MURPHY — The state Transportation Department has more
than half a billion dollars in unfinished projects in the
seven westernmost counties, but the highway that is generating
the most discussion this year is not even on the state’s
drawing board yet.
Residents in Jackson, Macon, Clay, Cherokee and Graham counties,
upstate South Carolina, east Tennessee and northern Georgia
have joined to fight federal plans to build Interstate 3 through
the southern Appalachians.
Read more...
8/7 - The Gainesville Times
Plans
for interstate again threaten our mountains' beauty
Once again, efforts are under way to run an interstate highway
through the mountains of North Georgia. A majority of residents
always have fought hard against such an idea, but the effort
never truly goes away.
The latest proposal, known as Interstate 3, is being pushed
heavily by U.S. representatives from Middle and South Georgia,
and is supported by Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson.
Read
more...
8/5 - The Knoxville News Sentinel
Williams:
Stand against destructive I-3
"Wouldn't it be sweet if, for once, a destructive highway
project were shouted down by conservatives and liberals, business
leaders and environmentalists, politicians and pundits before
it even got on the drawing board?" Read
the column...
8/5 - The Northeast Georgian
Highway bill to help fund Cornelia
corridor widening
The new federal highway bill passed by Congress last week
earmarks $2 million to upgrade Cornelia's commercial corridor
from Cannon Bridge Road to Walnut Street. Georgia Department
of Transportation plans call for widening approximately 2.74
miles of state Highway 105 (more commonly known as Veterans
Memorial Drive) to ease traffic congestion and improve safety
in the area. Read more...
8/4 - White County News - Telegraph
White
County Commission rejects I-3 plan
White County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to say
no to Interstate 3.
In front of a packed courtroom and at the urging of District
8 State Rep. Charles Jenkins, the commission resolved to oppose
efforts to build a highway through the North Georgia mountains.
Commissioners agreed that they could not endorse federal efforts
to build an interstate highway from Savannah to Augusta to
Knoxville based on the information they have been given. Read
more...
7/31 - Gwinnett Daily Post
New
interstate through the South has growing opposition
By Greg Bluestein
The Associated Press
Read
the story...
7/31 - St. Petersburg Times
Interstate
is to mountains what drilling is to the gulf
WAYNESVILLE, N.C. - Mountain people don't often ask for outside
help, but now they need yours. Otherwise, the trucking lobby
and some pork-happy lawmakers are going to ram a $50-billion
interstate highway through the Southern Appalachians of northeastern
Georgia and far western North Carolina, where no such boondoggle
ought to go.
It looks greased. The pork - excuse me, transportation -
bill Congress was poised to pass Friday authorizes $2.64-million
to study the "feasibility" of that and another dubious
interstate. That's three times what the House initially proposed.
Read
more...
7/29 - Anderson Independent-Mail
I-3 study receives funding
boost
The $286.4 billion highway bill passed by Congress early
Friday contained an unexpected surprise for supporters of
a proposed interstate that would link Knoxville, Tenn., with
Savannah, Ga.
A feasibility study on Interstate 3 earmarked in the bill
by Rep. Charlie Norwood, R-Ga., received $1.32 million, $900,000
higher than his original request.
Stop I-3, a coalition opposed to the Interstate plowing through
the northeast Georgia mountains, immediately sought an explanation
for the dramatic increase. Read
more...
7/27 - Chattooga Quarterly
Editorial
by Buzz Williams
Many, myself included, were caught off guard by the rapid,
well orchestrated effort to plan, fund and construct a new
interstate highway through the Blue Ridge mountains. Rest
assured that the Chattooga Conservancy will be working hard
to beat this thing back. Doing so will be a tough task given
the head start the other side has gained. To win, we will
need the help of a dedicated constituency in executing a clear
strategy. I have outlined an initial strategy in this Quarterly’s
feature article on page 5. Here I would like to give a little
more background on who I believe is at the heart of the plan
to sacrifice our natural resources—that we all know are
so important to everyone—for the benefit of a few short
sighted politicians and the hungry corporations behind them.
Read
more...
7/27 - Chattooga Quarterly
Interstate
3
An interstate highway wider than three football fields is
on the fast track for the north Georgia mountains. The initial
route, outlined in federal legislation authorizing a "study"
of feasible routes and cost, would connect the port of Savannah,
Georgia, to Knoxville, Tennessee, and pass through the mountains
near Helen, Georgia. However, the proposed route through the
north Georgia mountains for Interstate 3, as it has been named,
could change depending on the outcome of the feasibility study.
Strong opposition from White and Towns Counties, which lie
in the first proposed route, is already causing proponents
of the road to talk about other options. According to Georgia
State Representative Charles Jenkins, whose electorate includes
residents of the northeast Georgia mountains, the route could
shift to Highway 441 through Rabun County, where current road
widening is already underway. Jenkins opposes the highway
and claims to be in contact with the Georgia federal delegation
that proposed the legislation for the feasibility study. He
said in a recent public meeting in Rabun County, "They
say this thing is a done deal," and later, "all
I’m hearing is Highway 441." That would put an Interstate
Highway in the Chattooga River watershed along Stekoa Creek—already
the most polluted tributary to the National Wild & Scenic
Chattooga River. The Chattooga Conservancy is mobilizing to
stop I-3. Read
more...
7/24 - Athens Banner-Herald
Reactions
mixed to proposed interstates
In the mountain areas of north Georgia, Tennessee and North
Carolina, opposition is building to a proposed new interstate
that would run from Knoxville, Tenn., to Savannah.
And farther south, in east Georgia, reaction so far is lukewarm
at best to Interstate 3, an idea being championed by U.S.
Rep. Charlie Norwood, an Augusta Republican.
Like the man who first introduced the idea last fall, former
congressman Max Burns, Norwood says the highway could bring
economic development to rural, relatively poor areas along
its way - counties like Franklin, Elbert, Hart and Stephens
that lie well outside the Atlanta economic engine. Burns proposed
both Interstate 3 and Interstate 14, which would link Augusta
with Natchez, Miss., during a tough re-election campaign that
he ultimately lost to Athens lawyer John Barrow. Read
more...
7/23 - Anderson Independent-Mail
I-3 study on the way to President's
desk
A $400,000 feasibility study on Interstate 3 is one step
away from reaching President George W. Bush's desk.
The study is part of a bill proposed by Rep. Charlie Norwood,
R-Ga., currently in conference committee, to build Interstate
3, a direct route from Savannah to Knoxville, Tenn. Read
more...
7/19 - The Northeast Georgian
Questions answered on I-3
A proposed freeway from Savannah to Knoxville by way of Augusta
has raised many questions and concerns in Northeast Georgia.
Both the Habersham and Rabun county commissions have voiced
their opposition to the proposed Interstate 3. Plus, a rapidly-growing
grassroots organization called the Stop I-3 Coalition has
taken on the mission of preventing the interstate from coming
into the mountain region. Read
more...
7/14 - The Clayton Tribune
Commissioners: No interstate
At the end of its second hour-long town hall meeting, the
Rabun County Board of Commissioners declared unanimous opposition
to a proposed Interstate 3 being routed through the county.
Those in the packed courtroom, many wearing badges with I-3
circled in red and a slash diagonally cutting through the
circle, gave commissioners a standing ovation. Read
more...
7/13 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mountains
no place for interstate
Op-Ed
7/13 - The Northeast Georgian
I-3: Just say 'no'
Reactions have been consistent from people I've spoken with
about the federal government's proposal to build an interstate
freeway along Highway 17: First they're shocked, then they're
dismayed. While officials in Georgia's economically-depressed
flatlands may thrill at the prospect of commerce and jobs
brought by a freeway route, I shudder at the thought of our
quiet mountain lifestyle destroyed. Read
more...
7/9 - Rabun commissioners
declare unanimous opposition to Interstate.
The five-member Rabun Board of Commissioners Thursday declared
its unanimous opposition to any proposed Interstate highway
coming through the county. Read
more...
7/7 - The Clayton Tribune
Letter to the editor
I hope everyone can attend the Co. Commission meeting this
Thursday night. While we are enjoying our cool summer here
our leaders and representatives in Washington are meeting
with their corporate cohorts to decide again what's good for
us. This time it's a new interstate highway from Savannah
through Rabun County to Knoxville. Read
more...
7/6 - Smoky Mountain News
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Battle lines drawn as
Georgia seeks to lighten Atlanta’s load
Residents of far Western North Carolina have launched
the beginnings of what organizers say will be a massive
fight to defeat a proposed new interstate through the
mountains — one that would bisect Clay, Cherokee,
Graham and possibly Macon counties en route from Savannah
to Knoxville. Read more...
-
It’s going where?
Ever since rumors of a new interstate through Western
North Carolina began circulating a few weeks ago, curious
residents have spent hours studying maps and debating
the optimum route that will likely be chosen by federal
road planners conducting the feasibility study. Read
more...
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WNC politicians weigh
in
Both state and national elected leaders from Western North
Carolina are expressing reservations about building a
new interstate through the mountains. Read
more...
6/24 - The Northeast Georgian
Commission says 'no' to I-3
The Habersham County Commission has agreed to send a formal
letter to state elected officials expressing the board's opposition
to the proposed Interstate 3. "I think the board should
indicate as a whole in writing that we do not need an interstate
in Habersham County," Chairperson Lynne Dockery said
at Monday's commission meeting. "My question to the attorney
is can we pass a resolution forbidding it?" said commissioner
Doug Vermilya. "Or do they have bigger guns than we do?"
Read more...
6/28 - The Northeast Georgian
Stop I-3 Coalition encourages
writing letters to congressmen
The Stop I-3 Coalition had its second working
meeting on Sunday at Nacoochee Presbyterian Church in White
County. The coalition met to review research committee reports
from the committees that formed during its first meeting,
and to discuss future plans. Read
more...
6/23 - White County News - Telegraph
Letter to the editor
I’m writing to urge to eliminate the funding for the
study of Interstate 3 as proposed by H.R. 3, TEA-LU. The suggested
routing through northeast Georgia is incomprehensible. Mountains,
mountain communities and expressways are not a good mix –
environmentally, economically and esthetically. Read
more...
6/17 - The Knoxville News Sentinel
Are we ready for another interstate?
Knoxville is about to endure many months of construction
on Interstate 40 through downtown, along with the major frustrations
and disruption of traffic patterns that will accompany it.
Now comes news of the possibility of another interstate highway
hitting Knoxville and connecting with the Georgia coast.
Interstate 3 is more than a lofty concept. It is heavily
on the minds of a number of Georgia lawmakers who are asking
for a feasibility study of two routes: I-3 from Knoxville
to Savannah, Ga., and I-14 from Augusta, Ga., west through
Alabama to Natchez, Miss., on the Mississippi River. Read
more...
6/3 - The Northeast Georgian
Interstate 3 route study could
begin soon
A representative from Congressman Charlie Norwood's office
said Tuesday a study on the route of a proposed new Interstate
3 could begin this summer and be completed by the end of the
year.. Read more...
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