The Stop I-3 Coalition would like to update you on the status of the proposal to build an interstate highway from Savannah to Augusta to Knoxville through the Southern Appalachian Mountains. You may remember that Congress passed funding for a feasibility study in the highway bill which was signed into law on August 10th. Since then we have been monitoring the highway agencies to see what they will do about studying the proposal. The best information we have now is that both the Georgia and North Carolina Departments of Transportation have each declined to be the lead agency in letting the contract for a study. This leaves the Federal Highway Administration in charge of contracting out and overseeing the feasibility study, which should include public participation as well as participation by every level of government according to the FHWA's own guidelines (posted on www.stopi-3.org ). Our most pressing concern at this point is that the study may be done without sufficient public participation. This is a critical time for us to act and let our voices be heard.
YOUR LETTERS AND POSTCARDS ARE NEEDED NOW!
We hope you will take the time to write the officials listed below and express your concern that citizens not be cut out of the process and that a full participation study be conducted. Our strong preference is that the concept of an interstate cutting through the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains be found to be not feasible as early as possible and that the proposal be permanently put to rest. As long as the proposal continues to be considered, we demand that a thorough and complete feasibility study be conducted according to the FHWA guidelines which call for full public involvement. If the study is done correctly, we are confident that it will find the project is unneeded, unwanted, and not feasible.
Please feel free to forward this email to anyone you know who has an interest in protecting the mountains, no matter where they live. People who live other places can write their own representatives (see how to find your legislators below) as well as the FHWA. This is really a national issue and we need a lot of letters!
HOW TO WRITE
PLEASE SEND LETTERS VIA U.S. MAIL TO LOCAL OFFICES OR FAXES OR PHONE CALLS Since emails can be easily ignored, we are told that the most effective communications are those on paper that must be dealt with by the officials' staff. It is important to include your name and mailing address with all correspondence so the officials know what voting district you are in. Faxes and phone calls can also be effective. Remember that anything sent in an envelope to DC will be delayed by screening for anthrax so postcards are best in that case. We especially encourage picture postcards with pictures of our beautiful mountains to make an additional statement that we don't want this area ruined by an interstate highway.
TALKING POINTS YOU MAY WISH TO INCLUDE IN YOUR LETTERS (These are suggestions only; please use your own words.)
--"Interstate 3" is a bad idea in every way: It would destroy forests and crucial watersheds, cut off wildlife habitat, and displace existing roads, farms, homes, and businesses.
--This project would be extremely expensive. The current administration and Congress have spent us into astronomical deficits and raised our national debt over 7 trillion dollars. The 286 billion in the highway bill and the billions in pork in the energy bill should all be reexamined in light of the massive federal expenditures coming in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
--FHWA Guidelines specify that feasibility studies include public participation. A proposed highway project of this magnitude should be discussed in broad daylight and people who live here and who have an interest in protecting the mountains should be given the opportunity to comment and protest. The contractor who conducts the study should be required to keep officials of all levels of government as well as citizens' groups informed of opportunities to be involved. We feel that the Stop I-3 Coalition, which represents a broad consortium of individuals and groups, should be given a seat on the Study Advisory Committee.
--Any of the conceivable routes for this road would have devastating impacts on protected areas, including national forests, wilderness areas, sensitive mountain lakes and streams, the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area and the nationally treasured Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Huge road cuts through mountain passes, air and water pollution from construction and ongoing environmental impacts make "Interstate 3" completely unacceptable.
--The vaguely promised economic benefits to this area would not materialize (See the Economic Effects of I-3 white paper under Research posted on the website www.stopi-3.org ). The often mentioned traffic between the Port of Savannah and the Midwest carries primarily imports. The main beneficiaries would be the big retailers bringing in cheap imported goods from China, India, and Latin America. If anything, the road would further undermine the development of manufacturing jobs in the mountains and in the US, which have already been devastated by trade agreements like NAFTA and GATT. It is disingenuous for politicians to promise that this road would bring jobs to the region when so many jobs have gone to places with poor roads.
--Our existing roads and infrastructure need attention; we do not need new interstates. New roads make big money for big contractors and are status symbols for politicians, but are incredibly destructive and do not meet our needs in an era of rising fuel prices and changing transportation needs. Existing roads, bridges, pipelines, railroads, etc should be made safer and more durable and we should be looking at more energy efficient public transportation.
--This interstate is not going to solve Atlanta's traffic problems. Higher gas prices will be curtailing driving over the next decade or two. Atlanta needs expanded mass transit and other creative solutions, like organized carpooling, to its traffic problems. Putting the city's water supply at risk by building a highway through the mountains is way too high a price to pay for a reroute of some of Georgia's traffic.
--The cloud of nuclear traffic hangs over the proposed interstate. Tritium for nuclear weapons is already being shipped from the Watts Bar plant in Tennessee to the Savannah River Site and proposals for new nuclear plants are being considered all over the Southeast. If built, Interstate 3 would carry large amounts of dangerous nuclear materials and threaten the health and safety of all of us.
--This interstate is unneeded and unwanted. This summers' public informational meetings on I-3 brought out hundreds of concerned citizens from all over the mountain region to object to the proposed interstate. In North Carolina, Representative Taylor and Senators Dole and Burr, along with State Senator Snow and Representative West, have expressed their reservations. The NC DOT apparently wants no part of this road. In Tennessee, serious air quality concerns make the idea of bringing another interstate into the Knoxville area very problematic. In Georgia, many individuals along with County Commissions in Habersham, Rabun and White Counties have expressed their opposition as well as State Representative Charles Jenkins making a speech in the Georgia Legislature opposing I-3.
--"Interstate 3" should not be built. And we as citizens should demand the right to be part of the decision making process.
WHOM TO WRITE The Federal Highway Administration is where the current decisions are being made so be sure to start with Mr. Capka. All of the other officials listed below can add pressure and represent our wishes as constituents. Depending on where you live, please identify below those legislators who have the responsibility to represent your views. If you do not live in GA, NC, SC or TN, in order to identify your U.S. Senators, go to http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
If you do not know your U.S. Representative you may go to http://www.house.gov/writerep
and enter your zip code for the name and address of your Representative.
FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION
J. Richard Capka
Acting Federal Highway Administration Director
400 Seventh
Street, SW Washington, DC, 20590
GEORGIA
US Senator Saxby Chambliss, 416 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 US Senator Johnny Isakson, 120 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC Governor Sonny Perdue, 203 State Capitol, Atlanta, GA 30334 US Representative Charles Norwood, 2452 Rabun Building, Washington, DC 20515 US Representative John Barrow, 226 Cannon Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
NORTH CAROLINA
US Senator Elizabeth Dole
401 North Main Street
Suite 200
Hendersonville, NC 28792
Ph: 828.698.3747
Fax: 828.698.1267
US Senator Richard Burr
Federal Building
151 Patton Avenue, Suite 204
Asheville, NC 28801
Phone: (828) 350-2437
Fax: (828) 350-2439
US Representative Charles Taylor
22 South Pack Square
Suite 330
Asheville, NC 28801
Phone: (828) 251-1988
Fax: (828) 251-0794
Governor Mike Easley
20301 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699
NC Senator John Snow
105 Van Horn St
Murphy, NC 28906
NC Representative Roger West
PO Box 160
Marble, NC 28905
Conrad Burrell
NC DOT Division 14
PO Box 201
Sylva, NC 28779
SOUTH CAROLINA
US Senator Jim DeMint, 340 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 US Senator Lindsey Graham, 290 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 Governor Mark Sanford, State House, PO #11369, Columbia, SC 29211
TENNESSEE
US Senator Lamar Alexander
Howard H. Baker, Jr., U.S. Courthouse
800 Market Street, #112
Knoxville, TN 37902
Phone: (865) 545-4253
Fax: (865) 545-4252
US Senator Bill Frist
800 Market Street
Suite 121
Knoxville, TN 37902
865-637-4180
865-637-9886 (fax)
US Representative John J. Duncan, Jr.
800 Market Street, Suite 110
Knoxville, TN 37902
(865) 523-3772
US Representative Zach Wamp
900 Georgia Avenue
Suite 126
Chattanooga, TN 37402
(423) 756-2342
(423) 756-6613 fax
Governor Phil Bredesen
State Capitol
Nashville, TN 37243
Thank you for taking a bit of time to write to your elected and government officials and expressing your opposition. There is strength in numbers and we need to keep up the pressure!
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Greg Kidd
Associate Director
Southeast Regional Office
National Parks Conservation Association
706 Walnut Street
Suite 200
Knoxville, TN 37902
tel. 865-329-2424
cell. 865-803-4503
fax. 865-329-2422