Obstructionists in Tennessee's Legislature have obstinately refused for two years to pass proposed legislation to protect the state's scenic mountain ridgelines above 2,000 feet from the monstrous desecration of mountaintop-removal coal mining. Gov. Phil Bredesen's magnificent parting gesture to help preserve Tennessee's most spectacular mountain landscapes should show them the error of their shameful coziness with the coal-mining industry.
With the stroke of a pen, Bredesen executed the filing of a visionary and smartly crafted petition Friday to the federal Office of Surface Mining to approve a "lands unsuitable for mining" classification for some 505 ridgeline miles in the state's North Cumberland (Plateau) Wildlife Management Area. His bold action marks a major milestone along the path to preserving Tennessee's most beautiful landscapes for recreation, tourism and the enjoyment of future generations of Tennesseans.
Bredesen's historic precedent
The petition appears to set another significant precedent: It is believed to be the first by a state to assert its own governmental interest in requesting a "lands unsuitable for mining" classification.
Such petitions usually are filed by community and environmental advocacy groups to protect communities, land and watersheds from the destructive impact of mountaintop surface mining. Such mining typically calls for dynamiting and flattening mountain ridges to expose coal seams. Such savage destruction of our scenic heritage can send immense amounts of earth, trees and boulders into the ravines and valleys below, choking them with debris, destroying or poisoning clear streams, wells and wildlife habitat, and cracking house foundations.
505 ridgeline miles
The state's leadership in filing the petition to protect the land designated by Gov. Bredesen's far-sighted petition should make the petition more compelling, and thus more difficult for the Department of Interior to reject. Under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, known by the acronym SMCRA, the Office of Surface Mining has 30 days to review the petition. Once it is deemed complete, the OSM and the Interior department have a year to conduct an environmental impact study, hold public hearings and issue a ruling on acceptance.
The petition appears to meet key SMCRA criteria. For example, the land it covers is already under state Wildlife Management Area guidelines for preserving natural habitat and public resources. Surface mining of such lands should be found, as one criterion states, "incompatible with existing state or local land use plans or programs."
Moreover, the petition, and the cumulative 67,326 acres it would cover in Anderson, Campbell, Morgan and Scott counties, would not bar any existing mining or surface mineral claims, nor would it prevent deep-earth and auger mining. Indeed, it would protect only the specified mountain ridgelines, and a 600-foot buffer on each side of the ridges.
That would essentially provide a 505-mile, 1,200-foot-wide corridor for public use along the intertwining ridges in the existing wildlife management areas, including the Royal Blue, Sundquist and New River areas, known as the Brimstone Tract Conservation Easement. (See the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation website map at http://tn.gov/environment/lumpetition.shtml).
The petition area, according to the state release, also includes the Emory River Tract Conservation Easement, managed by the Frozen Head State Park for public use, and also a portion of the state's Cumberland Trail, which runs from Kentucky to Signal Point in Signal Mountain.
All-around recreation
These lands, like other nearby Cumberland Plateau state parks and wildlife management areas, are managed by Tennessee for hunting, hiking, wildlife viewing and other outdoor recreational activities - including biking, horseback riding, canoeing, kayaking, camping and fishing.
The petition area lies above Crossville, but below the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area that crosses the Kentucky border. It extends easterly toward Oak Ridge, and north to La Follette and Oneida.
"This petition asks the federal government to help us prevent mining on these ridgelines to protect their important cultural, recreational and scenic resources," Gov. Bredesen said. "Surface mining along these mountain ridges would be inconsistent with uses specified in the Wildlife Management Area and Conservation easement, including hunting and recreation, depriving future generations of these special resources."
Gov. Bredesen's petition follows an announcement two weeks ago regarding the 6,200-acre plan to preserve the nationally renowned Big Fiery Gizzard Trail and viewshed area on the Cumberland Plateau near Monteagle. It expands, as well, a luminous environmental legacy earned by the governor over his eight years in office.
It also stands as a challenge to the candidates who now seek his seat. The Democratic candidate, Mike McWherter, has firmly declared his support for the Scenic Vista Act, which would protect all Tennessee mountain ridgelines above 2,000 feet from mountaintop removal mining, or MTR.
Haslam fudges on MTR
Republican candidate Bill Haslam, however, has carefully hedged the issue with a statement that falls well short of that standard. He says, coyly, "if you mean taking the tops of mountains and putting them into streams, then I'm opposed to that." His disingenuous statement would let him approve mountaintop removal mining if it meets state regulations protecting streams with a 600-foot buffer.
He should make it clear that he's against mountaintop removal mining, with or without stream buffers. That's the Bredesen and McWherter position. Haslam has not yet met it. If he wins in November, he seems very likely to act in concert with state Senate Republicans on this issue and become just another defender of mountain destruction for coal mining in Tennessee. He needs to make his position clear.