Forest Service closes portions of Cherokee National Forest for plane crash investigation

October 5, 2017 at 4:53 p.m. | Updated October 6, 2017 at 3:41 a.m.

by Ben Benton

Jeremy Eubanks, forester trainee, takes notes on tree locations while Eric Taylor, forester, injects pesticide around the roots of a hemlock Tuesday afternoon. Foresters with the Cherokee National Forest injected a pesticide around the base of hemlocks at the Lost Creek Campground, hoping to stop the destruction of the trees by hemlock wooly adelgids. President Donald Trump's budget could have a impact on the management of the Chattanooga area's Federal Lands such as Cherokee National Forest.
Jeremy Eubanks, forester trainee, takes notes on tree locations while Eric Taylor, forester, injects pesticide around the roots of a hemlock Tuesday afternoon. Foresters with the Cherokee National Forest injected a pesticide around the base of hemlocks at the Lost Creek Campground, hoping to stop the destruction of the trees by hemlock wooly adelgids. President Donald Trump's budget could have a impact on the management of the Chattanooga area's Federal Lands such as Cherokee National Forest.

The U.S. Forest Service announced Thursday that a portion of the Tellico Ranger District in the Cherokee National Forest in Monroe County, Tenn., has been closed temporarily during an investigation by the U.S. Navy into the fatal Oct. 1 crash of a Navy jet.

The aircraft was from the Naval Air Station in Meridian, Miss.

The temporary closure order applies to the following areas:

-Forest Service Road 210 - Tellico River Road from Pheasant Field Picnic Area to Stateline Campground

-Forest Service Road Beaverdam Bald Road

-Forest Service Road 61/Whigg Meadow Road

-Forest Service Road 40841

-Forest Service Road 40921

-Forest Service Road 2417/Big Cove Branch Road

-Benton MacKaye Trail #2 from Sandy Gap to Mud Gap

-Kirkland Creek Trail (#85)

-Whigg Ridge Trail (#86)

-Brookshire Creek Trail (#180)

Forest Service officials said the Donley Cabin (access to cabin only), Dam Creek Campground and Spivey Cove Campground (access to campgrounds only) will remain open.

For information about the closure area call the Tellico Ranger District at 423-254-8400.

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