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Scarred mountain would be a neverending blight in Clay County Dear Editor: Thank you very much for the coverage provided in The Smoky Mountain Sentinel regarding the impending demise of our beautiful Shew Bird Mountain in the Matheson Cove, Clay County, N.C. Surely enough environmental insult has already been inflicted on the backside of the Shew Bird. This scar should serve as a reminder that our mountain must be preserved for the natural beauty and meaningful history of the Cove. The horrible scars resulting from the quarrying of the granite will be a never-ending blight for each of us as to the lasting effects of ill-planning based on the disregard of the environment. You do not have to drive very far into Georgia to see another example of such disregard. I hope there is some group in North Carolina, such as "Save Our Cumberland Mountains Group" (SOCUM) in Tennessee, which will be abe to take a stand on saving our Shew Bird Mountain. You may know that SOCUM was able to stop the strip mining along the ridges of the Cumberlands. But it was not soon enough. The branches and creeks along the ridges and valleys were highly polluted. The scars of erosion run deep! Finally, laws were enacted to require proper reclamations of the stripped lands. (1) does the state of North Carolina not have limits to the?; extent of the quarrying of granite from a particular site? (2) furthermore, are there laws in place that require reclamation of resulting damages to the surrounding landscape? As an example of what can be done, citizens of Jackson County, N.C. recently mobilized to stop an intended mining operation in the Tuckseegee Community. The endeavor of this Citizen Action Group was front-page news in The Sylva Herald . Their efforts resulted in the discontinuation of the mining in that community! Sincerely yours, Eva M. Wike, Author The Matheson Cove - In the Shadow of
the Devil's Post Office
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