GSMNP - September 2002--Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization will hold two public meetings for the Cades Cove planning process on Tuesday, September 17th and Thursday, September 19th. At the meetings attendees will be invited to review and add to the list of problem statements and options voiced at earlier meetings. They will also be asked to comment on the Park's proposed criteria for evaluating the various options that might resolve the problems.

The September 17th meeting will be held at Heritage Middle School, 3741 East Lamar Alexander Parkway in Maryville. The meeting on September 19th will be held in Knoxville at the Cokesbury Center, 9915 Kingston Pike. The agendas for both meetings are the same. Both meetings will begin at 5:30 p.m. and end at 8:00 p.m.

The planning process to date, including previous public meetings and other public comments received, has yielded a large number of ideas and issues to be addressed in the plan. The September meetings will allow the public to review a list of problem statements and add to the list of options. These problems and options are organized into four groups: visitor experience, resource protection, resource education, and facilities and services.

The Park's proposed evaluation criteria will also be presented for comment. These criteria will be used to review the options for compliance with the National Park Service's policies, mandates and mission statement, and for conformance with the Cades Cove Planning project goals and objectives developed at previous meetings. The third step will be a screen or fatal flaws based on available data and information.

Comment forms will also be available which may be returned either on-site or by mail. Comments should be received at the Park by October 18, 2002.

Following this month's meetings Park planners will use the evaluation criteria to screen all the various options to come up with a variety of alternatives. At the next set of meetings to be held in January 2003 a range of surviving alternatives will be presented for comment and to look for public preference towards some over others. Once the alternatives have been developed the Park will look at the natural and cultural resource impacts that each one might have and how the impacts might be mitigated.

National Park Service decision-makers will incorporate the public comments received, along with the resource impacts, to develop a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The Draft EIS is expected to be finished in mid-2004 and will be offered for comment before being finalized.

A Cades Cove project website www.cadescoveopp.com provides the same information presented at the meetings in the form of handouts and exhibits, accepts public comments and announces meeting dates.

The meetings will begin with a short presentation, followed by small group discussion about the problem statements, options and evaluation criteria. At the end of the meeting, there will be a report-out session from the groups and an opportunity for comments and questions. A court reporter will be available throughout the evening to record comments.