Franklin High students became active volunteers in a service-learning program this fall to improve the ecosystem along the Franklin Greenway.

More than 40 students, along with local community members, conducted a three-day site inventory and extraction of exotic invasive plants along two miles of the greenway in October.

Exotic invasive plants have seriously degraded the natural areas along the greenway. Exotic plants spread aggressively and monopolize light, nutrients and space to the detriment of native species. As a result, animals that rely on native plants for food and shelter also suffer losses.

“The worst exotic invasive plants change the character of entire ecosystems,” said Mary Bennett, Southwestern Community College’s GEAR UP College Readiness Coach.

Controlling exotic invasive plants is labor intensive, in this case requiring pulling, digging and chopping.

“It’s just plain hard work!” observed sophomore Clinton Anderson, who eagerly uprooted 10-foot-tall shrubs from the woods.

In addition to the manual labor, the program was coupled with classroom instruction, guest speakers and fieldwork exercises.

“Participating in a practical and hands-on activity while communicating with professionals enables the students to improve technical skills and job readiness while increasing their career awareness,” said Bennett.

Other groups participating in the project included Western North Carolina Alliance, Friend of the Greenway, Coweeta Hydrological Lab, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and Land Trust for the Little Tennessee.

“The students really took to the responsibility of protecting the natural habitat and wanted to leave it in better shape,” said Franklin Agriculture Teacher Devon Deal.

Despite their conceptual support for a greenway along the Tuckasegee River, Jackson County commissioners expressed hesitation about purchasing land to establish it.

At a meeting Monday, the commissioners unanimously approved spending about $39,580 on a 1.4-acre plot but also unanimously tabled the $178,000 purchase of a 14.2-acre parcel.

Had both purchases been approved, the first mile of the proposed 4.5-mile greenway between Sylva and Cullowhee would have been established remarkably quickly.

Commissioner Tom Massie most strongly opposed the purchase, not on the property’s merits but because of the possibility of setting a precedent that could eventually cost the county dearly.

Massie said the county should try to buy conservation easements instead, where the property remains in private ownership but allows the greenway to pass through it. It’s less expensive than buying parcels outright.

“We do not have enough money to,” said Massie. “We need to be very careful about which tracts we’re going to buy and which tracts we’re going to buy a conservation easement on.”

Massie expressed disbelief that the landlocked 14-acre plot with no road access could carry a $178,000 price tag.

“I can’t believe that price,” said Massie. “I don’t think that’s a fair value.”

Massie suggested the county negotiate further with the property owners.

Commissioner William Shelton expressed the same worry of setting an undesirable precedent by approving purchases rather than pursuing easements.

While County Manager Ken Westmoreland agreed that outright purchases could set a precedent, future deals also depend on the “motivation and interest” of the parties involved.

“We do have one property owner adjacent to these two pieces that will make a complete donation to the county,” said Westmoreland.

According to Westmoreland, the 14-acre plot, owned by Carolyn Cabe, was identified in the greenway master plan as not only a location for the greenway itself but possibly other amenities like a resting area, a picnic area or a shelter.

“It’s relatively flat,” said Westmoreland. “It is a very usable piece.”

The 1.4-acre parcel, purchased from Anita Samuel, fronts the Tuckasegee River and includes a 16-foot existing right of way belonging to the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority.

The right of way would allow the county to secure Clean Water Management Trust Funds and other funds down the road, Westmoreland said.

The greenway master plan, adopted by the commissioners this year, recommends that the greenway between Sylva and Cullowhee, utilizing an existing sewer line easement as the primary trail corridor, as well as some additional footage for buffering and stream bank protection.

Emily Elders, recreation project manager for Jackson County, said the entire corridor is fairly undeveloped with homes.

For nearly a decade, a group of Jackson County residents have envisioned a greenway that would meander for miles from one end of the county to the other. Now, the Greenway Committee is finally ready to turn this lofty goal into a reality — and they want the public to help.

The Greenway Committee’s Master Plan envisions a path that from Cashiers to Whittier, passing through the county’s communities and towns along the way and using the Tuckasegee River corridor as an anchor.

But what section should be completed first? Should the trail be made of dirt, gravel, stone or wood? Where should trail entrances and overlooks be? What spaces could the greenway help preserve?

“This is so important,” said Linda Dickert, a Greenway Committee member. “The other counties have one, and there’s no reason Jackson can’t, too. This gives people a safe area that they can take their kids, bike, hike, and see the absolute beauty of this county.”

A series of public workshops next week will give the public a chance to voice their opinion, said Emily Elders, recreation project manager for the county.

The workshops will allow residents of Jackson County to collaborate on a dream that has been several years in the making, and wasn’t always easy to pursue.

The Greenway Commission was formed in 2000, but lacked paid staff or a dedicated source of funding.

“I think one of the problems we had when we started was we didn’t have the authority or the guidance and we didn’t know what we were supposed to do,” said Dickert.

The group had plenty of ideas, but not much direction.

“They got a lot of plans done, but it was hard to get anything on the ground,” Elders said.

A major obstacle was the lack of funding.

“It was overwhelming,” Dickert said. “We looked at this plan, and I’m thinking, how in the world are we going to do this? We were trying to do it for little or no money.”

The commission eventually decided it needed a full-time person dedicated to pursuing the dream of a greenway. Elders was hired in September of last year and got the ball rolling.

The first leg of the greenway will break ground next month in the form of a sidewalk between Sylva and Dillsboro and a trail through Mark Watson Park.

Charting a path

Much of the challenge, as with any greenway project, will be convincing landowners to let the trail pass through their property.

“We have looked at different ways to do it,” Elders said. “Of course, we would rather have a voluntary agreement to cross a property. If we needed to acquire property, that’s obviously going to be a challenge because we have such limited funding. Land is not cheap to buy.”

Elders hopes people will see the merits of a greenway in that it helps preserve natural areas.

“Not only do you have recreational benefits, but you have environmental benefits,” Elders said. “In the long run, if you’re doing it correctly, it’s preserving public access to natural resources.”

Some of the route will inevitably run along sidewalks, but the goal is to keep it along waterways as much as possible. The public will help define the exact path the greenway will take.

Sewer lines owned by Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority follow the river and creek cooridors in the area, potentially providing the right of way for some segments.

The public workshops will also double as a chance to create an alternative transportation plan for the county.

“We’re doing a bike and pedestrian component of the plan for anyone interested in riding their bike or walking to work, or biking and walking for recreation,” said Elders.

Connecting individual communities so people can get around safely is a major goal of the greenway, Elders said.

Elders hopes the series of public workshops will keep the greenway momentum going.

“I don’t want it to fall by the wayside like it has before,” Elders said. “I want to make sure that we keep doing things. As limited as the funding is, you can do a lot more than you think. Eventually, a cohesive system will be there.”

Environmental groups in Macon County are joining forces to tackle the scourge of exotic plants along the Little Tennessee Greenway in Franklin.

Exotic plants undermine the natural ecosystem, pushing out native plants and the wildlife that depend on them. The Greenway Invasives Partnership includes Friends of the Greenway, the Western North Carolina Alliance and the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee.

A growing network of volunteers has already launched an on-the-ground offensive to stem the tide of exotics, showing the potential for a comprehensive project to manage exotics on the greenway.

A roundtable meeting and lunch for those interested in joining the partnership will be held in Franklin on Wednesday, Feb. 25, to hear presentations and discuss plans for a partnership. Contact 828.524.3899 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Vandals have been wreaking havoc at Macon County Recreation Park and the Little Tennessee River Greenway by burning picnic tables, destroying park benches, and breaking into concession stands, according to county recreation leaders.

A long-range plan to make Cherokee a friendlier place to walk, visit and shop moved forward last week with the dedication of a quarter-mile section of a proposed three-mile greenway.

Not that many years ago, anglers and boaters wanting to gain access to the Tuckasegee River in Swain County essentially had to bushwhack their way to the water.

The answer to the problem with Segways on the Little Tennessee Greenway in Franklin is not to enact an outright ban. Instead, a well thought out set of regulations to govern the who, when and how of such an operation seems a better answer.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Reviews on the on the Zerve.com Web site all rave about Mountain Glides’ Segway tours of the Macon County Greenway.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Macon County and Natural Resources Conservation Services officials have negotiated a settlement to a disputed bill submitted by engineering firm McGill Associates that came in approximately $200,000 higher than expected.