Preservation is a long-term commitment
To the Editor:
I was recently honored with Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Award, an award I treasured receiving. In her remarks in presenting this to me, Chancellor Kelli Brown noted my 30-plus years of cultural preservation.
While I hope I am deserving of this award, I have to say that preservation is never the responsibility of any one person. It is always a community effort. Years ago, when I taught museum studies at my previous university, I told my students they would pass this course if they would remember two key principles: preservation and access. What does this have to do with anything? These two principles can be applied to any preservation effort because without preservation, there can be no access and without access, there is no point to preservation.
Over the past decade or so, Jackson County has made great progress in providing access to the Tuckasegee River. Various agencies created a trout fishing trail, a blueway and several new access points for paddlers. While all these efforts are commendable, they cannot provide the intended recreational and economic impact if we do not preserve the river. While I am no biologist, I cannot imagine anyone thinking that there will be no gasoline and oil runoff into the river. Certainly, one may keep this from happening in the short term, but preservation is not a short-term principle, it is one that makes us think of the next and future generations.
I have recently spoken out in support of preserving the pristine waters of the Tuckasegee River from contamination and runoff from a proposed gas station to be built along the banks of the river. Personally, I hate to oppose a project by a family with long-term ties in Jackson County. I have lived here a bit over 20 years, but I have come to love our county and especially its natural resources. I have had the opportunity to work with Jackson County to create a dozen interpretive waysides that share the history and culture of our region, many of these are placed along the Jackson County Greenway and along the Tuckasegee River. While I can work on these cultural and historical access points, without preservation of the river, we are only looking at half the equation that guides my work. Preservation is a long-term commitment, one that is the responsibility of the entire community.
Anna Fariello
Cullowhee
