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[at-l] Bluff Mountain Music Festival 5/31

Many of you have heard about the effort to save Bluff Mountain (near Hot
Springs) from being destroyed by a large-scale timber sale that was
proposed by the US Forest Service about two years ago. Many of us here in
the Bluff Mountain area (the AT goes across the top) organized into a
coalition to protest the timber sale. We held rallies, signed petitions,
wrote letters, took part in peaceful public demonstrations, and made a
major effort to educate the populace here in this area about the loss of
natural heritage that logging Bluff Mountain would cause. Well, it worked.
The US Forest Service, as well as the timber industry, has listened to our
pleas. Next week, an historic agreement will be signed to end attempts to
log Bluff Mountain. Under this agreement, no new logging roads will be
constructed, no logging or roadbuilding will occur on lands purchased for
protection of the AT, no hiking trails will be lost (and new ones will be
built), and no viewsheds will be affected. This is a major victory for
those who are interested in preserving out natural heritage, and one that
will set a precedent all over the eastern US. The Bluff Mountain Coalition
(in which the Center for AT Studies is a partner) will celebrate this
victory with the Bluff Mountain Music Festival, to be held in Hot Springs
on May 31st (see Announcements section of Trailplace). If you have a free
weekend, come help us celebrate the preservation of the Bluff Mountain area
and join us in saluting what good people can accomplish when they work
together unselfishly for a good cause. Bluff Mountain is proof that "We can
make a difference!"--Wingfoot

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