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and a proposed road on the north shore of Fontana Lake in North Carolina are combining to endanger the park's future

A road? A friggin road is gonna kill that park? Listening to a Chicken Little is of no value.

Roads allow the riff-raff in. Roads make it possible for weekenders and motorists and busy families on moderate incomes and just ordinary people to enjoy the park.

The elites have always been this way---they want to preserve the national parks for THEM to use, just not for the "commoners" to use.

We started going to the Smokies 35 yrs. ago. At
that time, Pigeon Forge was about one souvenir shop,
but now it's about like another Las Vegas. I think
the numbers of people coming to the park annually now
are in the millions and the exhaust fumes from all the
cars are impacting the air quality. Gatlinburg is a
very small place that has to accommodate a huge number
of tourists. 35 yrs. ago, Gatlinburg wasn't a whole lot
more than Pigeon Forge. That area has had to absorb a
lot of stuff in a very short time, so I can understand
they do have to deal with environmental things in a
realistic way. Just the upkeep on the mountain roads is
unbelievable. So many cars run bumper to bumper through
Cades Cove alone that the area is adversely affected by
pollution from sheer overwhelming volume. I guess the
new road can't help but impact the place, but I would
say they'll do whatever is necessary to fix the problem
because people aren't going to quit coming there.
Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge used to close down for the
winter, but now with milder winters the tourist season
runs year round pretty much. Everyone should see the
mountains in early October when the leaves are at their
peak. I don't think there's any ulterior motive in these
observations; no one wants to lose the tourist moolah.