• Links

• 2 Aerial Maps of Shewbird Mountain

• Official Hearing Notice

• 1-Page notice summary with pictures

• Applicable Statutes

• Letters

• Shewbird Mountain Cartoon

The people of the Lake Chatuge valley and the states of North Carolina and Georgia are about to lose an important regional landmark – the top of Shewbird Mountain, Clay County, North Carolina.  This mountain is visible throughout the Lake Chatuge valley, in both North Carolina and Georgia, and is a very prominent feature whose name many people are not aware of. It now stands at 2900 feet.  The owners of the Hayesville Quarry on the west side of the mountain, want to cut 100 feet off the top of it in order to make gravel.  The mountain will drop to 2800 feet.  Mountaintop removal has become an important method of coal mining in Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia.  The same technology is now about to be applied to Shewbird.  Destruction of this mountain will have a negative effect on the environment and impair the region’s tourist and real estate businesses.  Hundreds of people who have built houses to capitalize on the view of Shewbird will see their property values drop.  Thousands of people who visit this area each year will go away wondering why the area was worth a visit.

The North Carolina General Statute 74-50 provides that a public hearing may be held regarding this matter, if there is significant public interest. Several adjacent landowners and County Manager Paul Leek have requested such a hearing. Citizens interested in the hearing may call Christine Hicklin, Land Quality Section, Raleigh, 919-733-4574.

The hearing is scheduled for April 2, 2007 at 7PM at the Clay County Senior Center, on Ritter Rd. off Tusquittee St., just northwest of downtown Hayesville.   

Most of the people who will be harmed by the decapitation of Shewbird do not know that they are personally threatened by this development.  Many people who live in Hayesville and Hiawassee do not know the names of the local mountains. To find out whether you are affected, see the photos below.

Shewbird Mountain sits within the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, which was designated by Congress and the President in November 2003 in recognition of the unique character, culture, and natural beauty of Western North Carolina and their significance to the history of our nation.  Clay County is one of 25 North Carolina counties that form part of this area. 

“A National Heritage Area is a place designated by the United States Congress where natural, cultural, historic, and recreational resources combine to form a cohesive, nationally distinctive landscape arising from patterns of human activity shaped by geography.  These patterns make National Heritage Areas representative of the national experience through the physical features that remain and the traditions that have evolved in the areas.  Continued use of the National Heritage Areas by people whose traditions helped to shape the landscapes enhances their significance.”  The destruction of Shewbird mountain will violate the intent of this law.