Taylor bill names forest for Clarkes

Both Clarke, who died in April 1999, and his wife, Elspeth McClure Clarke, who passed away in November, served the area in many ways, Taylor said, especially with regard to conservation efforts.

Clarke, a Buncombe County Democrat, served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives before losing the 11th District seat to Taylor, a Republican, in 1990. Clarke was first elected in 1982, lost to Republican Bill Hendon in 1984, and then won consecutive terms in 1986 and 1988.

Clarke led the 1987-88 effort to obtain funding to transfer the 7,100-acre Panthertown Valley tract in southern Jackson County to the U.S. Forest Service for the U.S. Forest Service to purchase Panthertown.

Called the Yosemite of the East, the valley floor is remarkably level and flanked on both sides by the high granite cliffs of Salt Rock, Black Rock Mountain, Little Green Mountain and Big Green Mountain. The creeks and streams feature waterfalls, and the valley is filled with rare, high-altitude bogs that stain the stream waters dark with tannin.

Former Jackson County Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Hooper recently remembered Clarke for his tireless efforts to preserve Western North Carolinašs environment.

"He wanted to protect what we had," Hooper said. "He believed we could have industry without wrecking the environment."

Prior to his election to Congress, Clarke served in the N.C. Senate from 1981-82 and in the N.C. House of Representatives from 1977-80. He was a naval officer in the Pacific during World War II and served as a senior editor for The Asheville Citizen-Times from 1961-69. He was born in Manchester, Vt., in 1917.

Mrs. Clarke, daughter of education leader James G.K. McClure, was a Buncombe County native. She was a life member of the N.C. Environmental Defense Fund.

"She lived outdoors," said Dot Nicholson of East LaPorte, a lifelong friend of Mrs. Clarke.

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