Editorials - 01/17/02

Congratulations to tribe for making, implementing plan

Now we press our hands together for the Eastern Band of Cherokee, whose tribal leaders Jan. 10 approved a master plan of development for the reservation to enhance, rather than detract from, the area's scenic beauty.

With the economic activity spurred by Harrah's Cherokee Casino, tribal leaders understood that more development was on the way, and that without a plan to manage growth, development, when it came, would be a hodgepodge of unregulated and unrelated growth.

As we are finding out all over our mountain region, growth is inevitable. But Cherokee's master plan will serve as a guide for the reservation's orderly and efficient growth.

Just as important, perhaps, is the goal of tribal planners to use the concept to eliminate the commercialism that trivializes traditional Cherokee life. Instead, cultural heritage and history will be embraced and promoted with the master plan's implementation.

Principal Chief Leon Jones backs the master plan, he said, because he feels it is important for the Eastern Band to have a unified design that will enhance the image of the Cherokee for visitors and residents alike.

We agree, and we also appreciate Cherokee's locally-controlled visioning process that developed this master plan. Tribal planners didn't rely on outside consultants coming in and telling Cherokee what they needed. Instead, like Jackson County's Smart Growth Initiative, residents throughout the Cherokee community were asked what they like most and least about Cherokee today. The final plan was formed from the personal responses of tribal leaders, business owners, senior citizens and the general public.

With the development of this unified plan, and with the financial resources in place to make it a reality, Cherokee is on track to become a beacon of progressive development for Native American peoples throughout the United States.

Thanks to the farsightedness of its leaders and planners, Cherokee will shine as an historic model of economic vitality blended with the tribe's priceless cultural heritage.

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