Ruralite Cafe: Published 04/25/02

By Lynn Hotaling - Associate Editor

Who's to say what constitutes news?

Group members spent close to two hours wrestling with how to cope with the fact that their discussions, heretofore ignored by this newspaper and most other area media outlets, have become interesting thanks to last month's Duke Power bombshell: A consensus agreement being hammered out in conjunction with the power company's relicensing applications could include the removal of the almost 100-year-old dam at Dillsboro (The Sylva Herald, March 28, 2002).

One team member (stakeholder) wondered why news people (this reporter included) ignored the other two dozen or so items in the Duke proposal to focus on the potential dam removal.

That's an easy question to answer. It's because the idea of removing the dam was news; the rest of it was not.

In addition to eliminating the dam, the "trial balloon" mentioned expanding boat access areas at several lakes. That's a good idea, but hardly one anybody is going to oppose or even discuss much. It will be more interesting when the facilities are completed and we can tell people where they can go to put their boats in the water.

Another section dealt with stream flow figures. And guess what? The numbers in the proposal are identical to the flows Duke is already maintaining. Now there's a news flash: "Extra, extra, read all about it - Power company to continue releasing same amount of water."

Then there was the part about lake levels and proposals about the amount of water the power company would allow to remain impounded for the enjoyment of the lakeshore property owners (as opposed to sending it down the mountain through turbines that turn generators that make power) during the summer months. Again, there's nothing new here. Lakeside property owners want the reservoirs full; power company officials want the flexibility to draw them down as far as necessary to generate the amount of power needed at any given time. This is an old story, and we've already written it.

But removing a dam and letting the mighty Tuckaseigee flow free through Dillsboro for the first time since early entrepreneur C.J. Harris built the original dam back in 1913? Change the entire view entering Dillsboro from the south? Now that's news.

Longtime Duke Power/Nantahala Area spokesman Fred Alexander prepared fact sheets about the Dillsboro dam for everyone at the meeting because he knew what reporters present would deem newsworthy.

"That was the story," Fred said.

That pretty much sums up the way I felt after sitting in Franklin March 21. It didn't matter how quickly facilitator Steve Smutko of N.C. State University cut off discussion by maneuvering everybody into little focus groups - eliminating the dam was still the day's story.

Now that they've made the news, the stakeholders spent last Thursday mulling over whether they should talk to "the media," and, if so, what the ground rules should be. Suggestions included choosing a spokesman or writing news releases after each session. Some seemed taken with the press release idea as a means of controlling the unruly media.

One astute Lake Glenville homeowner knew better.

"We can give guidelines to the press - not that they're going to listen," she said.

Stakeholders even asked the media - Don Hendershot of The Smoky Mountain News and me - what we thought.

Hendershot told them in plain English how things work around journalistic circles.

"You can send out press releases if you want to, but if I've been here for four hours taking notes, that's what I'm going to write in the paper," is pretty much what he said.

And he's right.

Controversial topics are likely to surface as the group moves into serious negotiations in the coming months. Members have agreed to try and reach a consensus concerning concessions they want from the power company. If reporters are present for these debates, stakeholders can rest assured that the issues raised will enter the public domain.

The stakeholders team, while not officially part of Duke's relicensing process, has a certain amount of clout.

Duke officials know the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will look more favorably on (and grant quicker approval to) applications that are submitted with a consensus agreement attached.

And though the members of this group may be a little naive to think they can somehow harness reporters to do their bidding, they are sincere in their efforts to support our lakes and river.

The group's meetings will likely become livelier as the disparate elements - boaters, fishermen, riverside home and business owners, lake dwellers and investors, environmentalists, politicians, local government representatives and Forest Service officials - try to hammer out an agreement that is acceptable to all.

Relicensing, though it hasn't generated a lot of interest until the "dam" story, will affect most of Jackson County.

Duke/Nantahala (formerly Nantahala Power and Light) controls the flow of two of the Tuckaseigee's main tributaries through its four dams (Cedar Cliff, Bear Creek, Wolf Creek, Tanassee Creek) and three power plants on the river's East Fork, which flows through Canada community, and its two dams (Glenville, Tuckasegee) and two power plants on the West Fork, which roughly parallels N.C. 107 between Glenville and Tuckasegee.

Local representatives on the stakeholders' team include Sylva Mayor Brenda Oliver, Jackson County Manager Ken Westmoreland, Dillsboro Inn owner T.J. Walker, rafting outfitter James Jackson and Roger Turner of the Western North Carolina Alliance.

If you have concerns or questions, contact one of these people. If you want to see and hear the proceedings for yourself, the meetings are open, and the group takes public comment for 20 minutes beginning at 9 a.m.

The stakeholder team will meet next on Thursday, May 16, at Duke/Nantahala's corporate office in Franklin.

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