North Shore Road EIS
The National Park Service (NPS) and the Federal Highway Administration released a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) that outlined the Agency’s Preferred Alternative for the North Shore Road in October 2007.
The FEIS was completed to evaluate various alternatives to discharge and satisfy any obligations on the part of the United States that exist as a result of a July 30, 1943, Memorandum of Agreement among the U.S. Department of the Interior, Tennessee Valley Authority, Swain County, North Carolina, and the State of North Carolina. The FEIS evaluated the natural and cultural resource impacts and the costs of building the proposed road and four other alternatives.
The NPS Preferred Alternative was a recommendation that a monetary settlement be provided to Swain County in lieu of constructing 29 to 34 miles of new road through the national park along the north shore of Fontana Lake.