AEP is telling the SCC, we ve already looked at that. This is the best the universities study team came up with and it s no good. Any route that crosses the national forest will require a permit from the U.S. Forest Service. AEP s preferred Wyoming-Jacksons Ferry corridor, which is under consideration by the SCC, crosses 11 miles of national forest. The two non-forest corridors, including an eastern and western route, enter Virginia in Tazewell County.
Some opponents dismiss the eastern route.
The eastern route, as described by AEP, is totally unacceptable because it would require three crossings of the New River, said David Brady, a member of Citizens Organized to Protect the En-vironment, an opposition group in Giles County. Neither the eastern nor western route is acceptable to the Appalachian Trail Conference, managers of the Appalachian trail. It prefers the Wyoming-Jacksons Ferry corridor because it has less environmental damage. Mike Dawson, regional representative of the trail group, said Chestnut Ridge, one of the most dramatic scenic locations on the trail from Maine to Georgia, would be seriously impacted by the western route. Its 270-degree view includes Clinch Mountain located outside the forest.