By Olga F. Pader

Like Dr. Michael Trinkley, I am also shocked and disappointed in reading Macon County Airport Authority’s stance on the proposed airport extension. Authority Chair Miles Gregory is quoted as saying, “We’re going ahead with it.” He should have finished the sentence with the foregone conclusion of “… disregarding the findings of the significance of the site for the native Cherokee and its priceless cultural and historical value not only for the tribe but also for past and present inhabitants of Iotla Valley.”

Dr. Trinkley is the director of a non-profit environmental and archaeological group who conducted a thorough archaeological evaluation of the site which has yielded evidence of native people living in the area for nearly 2,000 years and of the sacred remains of their dead buried on the site of the proposed runway extension.

I wonder how any of us would react if we knew that the resting places of our ancestors were going to be desecrated in pursuit of a plan that has many other drawbacks and questionable results given its location. Other testimonials to the immense significance of the site should be repeated and pondered so that all of us Maconians, and particularly those of us who live close to the airport and in the Iotla Valley, understand what is going to be destroyed.

Dr. David Moore, professor of archaeology at Warren Wilson College, said the property is really important because the Native American village under the site has intact artifact deposits and evidence of houses and activities.

Russ Townsend, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Preservation Officer, said “the tribe continues to be against the current plans for the site” and that the tribe had a problem with any disturbance to the graves.

Linda Hall, assistant state archaeologist, confirmed that remains of a village, numerous artifacts and cultural features have all been found that give an idea of how people lived so long ago.

Townsend and Trinkley were joined by Bill Dyar of the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee River in wishing that the whole process would have been more transparent and had included free and open public dialogue.

Plans are now in the work to have a Heritage Village for Macon County. What more appropriate place could be found than the site of an ancient Native American village and the present community where the farming history of the county is still alive and visible?

Industrial development of this area was clearly not a well-thought out plan given the lack of infrastructure and road access. Sure, NC 28 can be widened. Airport Road could also be widened and straightened out. Water and sewer connections could be brought in. Citizens will be told about the costs when it is too late to turn back and then we will continue to feel unempowered, helpless and hopeless.

I am not an expert on aviation and airport placement for safety. However, the two recent plane crashes in New York State should give citizens and the government officials that they rely on pause on building or expanding airports in locations that are already surrounded by homes. Iotla School, now slated for expansion and rebuilding, is right at the airport’s backyard. Has consideration been given to the unimaginable consequences of a plane mishap that close to a school that could eventually house more than 400 children?

Children also live in the residential Drake Home within this half-mile. How about the mobile home park located on a hill about half a mile straight ahead, as the crow flies, of the proposed runway extension? I don’t know if the FAA officials who approved this plan have done any scientific evaluation of the site. I can tell them that I drive Airport Road twice a day five days a week and fog settles in this valley even when it’s clear a mile away. The airport location is also ringed by mountains which would render maneuvers to avoid accidents and crashes very difficult for a pilot to perform.

Another archaeologist has now been hired to complete “artifact recovery” on 25 percent of the five-acre site that will be disturbed by the runway extension. What this really means is that the Airport Authority will pay approximately $535,000 to have 75 percent of our historical and cultural heritage bulldozed, damaged and paved over.

Maybe this site does not have the significance the Church of the Nativity, the Egyptian pyramids or Mayan temples have for many of us, but I am sure that the Cherokee people feel the bonds to their ancestors through sacred places like this site. And, in a world that is sadly becoming less connected to what really matters, we should all be trying to preserve land and place that tell our human stories for our children to grow their roots and to come home to.

I have lived close to the airport for eight and a half years and have followed with interest the events since the first graves were discovered. I do not have a selfish motive in my concerns as our house is sheltered from airport traffic by acres of forest. I am motivated by imagining what will happen to this community and the for-now idyllic Iotla Valley if the plans to extend the runway and promote commercial air traffic go forward in spite of the serious likelihood of accidents and mishaps.

And I am dismayed by the lack of transparency and public involvement alluded to by the above experts. Yet it is never too late to start over again as long there is a willingness to consider other possibilities.

The Airport Authority and the Macon County Commission have a responsibility to their constituents. A meeting should be held in the Iotla community where the experts on both sides of this proposal present findings and reasons to go ahead or terminate this project and where interested parties — neighbors, county residents, Cherokee and all people who believe history matters — can discuss openly and freely details of the proposal and all possible impacts.

The meeting should take place right away so that continued expenses and work are not given as reasons, or excuses, for the project to be carried out.

Olga Pader is a teacher with the Macon County School System.