The approach road to the tipple is scheduled for repair by TWRA personnel within the next 2-3 weeks. Before the lake was impounded in 1943, it was a county road and it never has been removed from the county road system, but it was extensively modified and redirected by TWRA. It has been maintained occasionally by the Cocke County Road Department, but there are no residences on the road, and technically it's the responsibility of TWRA. The road was graded past the first damaged area last winter, but not properly repaired. It needs to be excavated and refilled with rock. I have contacted and spoken with TWRA officials on a number of occasions about the road, and have gotten reassurances that they recognize the problem and will see to it. Ron Saunders in the Morristown TWRA office is in charge of this district. You can direct polite inquiries to him at Ron.Saunders@xxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:Ron.Saunders@xxxxxxxxxxx>. Terry Potts oversees the Rankin WMA and will coordinate the repair work. His email address is Terry.Potts@xxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:Terry.Potts@xxxxxxxxxxx>. The Cocke County Road Superintendent's name is John Holloway, his phone # is 623-3251. Best time to reach him is 7:30 AM, he's a very cordial man. Finally, it would be very helpful for the future of the Rankin area to call Iliff McMahan, the County Mayor, at 623-8791. He can influence all activities from road improvements to observation structures to habitat conservation. I drive a sensible GMC 4X4 truck no car alarm) and personally don't have a problem with the road. There's always the option of parking before the potholes and walking in 2-300 feet. Michael Sledjeski The Rankin Bottoms Project From: James Brooks<mailto:comeback@xxxxxxxx> To: Tennessee Birds<mailto:tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2004 7:31 AM Subject: [TN-Bird] Rankin Bottoms Road Per Dean Edwards request for information: Don Holt and I made it in and out last night in his 1988 Volvo wagon. The ruts are caused by 4WDs mucking up the road and it's bad. Fortunately Don's car is down to, or below, the primer coat so he didn't mind dragging it through the branches on the far right side to sort of fit on the ridges between the ruts. Since it's a dirt road it wouldn't take but an hour or so with a grader to fix it, but whose road is it? Railroad, TWRA, Cocke County? I suggest calling all of them. Maybe they just don't know. I suggest kicking the tires of every 4WD pickup you see to set off the car alarm. Don't get mad, get even. We had a great evening of easy chair birding. Don brought the chairs and we set up out scopes shortly after 4 p.m. and held a seminar on shorebird I.D. over the next three hours or so. Almost worth stealing an SUV to get there. James Brooks =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>. ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org<http://www.tnbirds.org/> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp<http://topozone.com/find.asp> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ======================================================== =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================