Saving Mills River

Yet another chunk of Western North Carolina wildlands is being threatened by developers, this time from a Hummer-driving "outdoorsman” who wants to turn wild rivers and 84 acres of forest land in the Mills River Recreation Area into housing with a fly fishing lodge.

The Hendersonville County Commission didn’t go for it, causing developer Kent Smith to withdraw his plans, but he will soon be back with a new proposal. Smith is chief executive officer and director of Global Development Resources Inc. His company has also developed Somersby Park in Laurel Park.

Smith obtained the land for about $2.1 million at a bankruptcy auction. One group has appraised the area at $4.6 million, but Smith says it’s worth even more than that because he can squeeze 86 houses on to it and because it’s nestled into the Pisgah National Forest. What he is not taking into consideration is the damage that would cause the rivers, the trout, and the forest. These world-renowned wild fly-fishing waters would no longer be wild. The attraction would be gone. So would the trout. So would the serenity.

“There is benefit to us in not developing it, and it would be a good thing to not develop it,” he says out of the side of his mouth. “I would still like to work something out, but it has got to be reasonably close to what we would make.”

What he WOULD make. It seems to me that he took a gamble on this property, assuming he could develop it into a housing community. What if I bought it, assuming that I would develop it into an amusement park with shopping mall? Wouldn’t that make even more money? I guess that means I could sell it for $20 million. A housing development is not feasible, therefore he cannot sell the land as if it could ever be a housing development. He made a mistake. That’s what he needs to tell his stockholders. Instead, he is asking conservation groups to pay the cost of his mistake.

Groups like the Mills River Partnership and Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy say they have made an offer based on an independent appraisal commissioned by both the developer and conservationists. However, Smith is not interested in what they have to offer.

“The people who wanted it to remain natural did not outbid me at the auction,” he told the Hendersonville Times-News. “I would say to some of the people that are going to show up at planning and zoning in opposition, they should make a contribution to the acquisition of it.”

In other words, he cares about money. He won’t even consider what is best for the land unless he is paid to do so, and he doesn’t want to hear what anyone has to say unless they have money.

There is undoubtedly a large population who would buy or rent houses in such an area and pay for fly-fishing tours. Those people would not know the difference between a wild river and one that has pollution leached into it from a septic system and housing development. They would stand in the stream with their fly rods, not catching the trout that are no longer there, quietly assuming that their guide sucked.

The outdoor community must remain vigilant, informed, and involved if we want to keep the Mills River Recreation Area and Pisgah National Forest the beautiful, fun and serene place that it is.

—Bettina Freese, Blue Ridge Outdoors contributing editor