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Proposed Bicycle Use on Jackson Gap and John Smartt Trails Environmental Assessment
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park » Proposed Bicycle Use on Jackson Gap and John Smartt Trails Environmental Assessment » Document List
The purpose of this environmental assessment is to evaluate whether to allow mountain bike use on the Jackson Gap Trail and the upper section of the John Smartt Trail within the Lookout Mountain Battlefield of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. In September 2014, the park completed a General Management Plan Amendment and Environmental Assessment for the Lookout Mountain Battlefield that included a preferred alternative for the National Park Service to provide mountain bike access to the Jackson Gap and John Smartt Trails. The environmental assessment evaluated two alternatives: a no action alternative and the NPS preferred alternative.
After analyzing public comments on this environmental assessment, the National Park Service would need to determine that there are no significant environmental impacts from allowing bicycle use on these trails and that this use is consistent with the protection of the park's natural, scenic, and aesthetic values, safety considerations and management objectives, and would not disturb wildlife or park resources. These determinations would be necessary to support a subsequent rulemaking process described in the environmental assessment that would designate the two miles of existing trail as a route open to bicycle use.
After analyzing public comments on this environmental assessment, the National Park Service would need to determine that there are no significant environmental impacts from allowing bicycle use on these trails and that this use is consistent with the protection of the park's natural, scenic, and aesthetic values, safety considerations and management objectives, and would not disturb wildlife or park resources. These determinations would be necessary to support a subsequent rulemaking process described in the environmental assessment that would designate the two miles of existing trail as a route open to bicycle use.