BenGarrett.net | Dispatches from the Cumberlands.

Jake’s Hole is a hole of water — a swimming hole to some, a fishing hole to others, simply a wide spot in the river to still others — on the Big South Fork River just above the O&W Bridge west of Oneida. Jake’s Hole Overlook is an unmarked, unprotected overlook (in other words, just a clear spot on the gorge rim with a good view) at the top of the cliff lines that tower over the river. Getting there requires a hike straight up hill from the O&W Bridge. I prefer to add a little more adventure to the hike, though.

So, we’re starting at East Rim Trailhead. East Rim Road turns off S.R. 297 at the Big South Fork NRRA headquarters. The trailhead is located just a few hundred feet off S.R. 297. It serves as the trailhead for the Sunset Overlook Trail and the Leatherwood Loop Trail. The entire hike, from East Rim Trailhead to Jake’s Hole Overlook and back, is about 8.6 miles. Although it is a hike pieced together by myself and not something you would necessarily find on any Big South Fork day-planner, it is probably the most strenuous day hike the park has to offer.

The old Leatherwood Road, along the Leatherwood Loop Trail. (Click for larger image.)

From the trailhead, Leatherwood Loop Trail immediately leaves an old farm pasture and enters open hardwoods. The Leatherwood Loop Trail itself is a 2.8-mile loop that begins and ends at the trailhead. The trail’s beginning and end meet a short distance into the forest. A right-hand turn is the best way to circle the loop, in a counter-clockwise direction. After passing an old stock pond and following the pasture for a short distance, the trail merges onto what was once Old Leatherwood Road. In the early days of automobiles, and horses and buggies before them, this route was the main way to traverse the river gorge. S.R. 297 did not exist back then, obviously. This road was the primary way to travel between Possum Rock, Black Oak and communities east of the river, and White Pine and other communities west of the river.

The road travels the ridge until it peters out on exposed sandstone and drops over the rim. The trail itself then leaves the roadbed, though it still follows it at times, and winds back and forth through mountain laurel, hemlocks and the typical forest makeup just under the gorge rim that can be found up and down the river.

The gazebo at Leatherwood Ford on S.R. 297, the most popular access point of the Big South Fork River.

After descending to the bottom of the gorge, Leatherwood Loop Trail emerges onto S.R. 297 at Leatherwood Ford. Those who need to use the facilities will find them, along with assorted information about the national park (including a gauge that gives the current streamflow of the river). The first leg of the hike is complete. But don’t start feeling too froggy . . . it’s just one of many legs, and easily the easiest.

From the access area at Leatherwood, the loop trail merges with the John Muir Trail, which hikers will be on for the duration of the trip to Jake’s Hole Overlook. The trail starts out as a level trail surfaced with gravel chips. But the easy stroll along the river won’t last.

The John Muir Trail follows an old road bed that was once a travel route between the old O&W Railroad and Leatherwood Road. It starts off wide, flat and graveled.

A couple of tenths of a mile from Leatherwood Ford is Echo Rock, a house-sized boulder along the river’s edge. There is a wooden observation deck at the base of the rock, where you can shout and learn how Echo Rock got its name, but it is blocked by the National Park Service. Echo Rock is cracking due to erosion and the area has been closed for “visitor safety.”

Echo Rock, along the John Muir Trail upstream from Leatherwood Ford.

Beyond Echo Rock, the John Muir Trail turns to dirt and rock. It’s still mostly flat, though, occasionally dipping slightly to cross the small feeder streams that flow into the river during the wet seasons.

A half-mile from Leatherwood Ford, the loop trail departs the Muir trail and heads back up the side of the gorge. That will be the route back to the vehicle on the way out. For now, the hike continues along the Muir trail towards the O&W.

About one mile beyond Leatherwood Ford, the John Muir Trail, which is a riverside trail up to that point, begins to climb up the side of the hill away from the river. It also leaves the roadbed it has followed up until that point, following a couple of switchbacks as it climbs 125 ft. or so above the river. The climb isn’t too exerting, but it is enough to earn the John Muir Trail a moderate rating. Eventually, the trail levels out somewhat but continues to climb gently. At this point, it has become a narrow footpath dug into the side of the hill. The forest has changed from predominately hemlock and big-leaf magnolias with laurel and rhododendron crowding the understory to oaks, maple and beech.

The John Muir Trail becomes a narrow footpath carved into the side of the hill well above the river.

The hike is unspectacular for a while. The river disappears in the foliage as the trail turns slightly away from the water. The old roadbed continues to run parallel to the trail, but is further up the hill, towards the bottom of the cliff line, and is out of sight.

Eventually, the trail and roadbed merge again, continuing south — upstream — along the river. The road will begin to slowly descend, but it’s a much more gentle grade than the climb up was earlier. That might not seem like much, but you can appreciate it on the way out.

While the river is still mostly out of sight through the foliage during the spring and summer months, hikers who keep an eye on the terrain to the right will see what appears to be a large valley on the far side of the river shortly after John Muir Trail reconnects with the old roadbed. That is the mouth of North White Oak Creek. Once New River and Clear Fork combine to form the Big South Fork, North White Oak is the river’s biggest tributary. It is also, along with similarly-named White Oak Creek near Rugby, the only tributary suitable for kayaking or canoeing during certain times of the year.

A portion of what was once intended to be a railroad spur to Leatherwood.

Eventually, hikers will notice that the character of the old roadbed has changed. It is wider, and it cuts through the slight terrain changes rather than over them. The road has actually merged with another roadbed, which a century ago was being graded with intentions of becoming a railroad spur from the Oneida & Western Railroad to Anderson Branch just downstream from Leatherwood Ford, to make it easier to mine the rich seams of coal found there. That never materialized, though, for various reasons.

The O&W Railroad Bridge across the Big South Fork River.

When large boulders begin to creep up along the trail, the O&W Bridge is almost in sight. The aging bridge is still open for vehicular use, though the road isn’t suitable for anything but 4×4 use beyond the bridge and ends a couple of miles beyond it.

A view of the O&W Bridge, with the O&W Wall — a towering cliff line — behind it.

Walk out onto the bridge and then, if it’s your first trip, turn around and look at the majestic cliff wall towering behind you. The rock wall is becoming increasingly popular among rock climbers, who call it “O&W Wall.” Atop the rock wall (you can’t get there from here, obviously) is an unmarked overlook that is one of the most spectacular in the entire Big South Fork NRRA.

The trail to Devil’s Den — also a part of the John Muir Trail, though not advertised as such — cuts south on the west side of the O&W Bridge.

Just beyond the bridge, the John Muir Trail continues south, parallel to the river. This is the trail to Devil’s Den. It is only a half-mile hike, but it is a strenuous half mile. The trek from the river to the top of the gorge is ahead. And with just a half-mile to cover it, the average grade is 19 percent, making it one of the steepest gorge climbs in the park.

While the trail to Devil’s Den is part of the John Muir Trail, it isn’t advertised as such because it dead-ends at the top of the gorge. Eventually, the Muir trail will be extended to Burnt Mill Bridge near Honey Creek, and then on to Peter’s Ford in the Armathawaite community of Fentress County.

A wildflower along the trail to Devil’s Den.

The climb to Devil’s Den begins along an old road, but the trail soon leaves the roadbed and the true climb begins, switching back through boulders and a dense hardwood forest. What it lacks in length it makes up for in natural beauty; it is one of the most scenic trails in the entire national park.

It’s also one of the hardest climbs. Inexperienced hikers will soon find their lungs screaming for mercy, their heart pounding against their chest wall as if it is searching for a way out, and their calf muscles about to turn to mush, especially on the hot and humid days of summer. But for those who do not have a heart or lung condition, my personal belief is that it is best to hit these short gorge climbs with vigor, not stopping until reaching the top. I am a long, long ways from being in excellent physical shape, but I have used that approach to substantially increase my lung capacity and stamina. I dare say that it is as good a workout as a trip to the gym.

If he had been a timber rattler or a copperhead, I’d have been snake-bit. I didn’t hurt him, though; just pinned him down for the photo op.

Just when you think your legs can’t take anymore, you realize that the trail has turned up a stream. You’ve arrived at the top of the gorge . . . more or less. It is still a short distance to Devil’s Den, but the climb becomes much gentler.

Of the hundreds of rock houses throughout the BSF, Devil’s Den may be the closest to perfect. Its entrance is almost perfectly symmetrical. It was once used by Native Americans for shelter, then later used by long hunters for the same purpose. Still later, timber cutters working in the log woods used it for shelter. Pictures cannot do it justice.

The entrance to Devil’s Den.

Devil’s Den shouldn’t be confused with Devil’s Cave, a similarly named (but off trail) rock fissure back downstream (the John Muir Trail actually trekked below it at one point) that is in many ways even more spectacular than Devil’s Den.

Officially, the John Muir Trail ends at Devil’s Den. The park service does not maintain the trail any further. But the footpath is not hard to follow through the undergrowth. Another tenth of a mile or so is all that is required to reach Jake’s Hole Overlook.

Jake’s Hole Overlook provides a spectacular view of “The Canyon” section of the Big South Fork between the mouth of Pine Creek and O&W Bridge.

The large hole of water visible from the overlook is Jake’s Hole. But the view of the river stretches far upstream of Jake’s Hole, encompassing the entire “Canyon” section of the Big South Fork between the mouth of Pine Creek and the O&W Bridge. When it comes to spectacular views, it’s hard to displace Angel Falls Overlook as the most scenic view in the entire Big South Fork NRRA. But Jake’s Hole Overlook is a pretty darned close second. It has become one of my favorite places to hike to and simply sit for a while, now that Angel Falls Overlook is so crowded that it’s hard to find peace and solitude on most days.

After taking a while to soak in the tranquility of the view — that’s the O&W Wall directly in front of the overlook, by the way — it’s time to prepare for the trek back down to the bottom of the gorge. Before leaving, be sure to take a closer look at the bridge below. If your legs are still hurting, that view will spell out why. Yes, the trail really did climb that far in that short a distance.

The O&W Bridge is visible far below the Jake’s Hole Overlook. It’s almost hard to believe that you’ve climbed that far.

It goes without saying that the hike back to the bridge is easier than the hike up. From there, it’s back along the John Muir Trail towards Leatherwood Ford. It’s a 2.3-mile hike from the bridge to where the Leatherwood Loop Trail turns right and begins its ascent to the top of the gorge. The second gorge climb of the day after such a long hike is probably few people’s idea of fun, but there will once again be a view from the top that makes the hike worth it.

The southern side of the Leatherwood Loop Trail is not nearly as scenic as the north side, simply switching back several times along the side of the gorge before finally entering a hemlock and rhododendron forest and following a stream through a gap in the cliff line. After hiking around several huge boulders and small bluffs, hikers reach the top of the gorge to find a short, 0.1-mile, spur to the Leatherwood Overlook.

A mist rises off the Big South Fork River at sunset from the vantage point of Leatherwood Overlook.

From the overlook, it’s a short stroll through gently-rolling hardwood forest back to the East Rim Trailhead. And if you have energy left, there’s always a 1.5-mile hike (one way) to Sunset Overlook, which provides yet another bird’s-eye view of the Big South Fork gorge.

A few weeks ago I posted a lengthy musing about how Scott County, Tenn., is going to find itself in a death spiral if specific steps aren’t taken to reverse current trends.

That post basically bemoaned the current mindset of the community without offering ideas for changing it. This is a continuation of that post. Ten steps that Scott County needs to take to reverse some of these trends. This is not intended as a disagreement with the current county mayor or anyone else in current positions of leadership. As far as I’m concerned, the current county mayor inherited a difficult task and is working hard to overcome circumstances that are largely beyond his control. Certainly an economic turnaround in Scott County hasn’t happened as quickly as I would’ve hoped, but I’m pretty positive that he would be the first to say that it hasn’t happened as quickly as he would’ve hoped, either.

1.) Be Positive. More specifically, drown out the negative with positive. There is a small but very vocal minority in the community who are consistently negative. You don’t have to look far to find them. They’re prevalent on local gossip websites like Topix, where folks who make comments saying they’re new to the community and seeking advice are lambasted with replies along the lines of “Why on earth would you want to move to Scott County?!?” This minority also includes a popular weekly TV show on local access cable that is consistently negative. Every economic development “professional” who is abreast of the current state of things will tell you that potential industry will enter a community incognito to scope things out, gauging the attitude of the populous, among other things. I’m afraid that if someone comes to Scott County thinking of locating a multimillion dollar plant here, they’re going to talk to the wrong people, because the negative ninnies are making far more noise than the positive petes. This has been a subject of conversation at more than one Scott County Chamber of Commerce meeting recently. The Chamber is currently doing a good job of seeking out positive stories within the community and making those stories public. I’d like to see the Chamber empowered to do more. You probably cannot change the negative attitudes, but you can drown out their voices with positive vibes.

2.) Engage the Movers and Shakers. There are a number of people in Scott County who are successful businessmen and entrepreneurs. Their talents aren’t being tapped for the purpose of economic development, however. These are people who know what it takes to build and maintain a successful business in a rural community. If we, as a community, aren’t tapping into their knowledge and ideas, it’s our loss. These are men and women who would make good county leaders in various capacities, but they’re too busy running their businesses to seek political office. However, they would probably be willing to give up an hour or two of their time each month to sit down over lunch and talk about what it takes to build a vibrant economy in a rural community. So why not establish an advisory counsel and ask them to sit on it? It is impossible to have too many ideas on the table.

3.) Engage the Stakeholders. This is a variation of No. 2. Why not bring together everyone who has a stake in the local economy . . . everyone who has a vested interest in seeing the local community thrive? This would include mayors of each municipality in the county, along with chief representatives of the major utilities and banking institutions, each of whom stands to benefit by an increase in industry. The county mayor is often in touch with many of these same people, but they’re seldom pulled together as one body to exchange ideas and information. Again, why not have them sit down together over lunch on a regular basis? Ideally, a professional industrial recruiter can be hired, but these recruiters — if they’re true professionals — are not cheap, and their price tag is probably going to exceed what Scott County can pay. Mayor Jeff Tibbals undertook a concerted effort to raise funding to create such a position and while he has had some successes, it has not become a reality. So, absent of that, perhaps the best way to tackle industrial development is by committee. Such a committee would not be intended to replace the current industrial development board, but rather to complement it. Again, it’s impossible to have too many ideas on the table. While these stakeholders are at the table, it is imperative that all of them make a commitment — one that includes a financial impact — to help the local economy thrive. While some currently do more than others, it’s safe to say that Scott County’s major utilities and similar institutions can step up to the plate a little more in this regard than they currently are, as a whole.

4.) Engage the Community. It’s funny how wild rumors take root and grow. Rumors that any reasonable person knows cannot possibly be true. Rumors along the lines of the county will not allow industrial prospects who would pay solid wages to come into the community because they don’t want their “buddies” who already have local businesses established to have to compete for the best workers. Rumors along the lines of the county is purposely attempting to squelch economic growth so that residents will move away to seek jobs elsewhere and Scott County can be transformed into an elitist resort-type community. When economic times are poor for a prolonged period of time, even rational people will grasp at straws. These mentalities are fostered and feed into the negative minority described above. The other side of the coin is the private citizens who feel that their concerns and ideas aren’t being heard. Anyone who wishes to address the county commission can do so on the third Monday of each month, when the commission convenes. But some people simply don’t like stepping in front of a TV camera. Others, believe it or not, don’t want to drive to Huntsville. Why not have community-level town-hall-type meetings in each of the county’s communities, with a much more informal setting than the commission’s normal meetings? Serve refreshments and encourage the community to turn out and state their ideas and concerns. This also gives county leaders an opportunity to communicate directly with the public and squelch some of those rumors while fostering a positive attitude. Have a meeting at Fairview School one month, at Elgin Community Center the next month, and so on.

5.) Prepare the Work Force. According to the latest state data available, there are far fewer high school graduates going on to college or vocational school in Scott County than in the average Tennessee county. We’re graduating young people who are going directly into the work force with no real trade skills or experience. Is it any surprise, then, that so many of them cannot find a job? Our community has come a long way in a short period of time where post-secondary education is concerned. High school students who take advanced courses in high school can now graduate and almost have an associate’s degree by the time they walk across the stage to accept their high school diploma. They can get a bachelor’s degree in a wide variety of fields at Roane State Community College without ever leaving home, through Roane State’s partnership with Tennessee Tech University. At the vocational level, there are more courses and certifications being offered at the Tennessee Technology Center in Huntsville today than ever before. But all one has to do is look at the state data to determine that there is more that can be done. Working together with the post-secondary education institutions, couldn’t there be an anticipation of where economic development is currently headed, so that potential workers can be trained and ready to go to work when an industrial prospect comes calling? It’s sorta like the chicken and the egg. Who wants to spend time and money obtaining a degree or certification if there are no jobs currently available? What employer wants to set up shop in the community if there are no trained workers available? It’s a bit of a quagmire. But what if, working with the economic development pros at the state level, with TVA and other authorities, clear and concise direction could be offered for the direction economic development is expected to take?

6.) Develop Incentives. Currently, the only incentives available to industrial prospects who might consider Scott County as the location for their business are offered by the state as a group of tax breaks that are offered throughout the state, regardless of location. In other words, the same incentives are offered to a company wanting to locate along the interstate in Anderson County as they are to a company wanting to locate in the Mid-County Industrial Park. It is impossible to compete with that. Industrial survey after industrial survey has shown that industry does not want to travel more than 10-15 miles from the interstate to set up shop. Scott County’s industrial hub is 20 or more miles from the interstate. Since we can’t lasso the interstate and pull it closer to us, we have to overcome the geographical disadvantage by providing incentives that the communities along the interstate cannot or are not willing to provide. Quite frankly, the state should offer special incentives for companies willing to locate in rural communities. This could be a vital part of Gov. Haslam’s plan to make Tennessee the Southeast’s top destination for jobs. To be bluntly honest, the governor has shown little willingness to promote economic development in rural communities. So, it’s up to us. Help from the state and the feds is always welcomed, but too often we fall into the trap of waiting on it to happen rather than taking the initiative to do it ourselves. We should pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and stop waiting on the state. So much of the tax structure is directed at the state level, so local government is limited in regards to the tax-based incentives that it can offer to potential employers. Offering incentives would require some help to tailor packages, help that would involve everyone from bankers to utilities to every branch of county government — from the mayor’s office to the road superintendent. But if everyone could be convinced to get on-board, nothing is impossible.

7.) Influence Them When They’re Young. One of the biggest issues that is directly related to the earlier post that I referenced at the top is an attitude that is being fostered among our youth. Ask any public school teacher and they will cite you examples of students whose greatest ambition is to graduate high school, or grow old enough to drop out, and get on the draw? We’re currently in a pattern that includes a not-insignificant number of second- and third-generation welfare recipients, so is it any surprise that personal ambition is absent in so many of our youth? Perhaps the best way to break this trend is to reach our youth when they’re still young, before their lack of ambition has become cemented in their minds. Children who have no inspiration at home need inspiration however they can get it. That’s where our schools come in. Is it possible to include more life coaching at the grade school level, and then again at the high school level? Our schools are under increasing pressure to do more with less, but what if the county could offer additional funding to schools to help assist with these life coaches? It is an idea that might be worth engaging our leaders in county government, our boards of education and our directors of schools to discuss.

8.) Solve the Drug Problem. Drug use may be the No. 1 issue facing Scott County today. We all know people who had the potential to be pillars of our community; leaders that others in the community would gravitate to. And they’re sitting at home, or, worse, in a jail cell, because they got hooked on drugs and couldn’t break the chains of their addiction. I can name several individuals who were on their way to being major contributors in the community before their lives were derailed by drugs. Families are being wrecked every single day and the community is suffering as well. It goes without saying that rampant drug abuse leads to a higher crime rate, but it also leads to a weakened local economy. The community suffers when some of its brightest and most talented fall victim to drug abuse. It’s time to stop thinking of drug use as a crime and start thinking of it as a disease; an illness that should be combatted at all costs. General Sessions Judge Jamie Cotton recognized that years ago and founded the Scott County Drug Court, which seeks to rehabilitate drug users instead of incarcerating them, in the process keeping families together. Some individuals, like JDS Technologies founder Jerry Slaven, have taken chances on drug users by offering them meaningful employment, in the process turning burdens on society into productive members of society. The Scott County S.T.A.N.D. coalition works in schools every single day to keep kids away from drug and alcohol abuse. The Sheriff’s Department operates one of the most innovative D.A.R.E. programs in the region. We have a district attorney general in Lori Phillips-Jones who has made a faith-based approach to the drug problem a top priority. Some county leaders are two years into committed prayer efforts to seek God’s guidance with the issue. Church pastors have marched alongside politicians and county office-holders, football coaches, attorneys and others in prayer marches. If those prayers have not produced results, it may not be that they aren’t being answered so much as it is a sign that the community has not truly vested itself in those efforts. If the community as a whole turns to God for intervention with the problem, the community can have faith that His intervention won’t be far behind. Absent a community-wide revival — for that matter, even with it — there needs to be a community-wide willingness to shoulder the burden and do our fair share to solve the issue. I don’t pretend to have answers, but I know that as long as young fathers and mothers are going to jail and losing their jobs and their homes, their children left to fend for themselves under the wings of whatever family members or foster parents are willing to care for them, as long as that’s happening, we can do more. Some may say it’s impossible to win the drug war. I see fathers of young children standing tearfully in divorce court beside mothers who have given up hope, yet still unwilling to kick their habit as they see everything that they’ve worked for being flushed down the tubes, and I say we can do more. We. Can. Do. More.

9.) Embrace Tourism. I’ve preached this point for years, and I’ll continue to preach it. As a community, we need to “flaunt what we got,” and what we’ve got is an inherent natural and scenic beauty; a tourism potential that is largely untapped. This could be a post in and of itself, so I’ll not make a long post even longer by going into great depth; I’ll save it for another time, especially since I would be repeating things I’ve said in the past. Brimstone Recreation, and now Trail’s End Campground as well, are showing what can be accomplished when private individuals take it upon themselves to tap into that tourism potential. Now imagine what could happen if the county worked together with these businesses in a public-private partnership to make tourism happen? The Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area is the fifth-largest national park in the eastern U.S. It’s drawing an ever-increasing number of horseback riders, mountain bikers and other adventure tourists. Yet, when it comes to tapping into the potential of the BSF and developing around it, Scott County is getting its butt kicked by Fentress County to the west and even McCreary County to the north. It isn’t a competition, of course; there’s plenty of potential to go around. But it might be a sign that we’re sitting on our hands too much. State Sen. Ken Yager, of Harriman, showed excellent leadership in getting an adventure tourism bill passed at the state level. This was a bill that was designed with Scott County in mind. Passed last year and amended this year, the bill is now ready to be implemented at the state level. Among other things, it can provide tax incentives for tourism-themed businesses. Taking advantage of that bill is a start. Tourism isn’t the sole answer to Scott County’s economic woes, but it certainly can’t hurt. It can definitely help. I sit on the Scott County Chamber of Commerce’s Tourism Committee and I can tell you that I’m inspired by the conversations that take place each month. I would like to see this committee expanded beyond the Chamber, or a similar committee established, to include county leaders as well as private individuals like Mark Love at Brimstone Recreation and Steve Howard at Trail’s End and other business owners who have a vested interest in tourism to build a better flow of information and exchange of ideas.

10.) Stop the Litter & Beautify. This might seem a rather insignificant problem in an ocean of economic despair, but I believe it is an example of the mindset of our community as a whole. We’re a messy and trashy society in general, but anyone who frequently drives the back roads can tell you that we have a greater problem with discarded trash in Scott County than you’ll find in any surrounding county, such as Fentress or Campbell. This might be a project for the Chamber of Commerce: an anti-litter initiative that offers rewards and prizes in addition to wide-scale education efforts. Unfortunately, the trash problem does not stop at the roadside. Scott County has more homes that are unkempt, with piles of garbage in the back yard and discarded vehicles and other items in the front yard, peeling paint and damaged siding, than you’ll find in most surrounding counties. This might not be nearly as big an issue as the other points in this list, but it is an issue, and it may be the easiest to combat. If we’re going to promote tourism and build a welcoming environment for outsiders, we need to beautify our neighborhoods, particularly those along the primary routes through the county. There are a number of small beautification projects that could be undertaken on pieces of county- and town-owned property that would be easy and relatively inexpensive to maintain while going a long way to “dress up” the community. I won’t go into specifics for brevity’s sake. Would it be too difficult to start a group of volunteers who would go to the worst homes and carry off the trash and garbage for free? Could the local landfill be brought on board and convinced to accept large truckloads of garbage at no charge to enhance this effort? Could grants be obtained for low-income home repair?

Again, none of this is intended to suggest that the county mayor, the industrial development board or anyone else is not doing their job. We may not agree with every decision they make, but I have had the opportunity to see both of those entities at work, and I know that they’re working hard to move Scott County forward. I know all of our county leaders. Some of them I consider friends. Some of them I know are working hard, even though I may sometimes disagree with their methods. Some of them, quite frankly, need to go home and allow someone else to fill their position. But, for the most part, I am convinced that we have people in office who have the very best for the community at heart. As for myself, I have no special training or experience, nothing that qualifies me to speak out. I’m just a private citizen who thinks that the best way to move a community forward is to get the entire community involved. And since I pay the bills around here, I have a platform to speak my mind every now and then . . . for anyone who happens to be listening.

My newspaper column this week . . . 

One of my favorite places is a dense stand of hemlocks along Indian Fork Creek near the Brimstone community.

There, along property managed by Brimstone Recreation, hemlocks crowd along the creek and hover over the road, creating a shady spot that remains cool on even the hottest days of summer. A nearby waterfall is a popular destination for ATV riders on the property. The cool, shaded creek bottom is in many ways its own little world in a vast forest that is made up of clear cuts of varying ages in any direction.

Unfortunately, this hemlock forest — like many along the Cumberland Plateau — is dying. The tell-tale tufts of cottony-like material cling to the underside of the hemlocks’ flat needles along the creek and the small branches that feed the stream up and down Indian Fork Creek Valley. Some of the most infested trees are already losing foliage and showing early signs of dying back.

It isn’t a problem specific to Indian Fork Creek, nor even the plateau. The cause is the hemlock woolly adelgid, a tiny pest that has been battled by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for more than a decade. More recently, the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area and the Obed Wild & Scenic River took up the fight as well, as the HWA spread west to the plateau.

In the years to come, most of the hemlocks in the region will die. Only those protected by pesticides will survive. In the Big South Fork, where hemlock stands are more numerous than most other parts of the plateau and where some of the most intense hemlock preservation efforts are being undertaken, more than 80 percent of the hemlocks are expected to die in the coming years.

Researchers at the University of Tennessee are intensely studying methods of controlling the HWA. Their efforts include the aerial application of pesticides and the introduction of a separate type of insect that voraciously feeds on the HWA. Both have shown modest success. But a variety of factors, not the least of which are time and money, are likely to spell doom for widespread success of these measures before the hemlock’s native range is drastically reduced in the southern Appalachians.

The HWA has one major connection to a fungus that wiped out eastern America’s stately chestnut trees in the early 1900s — its origin.

The woolly adelgid and the fungus responsible for the chestnut blight each originated in Asia. The chestnut fungus was imported to America from Japan as part of a shipment of chestnut nursery stock in 1900, while the HWA was imported to North America from east Asia just 24 years later.

The chestnut blight quickly wiped out the prevalent American chestnut, doing most of its damage by 1940. The HWA has taken considerably longer to manifest itself in the same region, but now that it has, its woodland slaughter is occurring at no less a rapid pace than the chestnut blight set a century ago.

Today, most of us can only imagine what the forests here along the Cumberland Plateau looked like when the chestnuts were the dominant tree. A few remnants remain; young chestnuts sprout from old root systems, only to die off before reaching maturity, and they are sometimes seen in the forests. Occasionally, a decaying chestnut log can still be found from where it crashed in the forest long ago. Local church pastor Dudley Harness, for example, knows the location of a massive chestnut log east of Huntsville.

Years from now, our grandchildren and great-grandchildren may very well only be able to imagine what these forests once looked like with their dense hemlock stands. The hemlock isn’t going the way of the American chestnut, of course; botany studies have come a long way over the past 100 years and efforts are being taken to preserve important stands of the tree, insuring that there will be hemlocks in both the Big South Fork and the Smokies for years to come. Landowners also have options available to save the hemlocks around their home or on their property, something that was not available when the chestnut blight was sweeping through the region in the early 20th Century. Still, the forests here are likely to be significantly altered by the HWA, just as they were significantly altered by the chestnut blight.

Even as the HWA is manifesting itself here at home, another invasive pest is wreaking havoc in the forests across the region. The Emerald Ash Borer — which, like the HWA and the chestnut fungus, was accidentally imported from Asia — is the cause for a quarantine on all firewood in most of East Tennessee, including Anderson and Campbell counties but not Scott or Morgan counties.

Introduced in the late 199s and originally detected in Michigan, the EAB has already killed an estimated 100 million ash trees and is expected to wipe out most of the 7.5 billion ash trees in North America. Damage estimates run in the billions of dollars.

The Asian long-horned beetle, first discovered in 1996, has not yet made it to Tennessee but has been discovered as close by as Ohio. It infests and destroys several varieties of trees, including maple, willow and elm.

A species of ambrosia beetle accidentally imported from Asia is devastating the Deep South’s red bay trees, particularly in Georgia, where red bays — often used for firewood and outdoor grilling — have been dying since 2003.

In California, forestry officials are battling what they call “sudden oak death.” Just as its name suggests, the fungal infestation is wiping out populations of California black oak and other species in the California coastal region. The origin of the fungus isn’t clear, but is believed to be Asia.

Most of these pests were accidentally imported to North America as part of wood packaging used in the shipping process, researchers say. And, they say, the pests currently present won’t be the last.

“Entire forests are being wiped out, and it is costing taxpayers millions of dollars as the government tries to eradicate invaders that threaten industries dependent on trees and plants,” University of Central Florida biologist Besty Von Holle told Science Daily recently. “We’re losing a variety of native species as a result of importing these pests. It’s not just aesthetics. It’s impacting our economy.”

Von Holle was part of a project that estimated that there are currently 455 insects and 16 pathogens wiping out American forests, and that a major destructive pest will sneak into the U.S. every two years based on the current pattern.

Of course, not all the pests are foreign. Some homegrown pests have caused — and are causing — substantial damage. The southern pine beetle, which devastated the Cumberland Plateau’s southern pine stands a decade ago, is native to the U.S., as is the twig beetle that causes thousand canker disease. The disease is currently causing serious problems for East Tennessee’s black walnut trees and has resulted in a quarantine that prevents Scott Countians and residents of several other East Tennessee counties from moving black walnut products and hardwood firewood outside the quarantine zone.

None of this is an indictment against free and global trade, which has benefited Americans tremendously over the decades. But it is an example of the negative impact that accompanies such trade, and it is clearly a cause of concern going forward.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has traditionally been in charge of inspecting products before they’re allowed into the U.S. at ports and airports. That responsibility has now been moved under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security.

As Von Holle puts it, “These screening agents have too much to do, and right now the focus is on finding bombs and weapons. That’s absolutely right, but we also need to be more aggressive about biological threats that could undermine large parts of the U.S. economy and harm our environment.”

In Huntsville, country music superstars Rodney Atkins and Gretchen Wilson are due to town for concerts later this summer.

For yet another reason why Derek Dooley — who we’re finding out more and more was, let’s face it, an unmitigated disaster as a head coach — left the UT football program in shambles, read today’s column on the Vols’ APR (Academic Progress Rate) from Tennessean columnist David Climer:

Another way of looking at UT’s numbers: The multiyear score of 924 is the equivalent of four losing seasons in the past five years, and the single-year score of 909 is like a 1-7 record in the SEC.

In other words, the Vols have been as bad in the classroom as they have on the field. No wonder they couldn’t get the right number of players in the huddle. They couldn’t count to 11.

The skinny is this: Tennessee’s APR last year was a terrible 909, and the 4-year average is a paltry 924. Anything under 930 and you’re ineligible for postseason play. Can you imagine the agony of UT finally returning to glory, only to have an opportunity to play for a championship ripped away because some guys that came before them didn’t graduate?

Yeah.

There seems to be some confusion. Most media reports say UT will be ineligible for postseason play in 2014 if the average isn’t brought up to 930, but the NCAA’s definition seems to suggest that it’ll be 2015 before it’s an issue.

Either way, it gives Butch Jones work to do. To get the Vols’ APR average to 930 by 2014, he would have to bring the single-year APR all the way up to 956 this year . . . which isn’t going to be easy.To get it to 930 by 2015, UT would have to average a more doable 937 between now and then.

Not since Chris Lofton went wild on Memphis during his college days at Tennessee have I seen a 3-point shooting performance like the Spurs’ Danny Green put on the Miami Heat in Game 3 of the NBA Finals last night.

Green was 7 of 9 from downtown, while teammate Gary Neal was 6 of 10 as the Spurs set an NBA Finals record with 16 3-point shots.

The Heat and LeBron James were expected to dispatch the Spurs with relative ease to collect their second consecutive gold trophy, but the Spurs have had other ideas thus far. While all the talk has been about Miami’s “Big 3″ of James, Wade and Bosh, it has been the Spurs’ supporting cast that has stolen the show thus far. With guys like Green and Neal supporting the Spurs’ aging star cast of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, San Antonio has grabbed a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series.

I still think the Heat come back and win the series, but what a show last night from Danny Green, the former University of North Carolina star who battled his way through the NBA D-League and is now becoming a star on basketball’s biggest stage.

Gaming consoles are like newspapers — everywhere you look, someone is proclaiming their impending doom.

It’s true that as mobile gaming as soared in popularity, console sales have consistently slid. Nevertheless, Microsoft and Sony are pushing forward with plans to release the latest versions of their popular consoles (Xbox and Playstation) this fall.

The 8th generation of consoles began last November, when Nintendo released its Wii U console. This fall will bring the most anticipated releases, the Xbox One and the Playstation 4 (upgrading the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3).

As consoles struggle for relevancy on a constantly evolving techno planet, it’s no surprise that both Sony and Microsoft have big changes planned. What might be a surprise is that Sony now appears poised to put a major squeeze on Microsoft.

Although the original Playstation revolutionized gaming in its day, Microsoft soon overtook Sony in console sales with the Xbox and has enjoyed superiority on the market ever since. Sales data shows that Xbox had sold some 75 million units of its latest console as of the end of 2012, while Playstation had sold 70 million. (In U.S. sales, Playstation slightly edged Xbox, 39.6 million to 39.4 million.) This despite the fact that Playstation offers free online gaming while Xbox charges a premium of nearly $10 per month.

Over the last several days, both Sony and Microsoft has unveiled particulars of their planned release. Lots of details here.

But the skinny: The Xbox One will include digital rights media aimed at preventing — or at least slowing — the sales of used games and loaning games to friends. It’s something the video game industry has lobbied for, but that will be a huge pain in the butt to retailers like Gamestop that deal heavily in pre-owned games. The Xbox One will also require periodic Internet connection for validation purposes; if you don’t log in once every 24 hours, the game will stop working until you log in again. Oh, and the sticker price, which is a bit difficult to absorb: $499.

Then Sony unveiled the PS4: No digital rights media (including no online authentication requirements). Oh, and it’ll launch $100 cheaper than the Xbox.

Industry experts had hedged bets that Sony would follow Microsoft on at least DRM. Not so. And it’s a huge win for Sony.

You need not have spent long on Twitter and other social media networks over the past couple of days to see that long-time Xbox customers are dropping like flies. At least they say they are. Microsoft still has time to woo them back, but it’s going to require something special. One way they might do it is by offering games at a significantly cheaper rate. The typical sales price on a current generation game is around $60. Since Microsoft is going to limit the loaning or selling of pre-owned games, they could afford to offer a cheaper price — say $40 or so.

Aside from that unlikely concession, it’s hard to envision a scenario where Playstation doesn’t enjoy a significant leg up on the Xbox by this time next year. In fact, holiday season sales for Xbox this winter may be downright ugly.

There are only two saving graces for Microsoft: One is that PS has apparently decided to nix free online gaming. PS players will now have to pay to play online. And Kinect. Although the Xbox device — which enables interactivity on the console — has been mostly a yawner thus far, it is technology that PS doesn’t have . . . at least not yet. And if Microsoft can take a big step forward with the way Kinect works on the Xbox One (you would have to be almost blind to not see the potential with Kinect; it simply hasn’t been realized yet), that’s a big boost.

The biggest issue, though — at least where this 30-something casual gamer is concerned — is consumer rights. What right does Microsoft have to tell me what I can or cannot do with a game that I purchased (and it isn’t like these games cost nickles and dimes, remember)? What right does Microsoft tell me that I must connect to their network before I can use the games I purchased? For that reason, if none other, Microsoft is going to have to work hard to convince me that my next console shouldn’t be Japanese-made. And I suspect many others are going to feel the same way.

Which begs the question: With console gaming apparently beyond its prime, why would Microsoft take steps to alienate customers?

In the publishing industry, Adobe has built an empire. Championing the PDF file put Adobe on the map, but their work with various publishing and design tools is their real claim to fame, unseating Quark as the king of the industry and revolutionizing the way everything from newspapers to magazines and newsletters to — more lately — videos are assembled. Adobe’s Creative Suite has become the industry standard, and Photoshop — which is included as part of CS — is quite possibly the single greatest piece of software ever created.

But as Knoxville’s Kevin Slimp writes, things aren’t hunky-dory in the publishing world now that Adobe has built a bit of a monopoly and decided to throw its weight around:

For those who have been hiking the Appalachian Trail for the past two months and aren’t familiar with the changes at Adobe, here’s the short version: You no longer buy Adobe software. You lease it. Think of your cable company. For a monthly fee, you have access to hundreds of channels, even though you probably don’t watch more than three or four.

Cable seemed like a good idea when I moved into my place three years ago. I got 200 channels, HBO, high-speed Internet and a phone line for $99 per month. It’s hard to argue with that. What I haven’t been able to figure out is how my cable bill went from $99 per month to over $200 without my noticing it. And I don’t even get HBO anymore.

And that’s the catch about Creative Cloud, isn’t it? Sure, we get InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, Acrobat InCopy and a couple of dozen other apps. But let’s face it, how many of our people use more than two or three Adobe applications?

And that price of $30 per month per user? That sounds like an OK deal. $360 per year for the latest version of Adobe software. But what about next year. That price is only guaranteed for the length of the one-year agreement. And, unless something changes, the $30 per month goes up to $50 for folks who sign up after July 31, 2013. So beginning August 1, that $360 moves up to $600 annually.

Slimp was one of the primary players in the development of the original PDF file format, and he was also involved with the InDesign project — which was Adobe’s upgrade from PageMaker as the answer to Quark and eventually replaced Quark as the go-to tool in the publishing industry. He’s not exactly a johnny-come-lately. So if he’s crying foul, publishers and designers should be afraid.

If nothing else, Adobe’s move to the Creative Cloud is a tremendous price increase. $600 (after July 31) per year for access to the design tools might not be terrible for larger outfits that like to upgrade to the latest version of Adobe software each year, but what about the smaller outfits, like mine, the ones that make up the majority of Adobe’s customer base? I’ve been working on Adobe’s CS5 since 2010. And I have no need to change anytime soon, though I will eventually be forced to. The cost of the CS5 software suite currently costs $791 from Amazon. I don’t remember what we paid for it back in 2010, though it was more than that (though ours was an upgrade version from an earlier version of CS, which made it cheaper). If I had been forced onto Adobe’s Creative Cloud in 2010, I would’ve already paid $1800 — well more than double what I gave for it at the time, and the $600 annual hits to the wallet would just keep coming.

And who says that Adobe will provide meaningful updates to their creative software tools each year, anyway? Photoshop is an obvious exception, but where InDesign and some of the other tools are concerned, print design is considered a faltering industry. Who says Adobe won’t decide it isn’t necessary to continue to invest money into upgrades of InDesign?

What happens when Adobe, which has a stranglehold on the industry now, jacks up the price from $600/year to $800 or $900? After all, as Slimp writes, there are no companies that are in a position or have the desire to go after Adobe in a competitive manner.

We — the industry — turned to Adobe because they built superior products. Far superior, in fact. It’s just a shame that — as is too often the case — greed and pursuit of the almighty dollar has overtaken the pursuit for excellence.

Father’s Day is coming up on Sunday. Research and statistics show that not only are fathers more important in the lives of their children than we as a society once thought, but more and more men are failing to live up to the inherent responsibilities of fatherhood. Although it is a fictional story, the movie “Courageous” is an excellent movie for all fathers to watch this Father’s Day. Released in September 2011, it is the latest in the series of exceptionally good Christian movies produced by Alex Kendrick and Sherwood Baptist Church in Georgia.

Particularly, Kendrick (who stars in the film as Adam Mitchell) gives a speech at the end of the film that should be taken to heart by all fathers who call themselves Christian fathers. Here it is in its entirety (the YouTube clip isn’t very good quality, but it is the only clip of the scene I could find):

As a law enforcement officer, I’ve seen first-hand the deep hurt and devastation that fatherlessness brings in a child’s life. Our prisons are full of men and women who have lived recklessly after being abandoned by their fathers, wounded by the men who should’ve loved them the most. Many of these children now father the same pattern of irresponsibility that their fathers did. While so many mothers have sacrificed to make sure that their children survive, they were never intended to carry the burden alone. We thank God for them, but research is proving that a child desperately needs a daddy. There is no way around this fact.

As you know, earlier this year, my family endured the tragic loss of our 9-year-old daughter, Emily. Her death forced me to realize that not only have I not taken advantage of the priceless time I had with her, but that I did not truly understand how crucial my role was as a father to her and our son, Dylan. Since her passing, I’ve asked God to show me, through his word, how to be the father that I need to be.

I now believe that God desires for every father to courageously step up and do whatever it takes to be involved in the lives of his children. But more than just being there or providing for them, he’s to walk with them through their lives and be a visual representation of the character of God, their father in heaven.

A father should love his children and seek to win their hearts. He should protect them, discipline them and teach them about God. He should model how to walk with integrity and treat others with respect and should call out his children to become responsible men and women who live their lives for what matters in eternity.

Some men will hear this and mock it or ignore it. But I tell you that as a father, you are accountable to God for the position of influence he has given you. You can’t fall asleep at the wheel only to wake up one day and realize that your job or your hobbies have no eternal value, but the souls of your children do.

Some men will hear this and agree with it but have no desire to live it out. Instead, they will live for themselves and waste the opportunity to leave a Godly legacy for the next generation.

But there are some men who, regardless of the mistakes we’ve made in the past, regardless of what our fathers did not do for us, will give the strength of our arms and the rest of our days to loving God with all that we are and to teach our children to do the same, and, whenever possible, to love and mentor others who have no father in their lives but who desperately need help and direction.

We are inviting any man whose heart is willing and courageous to join us in this resolution. In my home, the decision has already been made.

You don’t have to ask who will guide my family, because by God’s grace, I will.

You don’t have to ask who will teach my son to follow Christ, because I will.

Who will accept the responsibility of providing and protecting my family? I will.

Who will ask God to break the chain of destructive patterns in my family’s history? I will.

Who will pray for and bless my children to boldly pursue whatever God calls them to do? I am their father. I will.

I accept this responsibility and it is my privilege to embrace it. I want the favor of God and his blessing on my home. Any good man does.

So where are you, men of courage? Where are you, fathers of the Lord? It’s time to rise up and answer the call that God has given to you and to say, “I will. I WILL. I WILL.”

I neglected to mention it last week, but how about Tennessee ascending to the top of the Rivals.com recruiting rankings for the 2014 recruiting class?

Tennessee is currently ranked No. 1, with Texas A&M No. 2. The next closest SEC team is Alabama at No. 8. Texas is No. 3, followed by Michigan and Notre Dame.

The Vols have six 4-star recruits and eight 3-star recruits currently.

Two things stand out:

1.) Tennessee is obviously ranked No. 1 right now largely because of quantity. Fifteen commitments by early June is a really quick start. The only other team in the Rivals Top 100 with 15 verbals is Louisville (No. 9). Most of the teams that traditionally fair well in the recruiting wars are still in the single digits. Alabama has nine, Florida (No. 18) has eight, etc. And part of the reason Tennessee was able to get off to such a quick start is because this class included several highly-ranked legacy recruits — sons of former UT players who were a lean to the Vols even before the coaching staff approached them.

2.) Those other teams will catch up. Teams like Alabama typically sign several 5-star recruits and those guys typically don’t commit this early in the game (National Signing Day isn’t until February). The Rivals 100 prospect rankings currently includes 18 five-star guys. Only five of them have given verbal commitments so far. Once Nick Saban receives a verbal from a couple of those guys, Alabama will leap-frog to their usual spot near the top of the rankings, and the same goes with several other teams.

Still, this quick start for Tennessee is important on several fronts:

1.) Legacy guys may be easy guys to land, but no one was convinced that Tennessee would sign any of these guys just a few months ago, after the damage that Derek Dooley left in his wake. Dooley burned a lot of bridges with former players and with high school coaches in Tennessee, two groups that obviously were counted on to play a big role with this legacy class. No one knew just how damaging Derek Dooley’s arrogance was until after he had been fired. Butch Jones and his staff have worked hard and quickly to rebuild relationships with the alumni and the network of high school coaches.

2.) No matter what, it’s becoming more likely every day that Tennessee can sign a Top 10 class in February, which is important for a new coach looking to make visual impressions.

3.) Sitting atop the recruiting rankings turns heads . . . including those of recruits who are currently on the fence. It’s one thing for Butch Jones to walk into a 4-star recruit’s living room and tell him that he’s going to put this team that has won only four SEC games in three seasons back on the map. Talk is cheap, and that’s the sort of rhetoric that is sometimes easy to dismiss. But when those guys see that other players are buying into what Jones is selling, and when they see that some other top-rated recruits will be joining them in Knoxville, sometimes that makes their decision easier. Additionally, once these highly-rated recruits give a verbal commitment to Tennessee, they become recruiters themselves. They are on the phone with other guys they know, encouraging them to come to Tennessee.

It was vitally important that Jones get off to a good start, and he has done just that. The question now is where the recruiting process goes from here. Obviously, he has to show some promising signs on the field. If Tennessee stinks it up like they’ve done the past two seasons, not only is it going to become increasingly difficult to get those fence-sitters to commit, but some of the current commitments could even jump ship.

One thing to keep an eye on going forward is what kind of season these guys currently committed have in high school this fall. A couple of Tennessee’s 4-star commitments are borderline 5-stars, and several of the 3-star guys are borderline 4-stars. If they were to all excel on the field this fall and have their grades bumped by Rivals and similar recruiting services, Tennessee’s class would look all the much better.

All-in-all, it’s hard to find any fault with the job Jones has done so far. Ultimately, it’s still going to come down to wins and performance on the field. But as I said a few weeks ago, this is looking like a good hire thus far for Dave Hart.