Chattanooga Times Free Press masthead
December 12, 2004
Outdoors Section p 43

aerial photo of Little Cedar Mountain, provided by "Thunder Enterprises", the proposed developer

Contributed Photo (Thunder Enterprises)
Developers have long said that the Little Cedar Mountain tract between Interstate 24 and Nickajack Dam,
currently public land owned by TVA, is prime property for development.

Little Cedar deal intriguing

Even public-lands defenders say plan is different

By Richard Simms, Correspondent

Say the words "Little Cedar Mountain" and "developer" in one sentence and you are likely to hear a collective groan from area hunters.

The Little Cedar Mountain area is 1,000 acres of pristine land between Interstate 24 and Nickajack Dam in Marion County. Public land owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority, it first gained fame in 1997 when Hines Development Co. tried to buy it. The plan then was to turn it into a private golf course and residential development, which created significant controversy in the outdoors community.

That effort died a slow death when then-TVA Chairman Craven Crowell said the land "should remain available to the public and not be converted to residential and private uses."
However, TVA also indicated it would "continue to evaluate requests ... but proposals must be compatible with TVA's objective of managing public assets to benefit future generations and the environment."
A new company has made just such a request.

Thunder Enterprises, owned by Chattanooga developer John Thornton, is courting TVA to bring the Little Cedar Mountain development back to the table. This time, however, Thornton is courting sportsmen as well.
Thornton was deer hunting in Texas when he discussed the plan by telephone this past week.
"Let's see if we can do something better than Hines did, and see if we can do something that's a win-win situation for everybody," he said.

Thornton has proposed a land swap. Thunder Enterprises will soon close the deal on 830 acres of private land in Marion County that the company plans to use as a bargaining chip -- trading that land as part of the purchase price for 637 acres TVA currently owns.

The two tracts to be traded include just over 600 acres of Cedar Mountain, located along the western shoreline of the Tennessee River between Highway 41 and the old Hales Bar Dam site. The other tract is Burns Island, about 200 acres on the Tennessee River just north of the Alabama border.
Thornton knows two key groups killed the Hines deal in 1997 -- sportsmen and American Indians. Thunder Enterprises president Brandon Born has been on a whirlwind tour, meeting with representatives of both groups in an effort to win them over before TVA's public meeting Monday night at South Pittsburg High School.

Born admits the company sees the potential for profit.
"We are in the development business and things have to make sense from a profit standpoint," said Born, a former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga basketball star. "But we think it benefits TVA and the public more than us."

Born said 300 acres of the Little Cedar Mountain property would remain available for public access, complete with hiking trails to be developed. The plan also calls for increased public recreation in the area, he said.
"We plan to expand the RV and camping area," Born said. "We plan to build a public marina south of the Shellmound Recreation Area (currently controlled by TVA). We'll upgrade the boat-ramp facility and things of that nature. And it will be available for the public in addition to public access on the land we plan to swap."

If Thunder gets the current TVA property, the company hopes to build 615 residential units, a golf course and another private marina. Those facilities will be built on top of what some call the best small-game hunting habitat in Marion County."I hate to see that lost," said Marion County wildlife officer Russell Vandergriff. "It's the most utilized (small-game hunting) area in the county. It's extremely popular. I hate to see them sell it off and develop it for any price."

Cedar Mountain, as opposed to Little Cedar, is completely forested and offers little or no small-game habitat.

"We ought to focus on developing some small-game habitat. It might be something we'd do before we transfer it," Thornton said. "I'd be happy to entertain that."

aerial view of Burns Island in the Tennessee River, just below the mouth of the Sequatchie Contributed Photo (Thunder Enterprises)
Burns Island is a portion of the property
that Thunder Enterprises hopes to swap with TVA
for the current Little Cedar Mountain public property.

Although it is far less accessible, Vandergriff admits that Burns Island offers a tempting alternative. Fellow wildlife officer Mike Bailey agrees.

"If they give us Big Cedar Mountain and Burns Island, then they'll be giving us something," Bailey said. "Big Cedar is up for development right now, and Burns Island is a hot piece of wildlife habitat."

Mike Butler, executive director of the Tennessee Conservation League, has been a vocal opponent of other TVA plans to sell public property in areas such as Tellico and Watts Bar lakes.

After hearing details Butler said, "The Little Cedar Mountain proposal is a completely different animal. I'm not saying it's perfect, but I'm saying there's a vast difference between those two issues."
Thornton is hesitant to comment on other developers' proposals to TVA, except to say, "We're taking private lands and putting them in public hands. That's one difference from what happened at Tellico. TVA wants to make certain there is no net loss of public lands, and I'm an advocate of no net loss."

So far it seems as if Thunder Enterprises has found some unlikely allies in the outdoors community. The first true test of overall public reaction comes Monday night at South Pittsburg High School.

E-mail Richard Simms at sports@timesfreepress.com

IF YOU GO
What: TVA public meeting
When: Monday, Dec. 13; 6-9 p.m., Eastern
Where: South Pittsburg High School






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