What's a well bred liberal to do? The Cherokee Indians want to trade some land to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park so they can build a new school on land which currently belongs to the park.
The area in question is a flat, 168-acre parcel of land known as the "Ravensford Tract." Ravensford is located adjacent to the reservation in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.In exchange for Ravensford, the tribe is offering the National Park Service 218 acres of mountain terrain located along the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway. But the uncommon flatness that makes Ravensford so appealing for development also makes the land environmentally unique, according to conservationists.
So, as a liberal, do you support new schools for an oppressed people, or do you preserve the natural area, and the artifacts that it contains. Of course, the artifacts are probable mostly Cherokee in origin, but we won't mention that bit.
As a conservative, this is an easy one. The Park experiences a net gain in acreage, the Indians, who are bootstrapping their way out of grinding poverty by sucking down the white man's dollar, get some brand new schools, and access to their own history. Sounds like everybody wins.
Posted by Rich at April 18, 2002 12:06 AM