The U.S. Forest Service officials at Cherokee National Forest recently announced that national forest lands within the corridor between Oliver Hollow north to Wilbur Dam are temporarily closed to the public, except for Appalachian Trail through hikers, due to the activity of bears in the area.
“This is the fourth year we’ve had to close off the area due to black bear activity,” said Terry McDonald, Cherokee National Forest public affairs staff officer. “There’s roughly 716 acres of the area that is closed to the public due to the activity.”
The lands within the corridor are closed to the public by both land and water access, excluding AT through hikers.
According to the Cherokee National Forest, areas affected by the closure includes Oliver Hollow Road, following the AT north. The eastern closure boundary is to the shores of the Watauga Lake to the shared boundary with Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) land to Wilbur Lake and continuing along the lake edge to Wilbur Dam. The western closure boundary includes the corridor from the Appalachian Trail to the ridge of Iron Mountain from Oliver Hollow Road to Wilbur Dam. The Watauga Lake shelter on the Appalachian Trail is also closed.
“The closure went into effect March 21,” McDonald said. “We’re expecting the closure to last 120 days unless the activity of bears continues.”
Oliver Hollow is noted by the Forest Service as a popular dispersed camping and day use area on the western end of Watauga Lake in the Cherokee National Forest. Black bears are common within the corridor and Oliver Hollow.
“Black bears become habituated to campsites where food has been improperly discarded or stored and is easily available,” McDonald said. “During this time of the year, we encourage people to properly store food where bears are known to be and be properly disposed of in the bear-resistant trash cans on site at campsites in the Cherokee National Forest.”
The forest service asks individuals to not discard any food scraps in picnic areas, shooting ranges or any other recreation site.
“Doing so may attract bears and lead to temporary closure of the site,” McDonald said. “We encourage people to adhere to the restrictions in place. The Forest Service and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency will continue to monitor the area and see how the activity is in the days to come.”
For local information call the Watauga Ranger Station at (423) 735-1500.