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Once mined and logged bare, the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area is now a special place of lush mountain forests that provides outstanding opportunities for outdoor recreation and a home to wildlife with few equals in these ancient hills.

In its recovering forests, the outdoor enthusiast will find 600 miles of multi-use trails open to hikers, mountain bikers and offroad vehicles (ORVs). The Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area is also home to one of the only herds of elk in the East, the product of an active restoration effort begun in 1997. In addition to elk, the sportsman and wildlife watcher can encounter healthy populations of whitetail deer, wild turkey and beaver.

For the angler, the waters of the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area offer bass and bluegill. It is also a major breeding ground for the Cerulean Warbler, a songbird that is a candidate for listing on the federal endangered species list.

Despite its natural and recreational value, the Tennessee Valley Authority, which has the rights to coal under the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area, is considering turning over 12,000 acres—more than 20 percent— of this special place to coal companies for a new round of mining. If coal mining is allowed to proceed, mining and haul roads stand to close off public access to the area, limiting hunting, fishing and other recreational opportunities. Mining would also require the removal of thousands of acres of hardwood forests.

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen has it within his power to make sure that the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area continues to be managed for wildlife, not mining, by enforcing the Tennessee state water quality law and not allowing mining to proceed. The Office of Surface Mining also has within its authority to declare the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area as "Land Unsuitable for Mining."

That's why the Sierra Club is urging people get involved and speak out about the need to protect the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area. To add your voice to this choir, please contact Bill McCabe at (423)-272-8222.