Wayah Bald Lookout Tower Arson Attempts

[pjbarr]

This week, the Wayah Bald lookout tower was threatened by numerous attempts of arson involving teens using molative cocktails and homemade bombs. They were eventually arrested and face numerous charges, including "making weapons of mass destruction".

http://nclookouts.blogspot.com/2009/09/wayah-bald-lookout-neary-destroyed.html

Fortunately, the Wayah Bald lookout tower is slated for a full-scale restoration, thanks to an economic stimulus package received by the USFS in North Carolina to rehabilitate fire towers in the Pisgah & Nantahala National Forests, including AT lookout towers Wayah Bald, Albert Mountain, Rich Mountain, and Camp Creek Bald.

Wayah Bald Restoration Info:

http://nclookouts.blogspot.com/2009/09/wayah-bald-escapes-destruction-to-be.html

Western NC Lookout Tower Restoration Stimulus Package:

http://nclookouts.blogspot.com/2009/08/usfs-receives-734000-stimulus-funding.html

[OldStormcrow]

Buncha Vandals and Visigoths.....burn em' at the stake!

[Rain Man]

This is a duplicate thread here. You might want to check out this pre-existing thread instead?--

Explosives Thrown Into Wayah Tower (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=54330)

Anyway, just FYI.

Rain:sunMan

.

[WalkingStick75]

Throw the AH's in jail!! But charge them properly bad case law makes mad laws. What the simple felony charge of arson is not good enough. I can also see possession of bomb making materials or explosive devices but "making weapons of mass destruction" ?? Give me a break.

[Jack Tarlin]

Actually, if real bombs were present, even homemade ones, in most states this would be considered beyond simple arson.

In many states, possession or use of a bomb (called an infernal machine) in many states is a separate offense, and is considered a very grave crime.

[Skidsteer]

Terrible. And I hope they throw the book at these kids but I confess I got a chuckle from it.

These kids tried(more than once) to burn down a structure that's pretty much 90 % rock?

Arson Fail.

[Tipi Walter]

Full scale restoration means there's certainly a road going to these things. And where there's a road there's your common vandal. And so, does the AT also run by the road? Here's a clever thought: close the roads after removing the towers. One less eyesore and one less target for inbreds.

[Jack Tarlin]

Um, yes, the Trail goes right by it.

And the Tower has been there since around 1937.

And the road's been there a long tiome, too.

And it's hardly an eyesore.

Just out of curiousity, have you ever been here? :-?

[Tipi Walter]

Nope, but I've been to a road and I've heard enough engines.

[Lone Wolf]

Nope, but I've been to a road and I've heard enough engines.

a big'ole truck delivered the puter you're typing on to the walmart makin' all kinds of racket mr. Hypo Crite :)

[Tipi Walter]

Let's hope there's no trucks driving up to Wayah Bald.

[pjbarr]

Full scale restoration does not mean there is a road going by it. For example, the Mt. Cammerer lookout tower in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, just off of the AT, was fully restored in the mid 1990s. It's at least a 5 mile strenuous hike by footpath only, one-way, to its location - which itself is a rocky bluff. Thus, it required multiple helicopter drops of supplies and a team camping on-site to rehab it for days on end. It's now an iconic structure of both the Great Smoky Mtns NP and the Appalachian Trail - as is Wayah Bald for the Nantahala National Forest and AT alike.

Wayah Bald happens to have very close vehicle access by a gravel road (the old AT actually used this road for several miles decades ago) - but it always has had this road. It was a popular gathering place for picnics and residents of the nearby town of Franklin to visit, particularly on Sundays after church, even prior to the 1930s. It managed to avoid firebombing until this point.

Many an AT thru-hiker has attempted to spend the night in the bottom opening of the tower to avoid rain. And many succeeded at having an unpleasant night because of the very reason the tower was decommissioned for fire detection in the 1940s - it leaks!;)

[Egads]

Wayah Bald Restoration Info:

http://nclookouts.blogspot.com/2009/09/wayah-bald-escapes-destruction-to-be.html

Western NC Lookout Tower Restoration Stimulus Package:

http://nclookouts.blogspot.com/2009/08/usfs-receives-734000-stimulus-funding.html

I don't see Mt Sterling's tower on the list. It needs some TLC

[MintakaCat]

Let's hope there's no trucks driving up to Wayah Bald.

The road up to Wayah Bald is pretty good, as far as Forest Service roads go, but I got to admit, I don't think you have to worry about too many trucks going up there.

Besides, I can't see the need for a convoy of trucks to go up there for that tower, unless they take it down.

[mister krabs]

The road up to Wayah Bald is pretty good, as far as Forest Service roads go, but I got to admit, I don't think you have to worry about too many trucks going up there.

Besides, I can't see the need for a convoy of trucks to go up there for that tower, unless they take it down.

Last time I was up there, I met a family that was spreading their father's ashes from the top of the bald. They were on their way to their vacation, so they came to the top of the mountain in what they were in. A super duty pickup truck pulling a 25 foot cuddy cabin powerboat. :eek:

[pjbarr]

ABC News 13 in western NC just ran a TV spot on the Wayah Bald arson attempt:

http://nclookouts.blogspot.com/2009/09/wayah-bald-tv-celebrity-for-wrong.html

[dreamsoftrails]

i enjoyed a nice long break in this tower, a great safety meeting in the top.

[Lone Wolf]

i enjoyed a nice long break in this tower, a great safety meeting in the top.

what's a safety meeting?

[pjbarr]

:-?

clearly, it was a meeting devoid of danger:D

[dreamsoftrails]

what's a safety meeting?
its where hikers pass around good ideas.

[warraghiyagey]

its where hikers pass around good ideas.
Correct. . . :sun:sun

[Bulldawg]

Let's hope there's no trucks driving up to Wayah Bald.

I happened to have drove my truck up there last winter!!



The road up to Wayah Bald is pretty good, as far as Forest Service roads go, but I got to admit, I don't think you have to worry about too many trucks going up there.

Besides, I can't see the need for a convoy of trucks to go up there for that tower, unless they take it down.

The road is superb in my opinion. Lots of tourons up there in fact because of that fact!!

[Heater]

Same thing as an attitude adjustment.

Of course you knew that, right... ****tard?

[pjbarr]

I don't see Mt Sterling's tower on the list. It needs some TLC

That's a good observation. Mt. Sterling is in the Great Smoky Mountains NP. It is not a USFS tower, and so it is not on the list of those that will be restored. While Mt. Sterling isn't on the AT, the Shuckstack lookout tower is on the AT and in the park, and it is in similar disrepair and in need of rehabilitation.

The Great Smoky Mtns NP has said that restoring the fire towers is not one of their priorities. While the park competed well for stimulus funding like the USFS, they opted to use their award to repave roads and campgrounds (they have to please the RVs). While some funding will go to trail repair and a few other historic preservation projects involving cemeteries, it barely compares to the funding they will spend on front-country improvements - none of which are anywhere as in dire need as many other projects. However, these roads and campgrounds are more visible to the public as visual evidence of stimulus funding use. :-?

A restoration of the Shuckstack lookout tower will need to be accomplished by raising private funds and grants outside of the NPS - much like the Mt. Cammerer lookout was restored in the 1990s. To find out more information about a project I'm working on to restore the Shuckstack lookout tower (and Mt. Sterling tower), you can check out the websites below or send me a message directly. I'm eager to talk to those who may be interested.

[bobcat]

why would a bunch of kids be out far in the woods makeing bombs is there nothing better to do . whats wrong with kids today! no respect for anything if i would caught the bunch i would have had to belt the s--- out of them. hehe

[pjbarr]

The Macon County sheriff was quoted as saying "Sometimes kids do stupid things."

Really? Why isn't it: "Sometimes...the people themselves...are stupid..."?:confused:

[bigmac_in]

what's a safety meeting?


It's what potheads say to avoid breaking the user agreement on WB. :D

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=safety+meeting