"the People's Paths!" Cherokee News Path - Cherokee Hills Byway Officially Opens

"Natural Falls near West Siloam Springs is just one
of the many outstanding scenic stops along the
newly designated Cherokee Hills Byway."

TAHLEQUAH, Oklahoma, (April 21, 2009) - Cherokee Nation officials, led by Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation Chad Smith, along with Oklahoma Department of Transportation and local officials will formally dedicate the recently opened Cherokee Hills Byway during the Red Fern Festival on Capitol Square from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm on Saturday, April 25.

The Cherokee Nation Commerce Department drove the Byway submission process with the purpose of raising Cherokee Nation cultural awareness and creating economic development in the communities along the 88-mile stretch of highway that runs through Sequoyah, Cherokee, Adair and Delaware counties.

To support the scenic byway economic thesis, analysis sponsored by The National Scenic Byway Resource Center of the Quantifying the Economic Impacts of Scenic Byway Designation research report, which included 21 byway impact studies on the economic impact of scenic byways, found that based on one study for three byways, an increase in annual traffic of 3.4 percent to 20 percent due to byway designation was experienced; in six of the 21 byway studies, 19 to 33 jobs were created per $1 million of visitor spending; and one study found that visitor group spending per trip to be valued at $104.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation and University of Oklahoma Outreach will officially oversee the Cherokee Hills Byway program including support for the selected roads, promoting the communities and preserving irreplaceable resources.

As official sponsors the Cherokee Nation will continue to develop the Cherokee Hills Byway with master planning and community development, which will benefit cities lining the byway including Oaks, Marble City, Gore, Cookson, Keys, Kansas, West Siloam Springs and Tahlequah, capital city of the Cherokee Nation.

“This historical thoroughfare runs across some of the most important land in the history of the Cherokee Nation,” said Chad Smith, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. “The partnership between the Cherokee Nation, the state, and the university creates the opportunity to share with visitors and Oklahomans alike the unique communities that make up the Cherokee experience.”

Cherokee Hills Byway is the eighth byway in the Oklahoma Byways Program, which proudly promotes its official tagline: “community driven, community led.”

Cherokee Nation had to meet several State Byway nomination criteria required for the Oklahoma State Byway designation including demonstrating roadways of outstanding merit; significant intrinsic qualities including scenic, recreational, archeological, natural, cultural and historic; sufficient length to reward traveler; meet user safety criteria; and provide interpretive information for the traveler.

Cherokee Hills Byway is currently under consideration for national designation as an America’s Byways by the National Scenic Byways Program. The selection will be announced at the National Scenic Byways Program annual convention in August.