[rntn]

The development in most of the areas in the eastern US is probably too far gone (and pipe dream projects like I dreamed up a few comments above are surely impossible), but I wonder some kind of special purpose multi-state consortium couldn't be arranged (and bolstered by relevant federal programs) to take something like my pipe dream 'southeastern mountains to the sea' and make a Georgia - Carolinas regional authority to fund things like buying out and cleaning up defunct industries in the region(s) and returning the land to a wilderness trust managed along the lines of the Adirondack Park Authority with the long term goal of creating natural corridors..

[TSiege]

I don't believe this would be true. The Appalachian Trail is basically that. We could be doing more there.