Lake is dammed if they don't.

• Position: Western

Don't demolish the Dillsboro Dam. That's the message Jackson County commissioners sent Duke Energy Corp. In the wake of their vote to condemn the property for a park, it will be up to the courts to decide whether the Charlotte-based utility or the county has final say on a small impoundment that plays a big role in the life of this tiny mountain town about 50 miles west of Asheville. At issue is whether a section of the Tuckasegee River is worth more as a free-flowing stream or a lake.

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The showdown has been brewing about five years, since Duke proposed removing the dam to increase flow to meet relicensing requirements for hydroelectric projects downstream. "The positive thing is that it will open up a 10-mile stretch of the river and return it to its natural status," spokesman Andy Thompson says. "That'll benefit paddlers, fishermen and other users."

Hold it, says Jackson County, which filed notice in June that it intends to condemn the dam and lake, built in 1913. "Tearing down that dam fails to consider all the other things that impact the community culturally, historically and economically," County Manager Kenneth Westmoreland says. Dillsboro, population 258, began as a rail stop in the 1800s and has virtually no economy other than tourism.

The stakes, at least in direct dollars, are small. The dam and lake cover only about 12 acres, and Duke has set the value...