The way it was a few years ago, there was a core Chapter 'group' of about ten of us, at one time (want to say it was 02-03) there were little weekend trail-rides going on all the time, along with the two main events Cherokee Crawl and the Fall Flog.
In fact the Fall Flog is still a pretty unofficial (meaning relaxed/not rigidly organized) event...much like those monthly rides were: Just a bunch of friends hitting the trail in their XJs and MJs, followed by a pot-luck supper and some fireside shenanegins. Newcomers were always invited, and the intent was to meet new folks, get the core group together (sometimes for a bit of face to face event planning & biz junk) and mainly to have fun.
I'd suggest instead of working towards a goal of 'splitting up' the SouthEast Chapter, work towards building it up/get more stuff going on again. If the NC folks get a solid core of folks who can and will lead events, do it! Uwharrie is open for anther month or so, not sure if Tellico is closing for the winter now - or if they just jack up the fee... Same goes for the VA folks, deep south folks, etc.
As far as complaints about driving diatances, for me at least (other than Uwharrie) 7 hours to go wheeling is a minimum: 7 hours to Tellico, 7 hours to Windrock, 7 hours to Harlan, a little more than 7 hours to Beasley & Rich Mountain, probably 7 to Crozet/GWNF etc... Jellico, Greyrock & others are even further. Consolidating SEC into smaller sub-chapters wouldn't make new wheeling areas magically appear in the NC triad would it? I wish it were that easy!
Keeping fun things going on isn't always fun, or always easy. It takes some work and motivation to pull it off. Sometimes it is fun, and sometimes it's easy too... well, easier when working with a good team than trying to go it alone. That part (solidifying a "team" that can accomplish things) needs some attention, but with all the folks expressing interest in this thread, it is very do-able.