Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Great Smoky Mountains National Park — page 3 — issues from his throat It warns other male elk to stay far away Scenic Views More than 10 million people visit Great Smoky Mountains National Park each year This makes it the most popular US national park It stretches across the border between North Carolina and Tennessee Its 522,427 acres 211,419 ha of land are divided almost evenly between these two states The western section of the Appalachian Mountains crosses through the park This segment of mountains is called the Great Smoky Mountains 6 Protecting Wildlife A male elk’s bugle call signals the start of fall in Great Smoky Mountains National Park But it signifies more than the changing season It also reminds visitors of the park’s commitment to protecting wildlife Overhunting and habitat loss eliminated the region’s elk population in the mid-1800s But the National Park Service was committed to bringing them back It began reintroducing elk into the area in 2001 Now these animals thrive along with more than 400 other animal species

Great Smoky Mountains National Park — page 4 — or the Smokies These peaks are some of the tallest in the Appalachian Mountains chain Fog often hugs the peaks of the Smokies This fog looks similar to wisps of smoke Trees produce hydrocarbons Hydrocarbons mix with moisture in the air This creates a blue fog Cherokee Indians who once lived in the area called the mountains Shaconage This means Land of the Blue Smoke 7 PERSPECTIVES Park Ranger Bob Miller Bob Miller has been a park ranger for more than 20 years He describes the strangest thing he has ever seen We had a bear turned loose This bear acted just like a big dog licking people’s hands rubbing against their legs and just plain begging We couldn’t take a chance on leaving him up there for fear he’d either injure somebody or would himself be a victim of aggression by another bear So after umpteen phone calls we were able to find an accredited wildlife park in Ohio that would accept him

Great Smoky Mountains National Park — page 5 — Early Conservationists Approximately 80 percent of Great Smoky Mountains National Park is covered in forests This was not the case in the early 1900s Logging companies were clearing trees at a rapid rate More than 300,000 acres 121,400 ha of forest had been cut by the mid-1920s Nature writer Horace Kephart was shocked by this transformation Kephart had lived in the Smokies since 1904 The land had been unspoiled then But the booming timber business was quickly damaging the environment Kephart wrote articles about the Smokies for newspapers He became friends with photographer George Masa Masa was also concerned about the future of the Smokies Kephart and Masa teamed up to create a booklet for the Great Smoky Mountains Conservation Association GSMCA in 1925 The GSMCA was a group of community leaders from nearby towns 8

Great Smoky Mountains National Park — page 6 — The GSMCA hoped its photographs and writing would convince the government to create a national park for visitors Funding the Park The US Congress authorized the creation of the park in 1926 But Tennessee and North Carolina had to come up with 10 million to fund it Donations reached 5 million in 1927 Conservationist John D Rockefeller Jr donated another 5 million in 1928 But the government could not begin development Thousands of white and Cherokee settlers still lived 9

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