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WCU - Great Smoky Mountains - A Park for America

Problems in the Smokies

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Item 1 - Problems in the Smokies
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Problems in the Smokies

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wcu_great_smoky_mtns-11445.jpg

Problems in the Smokies

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Item 3 - Problems in the Smokies
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Problems in the Smokies

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Item 4 - Problems in the Smokies
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Problems in the Smokies

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Item 5 - Problems in the Smokies
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Problems in the Smokies

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Item 6 - Problems in the Smokies
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Problems in the Smokies

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Item 7 - Problems in the Smokies
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Problems in the Smokies

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Item’s are ‘child’ level descriptions to ‘parent’ objects, (e.g. one page of a whole book).

  • heavily used of all national parks, hosting 8.5 million visitors annually. (This would not surprise the early sponsors. They predicted it, because of the park's proximity to centers of population. The actual number of visitors may exceed their most extravagant estimates, however.) • There is heavy travel in the park throughout the year, with the greatest concentration during the fall coloring. Then, there are massive traffic jams. Cars may be bumper-to-bumper for six miles or more. • Auto camp grounds are often filled by mid-morning, with large numbers being turned away thereafter. • Parking areas at scenic overlooks become so crowded that cars are also parked on the shoulders of adjoining portions of the highway, causing traffic hazards and slowdowns. Littering is a serious problem. • Other traffic jams occur when motorists stop, even in the traffic lanes themselves, to watch, photograph and feed the bears. • The portion of the Appalachian Trail through the park is so overused that it is eroding in places; and is being widened by hikers, who detour around down trees and other obstacles, trampling all vegetation to the ground. • The demand for use of overnight shelters along the trails is so great that the Park Service requires advance reservations. But there is frequent unauthorized camping at the shelters, with resultapt overuse of water and sanitary facilities. Horace Kephart, photographed on the ^ Appalachian Trail in 1930, was one of those who worked to create the Great Smoky Mountains National Park • Litter at these overnight shelters attracts bears to the extent that some shelters have been enclosed with heavy chain-link fences to protect the campers. • Many streams and springs in the back country are now polluted, with hikers becoming sick from drinking the water. The Park Service has posted signs along trails, warning that the water may be unfit for drinking. • With overuse has come an increase in accidents, in the poaching of animals, and in the theft of plant life. • Native brook trout are disappearing from streams within the park because of the excessive number of fishermen. • Wild (European) boars, which escaped into the park from a hunting preserve in the 1940s, have multiplied to perhaps 3,000. The havoc these animals create, by rooting and trampling the vegetation, must be seen to appreciate the disastrous consequences. • There is serious overuse of other trails, with similar results. No doubt, the early sponsors of the park would be greatly disturbed by some of the conditions outlined above, and outraged by others. No doubt they would ask what has been done, and what more should be done, to correct the situation while there is still time. According to the same Wall Street Journal article, they might learn that the following actions have been taken, or are contemplated: • Something more than seven miles of roads have been closed to auto traffic, and converted into hiking trails. • Trout fishing has been banned, and some streams have been closed to all fishing. • Park personnel now backpack, instead of driving, into remote areas. They no longer use chain saws in clearing obstructions, or for other work in the back country, using axes and hand saws instead. • Proposals are being considered to exclude private autos from the park, or severely limit their use, replacing them with park-supervised sightseeing busses. • The Park Service has proposed legislation to designate some of the park as a wilderness area, to prevent further development. The dedicated and informed personnel of the Park Service have probably taken, and are considering, many other corrective actions. In all -its efforts, however, the Service is seriously handicapped by under- financing and understaffing. So, again, I wonder. What did the early sponsors of the park foresee as its purpose? Who did they believe should be permitted to travel within it, and by what means? And, in any event, would their dreams and expectations be in tune with the realities of today? I have made no deep study of this subject. My information comes from personal but limited observations during short annual visits to the park in recent years, from conversations with others, and from what I read. Except for my father, I have but little knowledge of the kind of park these early sponsors envisaged, but it is reasonable to believe that many of them shared his views. So let me quote from Dad's eight-page letter of November 25, 1924 to Congressman Zebulon Wheeler:
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Great Smoky Mountains - A Park for America

This digital collection was created to contribute to the public's understanding of the forces and ideas that led to the establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 1934. The most vi...

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