Displaying items by tag: great smoky mountains economic impact

Elk are native to the Southern Appalachians, but overhunting and poor management led to its extirpation by the turn of the 20th century. Elk can now be seen throughout the park, and the park service warns visitors the animals can be dangerous during the autumn rut. Bill Pattison/National Park Service

Elk flourish -- and put on a show -- in Great Smoky Mountains National park 25 years after reintroduction

Kenzie Connor is a National Park Service communications officer.

GATLINBURG —The annual elk breeding season, known as the rut, is underway in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The rut can be exciting to witness, but it can also be dangerous, as elk are especially unpredictable during this time.  

Park visitors should exercise extra caution and respect all wildlife regulations as they visit the park this season. 

During the rut, male elk (bulls), experience heightened testosterone levels and are more likely to exhibit defensive behavior as they compete for dominance. Bulls will charge or challenge anything they perceive as a threat, including people and vehicles. Female elk (cows), remain protective of their calves, adding to the overall stress amongst elk herds.

Campers are seen enjoying a morning at Elkmont Campground in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Elkmont is one of the Smokies campgrounds still open. National Park Service

National parks advocate and former Smokies official warns of funding shortfalls as closures continue, concerns persist, and people resist

KNOXVILLE — Funding for national parks has never amounted to much, and the federal government will cut even more if people don’t speak out in defense of the country’s natural and ecological crown jewels.

That was the message from Phil Francis, chairman of the Coalition to Protect American National Parks and former acting superintendent of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He spoke to an audience at Knoxville’s Schulz Bräu Brewing Company hosted by Discover Life in America. Francis said that due to rising concerns his organization grew from 500 members to over 4,000 during the Trump administration. The coalition, he said, includes many people like himself who used to work for the park system, including the former superintendent of Acadia National Park.

Francis advocated that others should lobby government officials to continue to support the parks.

“If you don’t speak up, it makes it a lot more difficult,” he told the audience. 

Fontana Resort, once the site of a Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps camp and now home to a comfortable, low-key lodging destination, has numerous relics and mementos from nearby Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Included among them is this collection of badges indicating landmarks and completion of popular trails throughout the park. Visitors to areas close to the Smokies, such as Fontana Village, bring in an estimated $3 billion each year.  Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press

Cash-rich tourists flock to Smokies area; whether they set foot in the national park is a different story

Katie Liming is a public information officer at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

GATLINBURG — A new National Park Service report shows that 13.3 million visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2023 spent $2.2 billion in communities near the park. That spending supported 33,748 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $3.4 billion. (In 2020, albeit a year of peak COVID-19, that amount was $2 billion).

“People come to Great Smoky Mountains National Park to enjoy the scenic beauty and end up supporting local economies along the way,” said Superintendent Cassius Cash. “We’re proud to care for a national park that provides incredible opportunities for recreation but also creates jobs and positively contributes to local economies.” 

Commercial air tour routes over Great Smoky Mountains National Park

GATLINBURG — Great Smoky Mountains National Park and other federal officials completed a management plan to formally regulate aircraft tours over the park.

Don’t expect much to change in the skies over the park: The plan allows 946 air tours a year by select helicopter operators, unchanged from the average number of annual flights recorded from 2017 to 2019. Flights may only operate from two hours after daybreak to two hours before sundown.

“The plan establishes measures to protect park resources including natural and cultural resources, preservation of wilderness character, and visitor experience,” according to Smokies officials. Flights will be restricted to six routes over the park, and must maintain an elevation above 2,700 feet of the highest terrain. Cades Cove is off limits, as are several historical sites, including the Walker Sisters Cabin.

Air tours, often to the dismay of many hikers and others, have occurred over the park for most of its history, but no formal flight guidelines were in place.

“We appreciate the tireless work that went into the development of the Smokies air tour management plan,” said Superintendent Cassius Cash. “The plan incorporates several improvements that allow continued air tour activity, while at the same time better protecting the wilderness character of the backcountry, wildlife populations, natural soundscapes, and the visitor experience in historic areas like Cades Cove.”

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian members provided notable input into the development of the plan, which will go into effect in 90 days from Dec.3.

Hellbender Press previously reported on development of the Smokies aircraft management plan.

A Knoxville man tries his hand at fly fishing in Abrams Creek during a family camping trip on the southwestern side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press

Green begets green in Smokies region; Big South Fork and Cumberland Gap also economic players

Recent federal analysis of spending by national park visitors is a testament to the economic benefits of environmental protection, scientific study and outdoor recreation.

The 12.1 million visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2020 spent $1.024 billion in neighboring communities in both Tennessee and North Carolina, according to a study released this week by the National Park Service. Similar, localized releases were distributed into national park communities across the country.

Closer to home, that number represents the estimated visitor money spent in areas that include traditional “gateway” communities, such as Townsend and Gatlinburg, and Cherokee and Bryson City in North Carolina. Regionally, it’s at least a $5 million increase since 2012. Travel problems, housing and employee shortages, overdevelopment and environmental destruction are of course persistent in some of those areas.