The Great Smoky Mountain National Park to Celebrate its 75th Anniversary
What is 200 to 300 million years old, and has more than 9 million guests each year, and is 6,643 feet tall at its highest point? The Great Smoky Mountains National Park! The Park is approaching its 75th Anniversary and events are scheduled throughout 2009 to celebrate.
The beautiful Abrams Falls in the Great Smoky Mountains. Photo by just4pics.
When the park was created in the 1930s, it had suffered decades of commercial timber harvesting which "stripped trees from three-quarters of what is now national park land." The deeds to over 6,000 privately owned tracts were purchased and given to Congress in 1934 to create the Smoky Mountain National Park.
Encompassing over 800 square miles, the Park "is one of the largest protected land areas east of the Rocky Mountains." Over 10,000 species have been identified in the Park, some of which were previously unknown: "researchers have discovered 890 species new to science - including 36 types of moths and butterflies, seven mollusks and 11 viruses - and 6,129 species not previously known to exist in the Smokies."
Celebrating its 75th year, the Park and its partners have planned a "host of recreational opportunities and educational experiences...to showcase the Park's significant cultural heritage, highlight the Park's achievements in preserving its biologically diverse natural resources, and (provide) an occasion to examine the current and future challenges facing the Park's continued health."
Some of the 75th Anniversary events include a governor's proclamation ceremony in April. Governors from Tennessee, North Carolina, and the Eastern Band of the Cherokees will be invited. In June, "the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra will perform a free concert in Cades Cove" and a ceremony to break ground for the new park headquarters, visitor center, and cultural history museum will follow. "In September, the park will hold a rededication ceremony at Newfound Gap, reminiscent of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's speech in September 1940." Many other events have been scheduled for this year-long celebration and more information can be found at www.greatsmokies75th.org or by submitting your questions here.
