GRSMNP Needs Volunteers for New Contact Station at Clingmans Dome

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is recruiting volunteers to help staff a new visitor contact station at Clingmans Dome when it opens on Saturday, June 19.

The building that served as a comfort station, constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps, is being renovated and converted into a seasonal information center that will also include a bookstore/sales area managed by Great Smoky Mountains Association.

The center sits at an elevation of 6,300 feet and will be a point source of information on the national park, in general, and on this high elevation spruce-fir ecosystem in particular. Volunteers are needed to assist in educating visitors about the Park and providing recreational and trip planning information and directions to other destinations.

“In the past, visitors to this popular destination did not have a chance to obtain information on their high elevation visit or have questions answered, including the most asked, ‘What caused the trees to die?’” said Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson. “Now with the help of volunteers staffing the center, visitors can inquire and learn about the stands of dead trees caused by the nonnative insect, the balsam woolly adelgid.”

Many other helpful services will be available, including the ability to purchase guides and maps, outdoor apparel, and other products sold by the Great Smoky Mountains Association. “The Association is a significant partner with the Park and is involved in a number of projects to improve visitors’ experience. The funding for the renovations to the building, interpretive exhibit material, and staffing is coming from the Association through its revenue raised from merchandise sales and paid memberships,” said Ditmanson.

Volunteers will be working alongside Association employees and each volunteer is asked to work at least one four-hour shift per week. The hours will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Interested persons will be provided orientation and training before beginning at the contact station. The period that volunteers will be needed is during the peak season, June through October. To sign up for this volunteer work or for more information, contact Florie Takaki at 828/497-1906 or by email, Wednesdays through Fridays.

Take Back the Family Vacation with Pigeon Forge’s help

Do you have a friend you’d like to help with $100 in gas money? How about utilities for a year? Or 12 car payments? Or perhaps a year of mortgage payments?

The vacation destination of Pigeon Forge, Tenn., can help you accomplish exactly that.

The method is Pigeon Forge’s “Taking Back Vacation” campaign, which continues through July, when one family will win $15,000 for mortgage or rent payments.

Pigeon Forge, a major family vacation destination and a gateway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is conducting the campaign in reaction to the nation’s economic troubles of the past two years.

“We believe in the family vacation, and we feel family vacationers are our guests. Our whole community feels this way, and ‘Taking Back Vacation’ is our way to demonstrate that. It’s unusual for a whole destination to do this, but its our way to support a lot of families,” said Leon Downey, executive director of the Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism.

All winners – and the people who nominate them – also will receive three-day vacations in Pigeon Forge.

The nomination process requires two clicks at Pigeon Forge’s Web site, www.MyPigeonForge.com, and composition of a 100-word essay. Visitors to the Web site will choose the winners from the posted essays.

“Too many people have had to curtail family time recently, and we want to draw attention to how important family vacations are. Those times together are vital, and places such as Pigeon Forge can be the glue that binds families,” Downey said.

The “Taking Back Vacation” campaign grows from April through July.

* In April, 20 families will win $100 for gasoline.
* In May, 10 families will win $2,100 for utility payments.
* In June, five families will win $6,600 for car payments.
* In July, one family will win $15,000 for mortgage or rent payments.

Pigeon Forge made a similar outreach in 2006, a year of unexpected jumps in gasoline prices, by giving away a tanker truckload of gas.

“Our ‘Great Gas Giveaway’ was loads of fun,” Downey recalled, “and we want the ‘Taking Back Vacation’ idea to be the same. Our goal in Pigeon Forge is making people happy and creating good memories.”

Pigeon Forge has a resident population of about 5,800, but it attracts more than 10 million visitors a year. It is home to Tennessee’s most visited tourist attraction, Dollywood, as well as more than a dozen theaters, scores of family attractions and more than 250 outlet, craft and specialty stores.

Its next-door neighbor, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is the most visited national park in the U.S.

“We’re in a great location and have tons of fun to offer. We hope parents will see us as a destination for family fun – before their kids outgrow childhood,” Downey said.

For more information visit Pigeon Forge’s website.

Cades Cove Loop Road Closed for Spraying

Managers at Great Smoky Mountains National Park announced plans to close the 11-mile Cades Cove Loop Road to all vehicular traffic on Tuesday, December 1st, and to impose a partial closure on Wednesday, December 2nd. During that time, park forestry technicians will Read more..

Smokies Celebrates Public Lands Day

The National Park Service is inviting America to join in a day of service and celebration on Saturday, September 26, during Public Lands Day to help make America’s Best Idea—the national parks—even better. As part of the event, Great Smoky Mountains National Park will present a sneak preview of a new Ken Burns documentary and participate in a volunteer community service project in cooperation with the Keep Sevier Beautiful Roads and Rivers Day Fall Clean Up.

A short, 26-minute excerpt from the National Parks: America’s Best Idea documentary series, sponsored by the National Park Service and National Park Foundation, is scheduled for two showings on Saturday, September 26, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Sugarlands Visitor Center, near Gatlinburg, Tenn. This showing is a prelude to the six-part, 12-hour series which will begin airing on PBS stations nationwide on Sunday, September 27. The Burns documentary includes a Smokies segment in which local icons Horace Kephart and George Masa are featured prominently. Together, Kephart, a famed author and outdoorsman, and Masa, a photographer and avid hiker, played important roles in raising support for the Park’s creation.

“We are excited that the Smokies is part of the documentary film which coincides with the Park’s 75th Anniversary. The project traces the birth of the national park idea in the mid-1800s and follows its evolution for nearly 150 years and is an excellent opportunity for Americans to reflect on the significance and value of the National Park System,” said Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson.

As part of the Keep Sevier Beautiful Roads and Rivers Day, the national park is looking for volunteers to participate in a litter clean up along the Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge Spur between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. Registration for interested volunteers begins at 9 a.m. at the Gatlinburg Spur Welcome Center where volunteers will be provided work gloves, water and trash bags and assigned sections of the Spur which runs parallel to the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River. Individuals should be prepared to walk along the sloping banks of the river collecting trash and debris. It is recommended to wear sturdy shoes and long pants for scrambling down the banks. Individuals under 18 are required to be accompanied by adult. The national park is one of several places that Keep Sevier Beautiful is sponsoring in Sevier County so that people can help to make their community a better place to live and visit. For more information call the Keep Sevier Beautiful office at 865-774-6677.

Streams Become Classrooms in Water Wonders Workshop

Join Discover Life in America for the opportunity to glimpse the biodiversity of the bottom of streams through a hands-on experience in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Saturday, September 19 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event will take place at Sugarlands Visitor Center and the Twin Creeks Science and Education Center. The group will meet in front of Sugarlands Visitor Center at 9 a.m. for stream sampling, and after a break for lunch, gather at Twin Creeks Center for observation and identification.

Participants will work alongside Dr. Andrea Radwell, a biologist from the University of Arkansas, who specializes in the study of water mites. We expect to find an abundant and diverse population of water mites along with other invertebrates with which they interact. Activities will include stream sampling techniques and the observation of live both macro- and micro invertebrates. Those who wish to get their feet wet as well as those who prefer to help streamside are welcome to attend.

If you plan to participate in the stream, bring a pair of waders or wading boots, or an old pair of sneakers. Those who prefer to assist streamside should be prepared to possibly get just a little wet or muddy. As the event will last all day, participants are encouraged to bring lunch to eat with the group. Please RSVP by Friday September 18 to Heather MacCulloch at Discover Life in America at 865-430-4756.

The Mountain Life Festival is Set to Celebrate the Fall Harvest

The annual Mountain Life Festival at the Mountain Farm Museum in Great Smoky Mountains National Park is scheduled Saturday, September 19, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. During this 75th anniversary year of the park, the event will showcase Appalachian folkways and pay tribute to the many families who lived on lands that would later become the national park.

The centerpiece of the event is the sorghum syrup demonstration, which the national park has provided each fall for almost 40 years. The syrup is made much the same way it was produced a hundred or more years ago, using a horse-powered cane mill and wood-fired cooker. The syrup making demonstration is provided by students, staff, and volunteers from Swain County High School through a cooperative agreement with Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Great Smoky Mountains Association. The association is the national park’s non-profit partner that operates the bookstores in the park’s visitor centers.

Other activities during the day will include hearth cooking, apple butter and apple cider making, blacksmithing, lye soap making, food preservation, broom making, quilting, and chair bottoming. Artifacts and historic photographs from the national park’s collection will also be on display. Music will be provided by Marshall Crowe and the Bluegrass Singers. Featured participants at this year’s event include Ron and Suzanne Joyner from Big Horse Creek Farm in Ashe County, N.C. whose small, family-owned orchard and nursery maintains more than 300 varieties of custom-grafted heirloom apple trees; Annie Lee Bryson from Sylva, N.C., making cornshuck dolls; the Woodard family from Bryson City, N.C., making hominy; and Roy Henson from Tennessee will provide a display of traditional toys.

“During the event, visitors can explore the preserved collection of Southern Appalachian farm buildings assembled here from their original locations throughout the Park,” said Park Ranger Lynda Doucette. “Most of the structures, including a chestnut log farmhouse, date from about 1900, giving a glimpse into the past, and with the demonstrations that are planned, visitors can gain a better understanding of the rural heritage of this country,” she added.

The Mountain Farm Museum is located adjacent to the park’s Oconaluftee Visitor Center on Newfound Gap Road (US 441), two miles north of Cherokee, N.C.

All activities are free and open to the public. For more information call the visitor center at (828) 497-1904.

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