United States National Park Service

“ The National Park Service has preserved some of the historic structures in Great Smoky Mountains National Park so that we, and future generations, can better understand how our forefathers lived. By walking through and closely examining their finely crafted—and crudely crafted—log houses, barns, and other farm buildings we gain a new respect for their diligence and perseverance. The hours spent hewing massive beams, preserving foods for winter use, and making clothes from scratch are nearly incomprehensible in our age of machines and computers. ”

“ Seemingly endless ridges, forests, mountain streams, waterfalls, and wildlife attract hundreds of thousands of travelers each year to Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the Tennessee-North Carolina border. Many are drawn by a long procession of wildflowers and shrubs bursting into bloom in the spring and by the colorful foliage of the hardwoods in the fall. Thousands hike the park’s many trails, which range from short spurs to the 110 kilometers (70 miles) of the Appalachian Trail that runs through the park. ”

“ As a general rule it is best to keep a good distance from any wildlife you see, not only to protect yourself and your children, but to avoid frightening or hurting the animal. It is best to observe wildlife at a safe distance with field glasses. While walking about the park, do not take chances by climbing on loose rock, or going into unauthorized areas, and do not let your children go beyond your control. ”

“ Behind Chapman’s professorial appearance—his wire-rimmed glasses and three-piece suits and unkempt hair—was a man who had been a colonel in World War I, a man who had resolved to make the dream of a national park into a reality. ”

“ Rules about mining and solid-waste disposal, for example, apply to all lands within system units “whether federally or non-federally owned.” 36 CFR §6.2; see §9.2. And (of particular note here) the Park Service freely regulates activities on all navigable (and some other) waters “within [a park’s] boundaries”—once more, “without regard to... ownership.” §1.2 (a) (3) . So Alaska and its Natives had reason to worry about how the Park Service would regulate their lands and waters within the new parks. ”

“ Stringent fishing regulations may help the easily caught brook trout—and the gluttonous poaching that sometimes eliminates large numbers of brook trout from long stretches of a stream 42 must be stopped. This type of management problem, how to preserve native species and reduce the impact of exotic ones, is common in national parks. It is only one aspect of a larger problem: How do we maintain natural ecosystems in parks? This basic aspect of the national park idea is difficult to implement in a country where human influence is so ubiquitous. ”

“ All plants, animals, and artifacts are protected by Federal law here. Do not disturb them in any way. Fishing is permitted subject to State and Federal regulation and licensing.
All overnight camping in the backcountry requires a backcountry permit. Otherwise, camp and build fires only in designated campground sites.
A Word About Pets. It is best not to bring pets. They are permitted in the park but only if on a leash or under other physical control at all times. They may not be taken on trails or cross-country hikes. Veterinary services are found in nearby towns. ”

“ First, as a default, the Service may well have authority to regulate out-of-park, nonpublic areas in the midst of parklands when doing so is necessary or proper to protect in-park, public areas—for instance, to ban pollution of the Nation River if necessary to preserve habitat on the riverbanks or to ban hovercraft use on that river if needed to protect adjacent public park areas. ”

“ And the Park Service may then “administer [] ” the land just as it does (in the second sentence’s phrase) the other “public lands within such units.” Ibid. In thus providing a way out of the Section’s first two sentences, the third underlines what they are doing: insulating the state, Native, or private lands that ANILCA enclosed in national parks from new and unexpected regulation. In sum, those lands may be regulated only as they could have been before ANILCA’s enactment, unless and until bought by the Federal Government. ”

“ In my view, the Service likely retains power over navigable rivers that run through Alaska’s parks when that power is necessary to protect Alaska’s parklands.
The Service’s default ability to regulate comes from the Organic Act. That Act gives the Service general authority to promulgate all regulations “necessary or proper” for managing park units, including power to regulate activities “on or relating to water located within [Park] System units.” ”

“ Also attracting wide interest are the park’s historical sites and the lifeways of the mountain people. They are pleasant surprises in the midst of all of nature’s richness. They are physical ties with our ancestors, many of whom traveled from their homelands across the sea to build new homes in the relatively unexplored continent of North America. ”

“ The Park Service’s reading of Section 103 (c) ’s second sentence also strips the first and third sentences of their core functions. Under the Service’s approach, the first sentence’s “deeming” has no point. There is no reason to pretend that inholdings are not part of a park if they can still be regulated as parklands. ”

“ As the Nation’s principal conservation agency, the Department of the Interior has responsibility for most of our nationally owned public lands and natural resources. This includes fostering the wisest use of our land and water resources, protecting our fish and wildlife, preserving the environmental and cultural values of our national parks and historical places, and providing for the enjoyment of life through outdoor recreation. The Department assesses our energy and mineral resources and works to assure that their development is in the best interest of all our people. ”

“ Because its achievements are both fundamental and effective, and because it treats a splendid mountain area as a lasting and deserving homeland for plants and animals and human beings, the story of Tremont culminates this history of the Great Smoky Mountains. For here is one of the ways the Smokies can be best used: as a wild refuge and a living laboratory where young people may discover the deeper meaning of the park’s past and why, for the future, there is a park at all. ”

“ The present-day Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, located upon a peaceful estate in the heart of commercial Gatlinburg, attests to the imagination of a generous group, the cooperation of a chosen community, and the lasting good works of both. Like Qualla, like the CCC camps, like the park today, and, most of all, like the Walker place, Arrowmont signifies the profound beauty that can result when people practice a simple respect for their homeland. ”

“ For those who desire to make the day trip only, the National Park Service maintains public camps or picnic grounds at Beetle Rock. A ranger is on duty at all times and is anxious to show the park and make the stay of visitors as enjoyable and profitable as possible. ”

“ The National Park Service encourages all forms of outdoor activities, but special attention is paid to fostering a knowledge of the wildlife and natural beauty which the parks were created to preserve. At Giant Forest a small collection of specimens is on display at the naturalist's office during the summer season for the enjoyment of visitors. ”

“ Park Serv., Kobuk Valley National Park: Land Protection Plan 123–124 (1986) (noting that “ [w] hile [Park Service] regulations do not generally apply to private lands in the park (Section 103, ANILCA) ,” the regulations “that do apply” include those issued under “the Alaska Anadromous Fish Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water and Clean Air acts, and the Protection of Wetlands, to name a few”) ”

“ General management plans for the development of each unit of the National Park System, including the areas within the national capital region, shall be prepared by the Director of the National Park Service and transmitted to the Committees on Interior and Insular Affairs. ”

“ The hovercraft rule applies only inside park boundaries. 36 CFR §1.2 (a) (“regulations contained in this chapter apply to all persons entering, using, visiting, or otherwise within... [w] aters subject to the jurisdiction of the United States located within the boundaries of the National Park System”) . The Nation River is, for legal purposes, outside of park boundaries. The hovercraft rule therefore does not apply on the Nation River. ”

“ Together with the 140,000 volunteers who donated over 5 million hours to these sites last year, National Park Service employees ensure that our National Parks are safe and enjoyable places where visitors can experience America.
America's national parks reflect our commitment to protect the land that God has entrusted to our care and to mark the milestones that have made us a better Nation. In being good stewards of these treasures, we maintain the legacy of our country for future generations. ”

“ Compared to the sharp shadows and glare of the 36 meadows and thickets I have left behind, the evenly shaded pine forest seems serene. Except for a diminutive red-breasted nuthatch that patrols up and down a nearby tree trunk, gleaning grubs and other insects as it goes, there is no perceptible motion. Even the few shafts of sunlight that touch the forest floor here seem, like me, to be intruders. Sound itself seems unwelcome. No birds sing or squabble or dart their colors to catch the eye. If anything walks or hops about, no leaves rustle to reveal its presence. ”

“ Since the establishment of the National Park Service in 1916, our national parks have grown to occupy a special place in the hearts of the American people. As responsible stewards, we must leave them in good condition for those who follow us. ”

“ Here is a land of blue skies, magnificent rock formations, and a clear, dry atmosphere that easily confuses and distorts your sense of distance. It is a land of mountain views, long probing rivers, deserts, and high plains and space—great unfathomable oceans of space. The West is the archetypal outdoors whose recreation possibilities forever grip the modern imagination. ”

“ We see landslide scars on the mountainside that probably came during a storm like the one we just experienced, when the earth, heavy with water and lying thinly over the smooth rock beneath, could no longer hang on and slipped in a crashing avalanche down the slope; like the pine beetle, landslides are one of the many natural forces that challenge the forest’s powers of recuperation. Chimney swifts pick insects from the air and we hear the chatter of a red squirrel interrupted in its hunt for cones. Like the shrew, each in its own special way is busy gaining the fuel to stay alive. ”

“ Adair, an intent observer of Indian life, marveled at the Cherokees’ knowledge of nature’s medicines: “I do not remember to have seen or heard of an Indian dying by the bite of a snake, when out at war, or a hunting ... they, as well as all other Indian nations, have a great knowledge of specific virtues in simples: applying herbs and plants, on the most dangerous occasions, and seldom if ever, fail to effect a thorough cure, from the natural bush.... For my own part, I would prefer an old Indian before any surgeon whatsoever....” ”

“ This is Great Smokies virgin cove forest, a type unrivaled in the northern hemisphere for combined variety and size of trees. Here it is cool, shady, and moist. The tree trunks shoot high above into the canopy, which intercepts most 26 of the sunlight and seems to enclose us in a private world. The ground around us is covered with the greenery of small plants. We hear bird songs but cannot see the singers.
The peace and grandeur of the forest are interrupted by a slight movement off to our right. In the leaves beneath a large, rotting log a tiny shrew restlessly sniffs with its long nose. ”

“ In the early morning hours they fill the wooden benches of tiny Palmer’s Chapel for singing and preaching and reminiscing; at noon they share bountiful food spread on long plank tables beside clear, rushing Cataloochee Creek; in the mellow afternoon they rediscover the valley. For what lures the stranger is what lures the old families back. They come to sense again the beauty and the permanence and even the foggy mystery of the Great Smokies. ”

“ The mountain people were as solidly a part of the Smokies as the boulders themselves. These residents of branch and cove, of Medlin and Proctor and all the other tiny settlements tucked high along the slanting creekbeds of the Great Smoky Mountains, these distinctive “back of beyond” hillside farmers and work-worn wives and wary moonshine distillers lodged in Kephart’s consciousness and imagination with rock-like strength and endurance. ”

“ Perhaps, the few prairie-dog sentinels that had stood motionless in the March wind wished that the spring would come. The sharp wind divides the dense fur of their winter coats while they survey the snow-skiffed ground of their silent town. They almost appear to regard the sun wistfully, wishing it strong, the snow gone, and the grass resurgent once again. But at last the meadowlarks lose their winter-long quiet, and the horned larks now lift up with extravagance, unhuddling from their long ordeal. ”

“ Each, through its interaction with plants and animals, affects the total fabric of Smokies life. Far below, the trees of a cove forest march up a stream valley; on the slopes above them spreads a mantle of oaks. A narrow ridge far down and off to the right bears the dark green of pines. Nearer, we see the ragged lower edge of the spruce-fir forest, where it fingers into the northern hardwoods below it. But we sense an overall unity because each kind of forest merges into the next, creating an unbroken mantle that lies over all the ridges as far as the eye can see. ”