Great Smoky Mountains National Park - Tennesse & North Carolina

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Our national parks have been the subject of much debate, as many of these parks have been underfunded at a time when their popularity has been unprecedented. Great Smoky Mountains National Park (website here) is the most visited of all national parks; like many of the other national parks, these visitors present serious challenges.

From Nicole Orchard, University of Miami, May 7, 2011 (full article and slide show here):

Great Smoky Mountains National Park brought in nearly 10 million visitors in 2010 making it the most visited national park in the United States. With this many people coming in and out of one park, finding a balance between preservation and visitation can be challenging...

Although visitation is an important part of maintaining the stature of the national parks system, overcrowding and overuse can damage the cultural and natural aspects of the parks.

According to the Greater Yellowstone Science Learning Center, constant visitor activities and the transportation and infrastructure accompanying it have an effect on many resources including air and water quality, the natural soundscape, wildlife habitat, the spread of non-native plants, diseases, and organisms, and the preservation of archeological sites and other cultural artifacts.

“Wildlife harassment, resource damage—people walking, driving, and parking in non-designated areas, litter (yes, hard to believe in this day and age) are just a few concerns we have,” Yellowstone National Park Supervisory Park Ranger, Tami Corchero said in regard to preservation issues caused by visitation.

Some parks, including Great Smoky Mountains and Grand Canyon have taken action to sustain preservation while still maintaining the increasing customer base.
   
Miller said that Great Smoky Mountains paved all of the roads when it was built in the 1930s, in realization that there would be heavy traffic in and out of the park.
   
“Heavy use in the backcountry can have an impact on the trails. When the park was first created they realized that traffic was going to be heavy,” Miller said...

[At Yellowstone] “The Law Enforcement Division does just that—enforces the law and issues citations for those visitors who break the rules. Unfortunately the number of visitors is much higher than the number of park staff, so many violations occur without any punishment to those responsible,” Corchero said.

One solution to this problem could be to enforce a quota system and monitor the number of people entering and exiting the park. That way, only a certain amount of visitors would be allowed in the park at one time and preservation would be less at risk.

According to Cochero, Miller, and Tami Blackford, a writer-editor at Yellowstone National Park, neither Great Smoky Mountains nor Yellowstone has a quota system in place.

“We don’t even have entrance stations here. We have 14 entrances: Three main entrances and 11 smaller entrances. About the only thing in the park that does have limits on it are the backcountry shelters, especially on the Appalachian Trail. They’re really popular and they’re not that big. Otherwise, people can come and go as they please,” Miller said.