Smokies park in desperate disrepair
One of the jewels of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the Chimney Tops trail. It offers hikers a steep but scenic climb, and is one of the park’s most popular trails.
At the beginning of the trail sits the Chimneys Picnic Area. This time of year especially, visitors are attracted to the lush green setting alongside rushing waters.
But the picnic area is closed, due to disrepair in the septic water system. Also closed is the Look Rock campground and picnic area, suffering similar issues.
These are just two of the many problems that the National Park System is suffering. From roads and bridges to visitor centers and historic monuments, maintenance and repairs in the parks have fallen woefully behind. The backlog across the entire system totals more than $11.3 billion. For the Smokies, the number is $215 million.
I am a fly-fishing guide in the national park and have been doing this work since 1995, so I know the park well. For years, I have seen campgrounds open later, close earlier, and critical restroom facilities regularly close because of problems.
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The extremely popular Chimneys Picnic area was closed May 1 because of a lack of restrooms due to a water line break. This was in addition to other problems with facilities at Metcalf Bottoms and Deep Creek picnic areas and Cosby Campground. These are all exceptionally popular areas, and restrooms are among the most basic of amenities visitors expect.
How do treasures like the Smokies find themselves facing the dilemma before them? Actually, it goes back to the recession, when the National Park Service was cut off from the assurance of guaranteed federal funding. As a result, vital maintenance was deferred. The impact could spread beyond the park.
Two recent reports in The News Sentinel point to the importance of the issue:
Last week, reporter Brittany Crocker wrote:
“Last year visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park spent $922.9 million in the communities near the park. More than 11.3 million people visited the park last year. Their spending in the area supported nearly 14,000 local jobs.”
Last month, The News Sentinel reported that U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke joined U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander inside the parkto promote legislation that would address the billions in deferred maintenance throughout the national parks.
Congress must make sure that there is guaranteed funding to maintain and repair the backbone of the parks – its infrastructure. I applaud the attention that Alexander and Zinke are paying to this critical issue. Congressmen Jimmy Duncan and Chuck Fleischmann have joined Alexander in sponsoring legislation.
Such legislation would ensure that needed investment would be available and would help national parks like the Great Smoky Mountains remain accessible to families, hikers and all of those who visit. With summer coming, it is more obvious than ever that this is one of the most popular destinations in the country. As such, it also is an economic engine for our region.
I call on our members of Congress to remain steadfast in their commitment to national parks. I urge them to push through legislation needed to repair these American gems so that our children and grandchildren can enjoy our rich natural heritage.
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Ian Rutter operates R&R Fly Fishing Guide Service with his wife, Charity, in Townsend.