The vision to protect lands for public benefit began 150 years ago and has resulted in the designation of 430 National Park units nationwide. Seventeen National Park service units, excluding the National Scenic Byways, are located in the Tennessee River Valley. Increasing visitations to these park units in 2020 and 2021 are leading to fee increases and access limits for some of the most popular trails. In 2022, TRV Stewardship Council will re-affirm its mission by encouraging visitors to explore lesser known trails.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn., April 15, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- A vision for important lands to "be held for public use, resort, and recreation" grew out of the period of Romanticism when artists and writers were influencing public interest in the unspoiled beauty of landscapes, wildlife, and nature. This public interest inspired local legislative bodies to establish national parks to protect these wilderness areas form poaching and illegal mining, beginning with Yellowstone National Park in 1862.
Although more properties were being designated as National Parks under the Department of the Interior, it took until 1916 for the National Park Service to be created to manage the then thirty-five properties. The Organic Act set forth a mission for the National Park Service to "conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."
In successive years, additional federal acts were passed that added memorials, military parks, cemeteries, monuments, recreation areas, parkways, rivers, and scenic heritage trails. In total, there are over 430 National Parks Units that are held for public use for current and future generations.
This growth of public property has not always been without controversy. In the Tennessee Valley, there are seventeen National Park service units, excluding the National Scenic Byways. The intrinsic qualities of these units explore the heritage, history, and culture of the area. Each property has been shaped by land, rivers, wars, people, and politics as most straddle multi-state lines. The story of each property is often co-opted by tourism led marketing campaigns that focus on growth of visitors without regard to impact of that growth on the visitor experience and the adjacent communities. This has led to policy changes that limit access to the parks and seek to add fees. One example in the Tennessee Valley region is the Great Smoky Mountain National Park which is gathering public input for adding a "parking fee" to what was previously a "free" experience.
A National Park should be an immersive experience for a visitor, a "geotourism" experience. The ethos of geotourism shares ideals similar to those of the Romantic Movement. The principles of geotourism include conservation, connecting with nature and history, and a sentiment for preserving local community identities. To foster the geotourism experience in 2022, the TRV Stewardship Council will be featuring lesser known NPS properties to encourage people to seek the "less traveled" trails and parks in this vast region and alleviate the overcrowding that is negatively impacting
The Tennessee River Valley Stewardship Council serves as the steering committee and editorial board for the Geotourism MapGuide website. It is comprised of volunteers from a seven state region. The Council's efforts are made possible through the generous support of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). For information on TVA's campgrounds and TVA's public trails, visit their website at http://www.tva.gov and click under the Recreation section.
Media Contact
Julie Graham, TRV Stewardship Council/ ExploreTRV, 8655850811, [email protected]
SOURCE TRV Stewardship Council
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