Great Smoky Mountains National Park Near Townsend, Tennessee (1,452) No Service Reservation Rules Over 2 million visitors annually come to enjoy the scenic beauty of Cades Cove and its many historic structures. Im the Superintendent of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Smokies' budget, appropriated by Congress, does not increase based on visitation. So, parking fees and entry fees are both allowed under FLREA. 29:35 Kendra Straub We have had a lot of engagement in our Q&A. There's something for everyone on Recreation.gov, so get out there, experience the USA, and bring home a story! And we're proposing to raise this rate to $8. We've chased project dollars. We've also had some questions about entrance fees in the park. Won't this potentially reduce the amount of parking that's available to visitors? 45:31 Dana Soehn Well, if you've been to the park over the last couple of years, you've seen out of bounds parking. But the goal is that we are doing thoughtful reviews every year to look at that price point and see if it's still reasonable and feasible. There's been several questions asking about exemptions or some sort of discount for descendants of families who sold their lands to the states of Tennessee and North Carolina, for the park to be created. New funding sources are needed to rehabilitate this national treasure and preserve the magic of the Smokies for future generations. And you can find the link to the Park It Forward program from our homepage. Again, in the Smokies, we have a very small concessions program by design. And so, education is going to be the front, the first leg, of how we bring up to par people understanding what the needs are. We've also received a few questions from park volunteers who who've joined the call and just about if there would be exemptions for park staff and volunteers for the parking tag. One is that we have millions of new visitors that are coming to the park for the first time and discovering the new love for being out in the natural world. We've also been able to perform campground maintenance and we've worked with volunteers and trail partners to leverage those monies as we work together to provide those maintenances. So, with that being said, I'm going to turn it over to you Dana. Based on that sensitivity, then those are conversations we can have with our local leaders here, if we feel that it's necessary. Just recognizing that growing awareness will take months, maybe years, as we grow this program. Top 5 Smoky Mountains National Park Backpacking Trails To apply for permits or CUAs or find what activities are prohibited, visit the website of the local land managing agency; for APPA lands (lands outside other federal, state or other local lands the A.T. passes through) find rules and regulations governing these lands here the and permit applications here. So, our intent is not to have these parking passes serve as a barrier to them enjoying the National Park. We want to make sure that this is not an economic barrier, first of all, for people to continue to enjoy the park. There is a fee of $4 per person, per night, with a maximum of $20 per person. 31:01 Kendra Straub Thank you. Everyone agrees that this park needs more resources, and that it's critically important that it's preserved so that that next generation of users, like all of us, can enjoy it the same way we do today. 2 nights, 2 hikers. In the Smokies, all fees collected under this authority stay in the Smokies for the direct benefit of visitors thanks to Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, who in 1998 introduced legislation in the Land Water Conservation Act to ensure that this fee money would stay right here in the Smokies. It's all a part of those implementation issues that - 15 - Page - 15 - of 16 (Dana Soehn, continues 52:08) we simply need to dive into and look a little bit closer at but those are some of the first thoughts that we've had as we look at that. Baldy - Three T's Loop, CA So, thank you. 8 ppl. And there have been generations of folks that have visited here with the understanding that parking tags were not a requirement. Great Smoky Mountains National Park Backcountry Permits v3.5.106 - Last Update: January 31, 2023: And it's our mission as the employees to provide those experiences in a way that leaves this park preserved. 5 hour shuttle ride for 2 people. A few examples of how these funds can be used are: Improving visitor safety by increasing ranger presence, Repairing, enhancing and maintaining public facilities. And because we have, as I said before, because we have the deed restriction, we only have one option with that. I can tell you that as we've talked about it, we know there are some compliance challenges that come along with having one tag be transferable to more than one car, especially in a park without the digital connectivity for us to easily check for compliance. And it's came at great benefit to our users. So, we built the annual pass specifically for the residents. We haven't raised our backcountry rates in 10 years. Those services are primarily outside the park to provide that economic benefit that Superintendent Cash spoke about. 52:17 - Kendra Straub Thank you. And for years, we've been applying a lot of band-aid fixes to meet our needs. Great Smoky Mountains National Park Camping & Campgrounds So as a part of the how, let's also talk about the scope of the program, and how it would help meet our revenue goals. Listings of these agencies that form the cooperative management system of the A.T. can be found on the Appalachian Trail Conservancys Clubs and Partners page. You can make reservations up to five months in advance. Another thing that I want to pinpoint is that there are at least seven free days, that is recognized on a national level by the National Park Service. Camping and fire regulations along the A.T. have been compiled in our A.T. The overriding message from the public was clear: we value the Park, and were willing to invest in protecting it for future generations. And I'm hoping my screen is sharing now. So that's both the why and the how for the Park It Forward program. With Park it Forward, we will accomplish these important goals. These are hard stories. And because of that, when we've had to make the books balance, we've had to make some tough decisions with that. They're just like employees coming to work that day to do business of the park. And we also know that based on survey data, that about 13 percent of our visitors spend very little time outside of their cars, and we can assume they're driving through and would not need a tag. - 3 - Page - 3 - of 16 (Dana Soehn, continues 06:20) This park provides incredible experiences. At other parks, on average, they receive about $15 million in concessions revenue, that other flexible spending to help meet their operational needs. So, thank you. But again, we know it's going to take time and our law enforcement Rangers will exercise discretion just like they do across the park. Permits obtained through this system are issued by email. And we can't build enough parking to meet the demand that people have to hike Alum Cave Trail and Laurel Falls Trail. And then secondly, as I mentioned, that this would not be a socio-economic barrier for folks that want to continue to enjoy the national park. And the average cost for a single night in these parks is $17. The Backcountry Office is open daily, from 8 am to 5 pm Eastern Time (865-436-1297). So national parks get funding for operations in several different ways. And while still below the average, we believe our proposed rate is reasonable to meet our program needs. Hours: Monday - Friday, 8:00 - 4:30. And Im thankful for the sacrifice it took to create this park nearly 90 years ago. You may also obtain permits at the Sugarlands Visitor Center near Gatlinburg, TN. And that is to increase our camping fees in both our frontcountry and our backcountry. These employees at the park bring it every day. The proposed rates and duration are determined by considering a comparison of rates for similar access on both private and other public lands. The Bullhead Trail is an American hiking trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. That said, a few backcountry sites can accommodate parties of up to 12 people under a special permit issued by the park. (The permit card is typically obtained the night before or the morning of a long-distance hikers climb Katahdin, though permits are good for 7 days.). 30:00 Cassius Cash Yes, thank you, Kendra. And some of that is associated with how much we put into infrastructure. And we're operating 27 different wastewater systems in this park and providing clean drinking water. Thank you to everyone who has already submitted questions. This was not an easy, overnight decision. So, it's not a way to get around. If you do not have an email address, please contact the Backcountry Office at 865-436-1297. Its the memories that have kept people and generations of people to keep coming back to this park, year after year after year. So, the obvious situation is for park employees, and our park partners like the Great Smoky Mountains Association, who have employees that operate our visitor centers across the park. Camping Chart. PERMITS And with our current fee rate, we've maximized our staffing and our field presence based on our current revenues. footpath. If you have questions, please call the Backcountry Information Office at (865) 436-1297. Over the last decade, the Smokies' budget has remained relatively flat, in spite of increasing visitation. And we're very, very proud of that. So that we can continue to work and generate new visitor experiences along with those visitor services. We experimented a little bit with that at Laurel Falls. Official rules and regulations are set by land-managing agencies; however, the A.T. is managed through a cooperative management system, with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) as the lead coordinating partner working with APPA, 87 land-managing agency partners, and 31 local trail-maintaining clubs. In fact, over 85 percent of the comments we received were either supportive or provided constructive ideas to make the program as effective and practical as possible. And they provided these other funding tools and authorities for parks to charge user fees, which they felt was more appropriate than providing more tax dollar revenue to support parks. A fee may be charged at the time a reservation is made to cover the cost of reservation services. Give me just a minute and I'm going to share my screen so we can share some of this information in a little more detail for you. Not in the enabling legislation for the park, not from President Roosevelt, not in hundreds of historical documents and deeds. But we can only do so much, and we feel education is more of an effective tool of using than citations. So, as a part of the compliance program, these staff can provide courtesy reminders or law enforcement staff have the discretion to provide courtesy reminders. In the park, it would work very similarly. 71 White Mountain Drive Campton NH 03223 (603) 536-6100. 37:09 Kendra Straub Thank you, we've had a number of folks just kind of wondering whether there's a concern or consideration for the parking tag program reducing the ability of low-income visitors to access park facilities? Fees & Passes - Great Smoky Mountains National Park (U.S. National Park Our Tax ID number: 526046689. reCAPTCHA helps prevent automated form spam. And sort of, you know, What is it? And now to the frontcountry fee increases we're proposing. Our site relies heavily on Javascript. Background Over the past decade, Smokies visitation has skyrocketed by 57%. One thing I will mention in regards to the descendants that there's questions, I know I've personally received questions about, Would we need a parking tag to go to do Decoration Days or family reunions? And I just want to share the sentence in particular that we will continue to utilize our special use permit, which allows for descendants to have decoration days and family reunions at no cost. We will never have enough parking areas to provide the level of demand that we have for those trails. The questions that are coming in are very good questions. The exact information on how to comment through that public comment period can also be found on our website. That's the one that's provided for permanently disabled people. You know, we don't catch everybody that speeds through the park, right? And now that's not encouraging people to not buy tags. But with this extreme demand for visitor services in our park and the use, we simply can't meet the needs without drastically cutting services or access to the park. Backpacking in Bear Country For example, for every federal dollar that is spent, $50 are returned back to our surrounding communities, I would say that's a pretty good deal. And it's very frustrating for descendants to hear that there simply just were no agreements for forever-free access at the time of the parks creation. Hi, Im Cassius Cash, Superintendent of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Know before you go. And an annual tag really targeted for our local residents at $40, who we know are going to come multiple times a year and we want to make it more convenient. However, more than 60% of the A.T. passes through lands owned and managed by the U.S. Forest Service and many other federal, state, and local agencies. Again, one of the things that we're trying to do here is take advantage of the opportunities that FLREA provides us in that fees section that Dana talked about, and to bump up our opportunities to better serve visitors. Road, Trail and Facility Closures - closures may affect your access to trailheads During the same timeframe, park visitation around the country has increased at about 7 percent. b) As an Overnight Hiker If spaces are still available, hikers may obtain a reservation at a shelter, tent site, or cabin (Katahdin Stream Campground is the most convenient option; Daicey Pond Campground, located two miles trail-south of Katahdin Stream Campground, or Abol Campground, located two miles by road from Katahdin Stream Campground, are other nearby options). The people of North Carolina and Tennessee have carried the weight for creating the park. You know, those monies that stay within the park are not all for jobs. We also want to welcome each and every one of you to provide your feedback about the proposal during the public comment period, which will run through May 7. Weather - weather may affect your access to campsites Frontcountry campers may choose from 10 car-accessible campgrounds (note that Look Rock Campground is currently closed) across both the North Carolina and Tennessee sides of the park. 41:55 Cassius Cash I think this is a piece of, a portion of, the presentation that Dana had talked about. And if this parking tag program is sort of an alternative to or a way to get around entrance fees. In comparison to the other parks, again of same complexity and size, it provides 60 percent of their operational needs. About $3 million that we receive for our campground fee revenues. Park Home Plan Your Visit Backpacking Great Smoky Mountains Backcountry Permits Great Smoky Mountains Backcountry Permits FOR FULL LIST OF CLOSURES/ADVISORIES visit: https://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/temproadclose.htm.
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