It is my last day here at the park, so I want to tell you the history behind this park. The Great Smoky Mountains Park was created to preserve the wildlife. Many people were grazing their sheep and destroying the grass, over-fishing so some fish population declined dramatically, cut down tons of trees, raising more cattle and farming then the land can handle, and hunting endangered or threatened species. After the park was established in 1940, human environment interaction was drastically limited to only minimal fishing and farming. After the long road it took, it is now the most popular park in the whole US with over 10 million visitors each year!
Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicating the park on September 2, 1940
The Great Smoky Mountains national park during fall
