Citizens group ready to help Big South Fork
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What ruins the picture for Greg Love are the boarded windows and the “No Trespassing” signs tacked to the doors.
“This is the most intact farmstead in the Big South Fork, and the Park Service can barely afford to maintain it,” Love said. “It’s a fine piece of history, but what good does it do if the buildings are all boarded up?”
Love is president of Friends of the Big South Fork, a nonprofit group that wants to help the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area much as Friends of the Smokies has helped the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
An Oneida businessman, Love admits that he and his new 14-member board of directors have their work cut out for them. The Big South Fork’s maintenance backlog stands at $20 million, and at one point this year the park faced a $70,000 shortfall in its $3.5 million operating budget.
These funding woes were brought home last winter when the park announced it would close the swimming pool at Bandy Creek Campground while it sought funding to pay for lifeguards and replace outdated equipment. Since then, park managers say they have secured $40,000 from the regional office, enough for the pool to reopen in the summer of 2005 but not enough to cover its continued operation.
On the staffing front, the Big South Fork won’t be able to hire any seasonal employees this summer to help with visitor information and maintenance.
According to a recent report by the National Parks Conservation Association, the operating budget of the National Park Service, adjusted for current dollars, has dropped about 20 percent over the past 25 years.
Big South Fork spokesman Steve Seven said parks all across the country are trying to come up with creative ways to solve their funding problems.
“It’s affecting parks big and small,” Seven said. “There’s the sense that we’re going to have to adapt to the situation, and partnering with outside groups is a good way to do that.”
Love said he believes the Big South Fork, which turns 20 years old this year, is at a crossroads.
“When visitors see rusted campfire grills and paint peeling off picnic shelters, that reflects poorly on the park and the surrounding region,” he said. “The park service has been able to patch things here and there, but it’s time for a major overhaul.”
Love said former U.S. Sen. Howard Baker, a Huntsville native and strong supporter of the Big South Fork, has promised to work closely with the Friends of the Big South Fork after his term as the U.S. ambassador to Japan expires.
Located on the Cumberland Plateau northwest of Knoxville, the Big South Fork covers 116,000 acres in Tennessee and Kentucky and attracts about 850,000 visitors a year. Love said in addition to raising money for the park, the friends group wants to help smooth the prickly relationship that sometimes exists between the Big South Fork and surrounding communities.
He said communication between the Big South Fork and local citizens is especially important now that the park is in the midst of developing its first long term management plan.
“Our board will serve as a conduit between the park and the local people,” Love said. “Instead of complaining, we’ll bring our problems to the table.”
Love said his organization is building momentum behind the message that the welfare of the park and the welfare of the surrounding region are interrelated.
“We can’t take another industry leaving this area,” Love said. “Tourism is sustainable income, and we need to diversify. This isn’t Dollywood. This is the real heart of Appalachia. We have a story to tell, and we need to tell it.”
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On the Net:
Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area: http://www.nps.gov/biso/