It is no small feat to put together a fundraising organization to support the country’s most-visited national park. But when Randall Pope was superintendent of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the need for such a “Friends Group” was critical. We pulled from the archives excerpts from his account of Friends of the Smokies’ origin to share with you.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s budgets during the ten year period 1984-1993 were very limited. The Park lost approximately $200,000 in purchasing power during that time frame. The Park’s maintenance management system was reflecting a deficit in 1993 of approximately $2 million.
We had presented our Park budget problems to the TN Great Smoky Mountains Park Commission. I was approached by one of their members, Dean Stone, about establishing a fund raising organization. Shortly after that, Delmar Dennis of the Pigeon Forge Rotary Club called me aside following one of their meetings and he also encouraged me to start such a group. Both gentlemen were fully aware of the Park’s funding problems.
I had been monitoring the Yosemite National Park’s Friends organization for some time via newspaper clippings forwarded from our Washington office. Results continued to be positive without indication of problems. I had been giving a great deal of thought as to who might be on our board. It was vital to have persons with special and sincere interest in the Park. I considered contacts I had made during the previous six plus years as Superintendent.
I received a phone call requesting a meeting with Gary Wade and Tommy Trotter. They had recently hiked to Mt Cammerer Fire Tower. The structure was in an extremely deteriorated condition. In addition, someone had recently busted all the glass in the building. Gary and Tommy recognized the historic significance of the stone structure and were concerned that we might destroy the rest of the building. I assured them that was not going to happen. However, we did not have funding to repair and stabilize the structure.
They inquired about repair cost and after Chief of Maintenance Bob Wily gave me the estimate, I relayed that information to Gary. Tommy, an architect, offered to prepare plans for stabilization, which he did as a donation. Gary indicated he had an idea for a possible source of funding. Gary always has ideas and his next proposal was to invite all Sevier County business owners to a Special Dinner as a fund raising effort.
Superintendent Pope was limited on time, as he was considering retirement at the end of the year. He first targeted Lindsay Young for the Board of Directors. Pope barely finished his offer to Gary Wade when he agreed. Then came Kathryn McNeil, Steve Woody, James Cooper, Dr. Myron “Barney” Coulter, Mary Williams, Natalie Haslam, Judy Benson, Marion Oates and our Board of Directors was formed.
I arranged for our first meeting Sept. 3, 1993 at Park Headquarters. I called Gary Wade and asked if he would serve as discussion leader at the first meeting following introductions. He agreed and the Board quickly and wisely voted him in as chairman.
Randall R. Pope
Superintendent 1987-93
22 years later, with a full-time staff of nine across two states, our collective efforts have raised more than $50 million for Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Photo by Bruce McCamish