150 Years of National Parks- A Vision Rooted in Romanticism
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 public national parks to protect these wilderness areas form poaching and illegal mining. 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 / cultural 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 individual 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.
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.
Join us in exploring more of the National Parks and National Scenic Byways in the Tennessee River Valley. Subscribe to our newsletter.
Earth Day 2022 Spring Clean-Up Activities Kick Off Early in the Tennessee Valley
Keeping the rivers and reservoirs of the Tennessee Valley is a mission of many grassroot organizations. Each spring, volunteers take to the shorelines and waterways to remove trash that would otherwise continue its journey downriver to the sea.
The winter lake pool months of March and April make it easier for volunteers to walk the banks to collect trash and large items that the summer pool and winter rain events deposit along the shorelines.
To take advantage optimal lake pool conditions, “spring cleaning” season has officially begun in the Tennessee Valley. In late March, the Cherokee Lake Users Group, Norris Lake Project, Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful, and other groups have volunteered thousands of hours to serve on the waterways of the Tennessee Valley.
Of course, the quiet hero of the Tennessee River is TVA. Charged with a mission in 1933 to be good stewards of the lands and waters entrusted to them, TVA has been a tireless partner with grassroots organizations such as the above listed projects across the Valley. Without their generous support, the capacity of these groups would be lessened.
While Earth Day is an annual national event, the work of these grassroot organizations is done year-round. What is most compelling is the story of the individuals who donate their time to serve locally. On an event morning when the volunteers gather, the resulting teams represents a wide range of interests and ages. Some are conservationists; some are sportsmen; some are homeowners living in the watershed; some are business owners, and many are students seeking service hours. What is common to the group is an interest in serving to protect our valuable waterways.
At the end of a day, the camaraderie that is built among these diverse participants is a powerful reminder of the impact of shared experiences in building bridges to understanding.
In honor of Earth Day 2022, “invest” in a local group to volunteer with year-round.
Get Plugged In- EV Charging Stations
We get lots of questions about “plugging in.” In the years of yore, plugging in meant angler friendly hotels that offered plug-ins for battery charging. Today, electric car drivers don’t want to be limited in exploring all that this region has to offer.
Luckily EV charging stations are available metro areas in the region, and the network continues to develop in rural areas in spite of flat sales of electric vehicles in 2020 compared to sales in 2018. (Statista 1/2022) The Tennessee River Valley is home to car manufacturers such as VW which is invested in EV vehicles.
In early 2021, TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) announced a partnership with Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation to bring a statewide network of EV fast charge stations to the state. By summer of 2021, TVA had taken a further step by committing to switch their fleet of vehicles by 2030 to electric.
Having a committed network of partners to increase the number of fast charging stations has continued to grow. EHC (Electric Highway Coalition) has created a network of partners serving twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia, allowing for drivers to enjoy long distance vehicle travel. As a partner member of EHC, TVA has set an aggressive goal of increasing the number of EVs in the Tennessee Valley to 200,000 by 2028. The net goal is to reduce carbon emission and to increase the use of locally produced electricity.
In late December 2021, the network grew even larger when the National Electric Highway Coalition was announced.
Many of the visitors to the Tennessee River Valley travel by vehicle from the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwest regions. The current footprint of the charging stations serves this group well. To find local stations, on your route, click here
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