Evergreen Ball Reaches New Heights - Friends of the Smokies

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Needs and Opportunities for 2006 You’ll find it all here – hemlocks, school programs, historic buildings, black bears, trail projects, a recycling trailer, Student Conservation Association interns, wayside exhibits, volunteer support, and so much more. It’s also individual memberships, foundation grants, corporate donations, memorial gifts, specialty license plate proceeds, and pennies, nickels, dimes, and dollars from donation boxes. However you look at it, the list adds up to more than $1 million for conservation, education, and other park priorities. Thank you for making it all possible! Natural Resource Preservation and Management • Help suppress the invasion of the hemlock woolly adelgid - $136,000 • Monitor acid deposition effects on streams - $105,000 • Provide continuing support for the Smokies’All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory - $59,500 • Provide additional support for the Lindsay Young Beneficial Insects Laboratory at UT-Knoxville - $50,000 • Support park wildlife programs - $19,100 • Support the conservation and education programs of the Appalachian Bear Center - $10,000 • Improve storage and display of the park’s passenger pigeon specimen - $5,500 • Support a summer intern for the park’s fisheries program - $3,600 • Support the park’s feral hog eradication program - $2,500 • Maintain Fraser fir restoration plots at Purchase Knob - $2,000 • Support research on peregrine falcons and grassland birds - $1,200 Educational and Visitor Services • Support Parks as Classrooms in Tennessee and North Carolina - $110,000 • Support seasonal resource education programs - $75,900 • Support educational programs at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont - $67,500 • Support Parks as Classrooms programs and high school science internships at the Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center - $52,200 • Provide seasonal support at park visitor centers - $35,000 • Support enrichment programs for North Carolina science teachers - $34,576 • Revise and expand the Junior Ranger program - $7,500 • Support the 56 th annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage - $4,000 Cultural Resource Preservation • Restore historic fences in Cades Cove - $25,000 • Support historic preservation projects - $25,000 • Support emergency stabilization of the Elijah Oliver cabin in Cades Cove - $5,000 • Re-publish booklet on historic buildings - $1,786 Trail and Backcountry Management • Support backcountry trails programs, including the Appalachian Trail Ridgerunners and the Rocky Top Trail Crew - $34,000 • Install new wayside exhibits along Newfound Gap Road - $20,000 • Renovate the Cosby Knob Shelter - $11,000 • Make improvements to the trail to Cataract Falls - $6,000 • Maintain cabling for bear-proof food storage at backcountry camp sites - $4,000 • Support the installation of new signage on the Oconaluftee River Trail - $1,000 • Support ‘Leave No Trace’ educational programs - $800 Frontcountry and Facility Improvements • Provide operational support for the Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center - $25,500 • Purchase and promote use of a new recycling trailer for the South District - $8,800 • Provide temporary sanitary facilities in Cataloochee Valley - $5,100 • Provide temporary sanitary facilities at the Townsend Wye - $5,000 Visitor and Resource Protection • Provide support for an officer safety initiative - $25,000 • Support the Volunteer Visitor Assistance Program - $4,000 • Support search-and-rescue efforts - $1,550 Parkwide Needs and Initiatives • Support the Student Conservation Association internship program - $93,900 • Support the Volunteers-in-Parks (VIP) Program - $4,650 • Support park partnerships - $4,000 Total for 2006 = $1,092,162 If you are interested in making a specific gift to support one of the projects listed above, please contact George Ivey, Director of Development, at georgeiv@bellsouth.net or (828) 452-0720. 4 the Newsletter of Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park Vol 11. No 1
P R O J E C T U P D A T E S Friends of the Smokies will provide $186,000 in 2006 to support ongoing efforts to control the hemlock woolly adelgid (ah-DEL-jid) in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Thanks to the Aslan Foundation and many other donors, the Lindsay Young Beneficial Insects Laboratory at UT-Knoxville has been greatly expanded in order to raise more predator beetles to eat the harmful adelgids. As a result, predator beetle production at the lab increased from 35,533 beetles in 2004 to 77,083 beetles and 40,514 eggs in 2005. In turn, the park increased its beetle and egg releases in the Smokies from 14 locations in 2004 to 46 locations in 2005. In the meantime, Friends of the Smokies continues to support additional on-the-ground work to save the hemlock forests of the Smokies, including a dedicated work crew, supplies, and materials to support both chemical and biological treatments. We are grateful to all of our donors for making these efforts possible! Thanks to many generous donors, local students in Kindergarten through 8 th grades will continue to enjoy the park’s curriculum-based Parks as Classrooms programs. In addition to the $10,000 gift from the Richard Haiman National Park Foundation (see article on page 3), the Parks as Classrooms program received $2,500 from the Duke Energy Foundation, as well as $5,000 from CitiFinancial Auto to support teacher workshops based on the Parks as Classrooms programs. Also, on December 4 th , 2005, Geoff and Pat Wolpert and The Park Grill in Gatlinburg hosted more than 175 people for their annual Taste of the Grill event to benefit the Parks as Classrooms program. The event also served as a farewell party for Louise Mandrell, who sold her theater at year’s end to return to Middle Tennessee. The event raised more than $11,000 for Parks as Classrooms. Friends of the Smokies offers its sincere thanks to everyone who has supported these educational programs for local school children! On Wednesday, February 1, 2006, Great Smoky Mountains National Park held a groundbreaking ceremony to officially begin construction of the new Twin Creeks Science and Education Center, which will be located just south of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Thanks in large part to a significant gift from Wilma Maples of Gatlinburg, Friends of the Smokies has provided $285,000 to support this new $3,925,000 facility. “The long-planned center will allow us to more efficiently manage our research, science, and monitoring activities, which have grown significantly over the years,” said Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson. Innovative design strategies will also make this facility a model for “green” building technology. The 15,000-square-foot center will feature minimal site disturbance, reuse of cultivated materials, day-lighting, and natural storm water management. Energy-efficient and recycled materials, along with low-flow plumbing, will also be utilized. This facility is the first major new building being constructed in the park since the 1960s. © Don McGowan © Don McGowan NPS | Spring 2006 5
Page 1 and 2: © Don McGowan January 21 st marked
Page 3: Board of Directors Gary R. Wade •
Page 7 and 8: Events and Volunteer Opportunities

Evergreen Ball Reaches New Heights - Friends of the Smokies

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