This Land, Your Land

Visitation to Great Smoky Mountains National Park fell by 4.8 percent from the previous year to just top 9 million in 2011, the Knoxville News Sentinel said today.

A years long decrease in camping at "frontcountry," or developed, campgrounds also continued.

Overall park visitation for 2011 was 9,008,831, down from 2010's tally of 9,463,538 visitors. A surge in visits during a mild December - 37.7 percent more than the last month of 2010 - kept the count from falling below 9 million, the newspaper's report says.

Park officials told the newspaper that visits to the Great Smokies may have risen in 2010 as vacationers avoided the Gulf after the BP oil spill, and then fallen last year after the spill had been cleaned up.

In reflection of a national trend, use of frontcountry campgrounds in the park has fallen 33 percent since 1995, plunging to 277,000 camper nights last year from 416,000 camper nights 16 years ago.

But the park's 90,444 backcountry camper nights in 2011 represented an increase from the 79,480 backcountry camper nights recorded in 2010.

The 800-square-mile park, which sits between Cherokee at its main North Carolina entrance and Gatlinburg at its main Tennessee entrance, is still the top national park for economic impact, the newspaper said.

Visits to Great Smoky Mountains National Park peaked at just over 10 million in 1999 and 2000, the News Sentinel said.

The News & Observer reported today that new rules about driving on the beach at Cape Hatteras National Seashore to be released Monday will set permit fees at $90 to $150 for an annual pass and between $30 and $50 for a seven-day permit.

A 2008 consent decree requires the National Park Service to limit driving on the beach at Hatteras to times that do not conflict with nesting and spawning seasons for endangered species. The agreement, which settles a lawsuit brought by various environmental groups, also closes pedestrian access to specific areas of the seashore for bird breeding season from mid-March to mid- to late-August and for turtle nesting until early November.

Weekly closure notices are available each Thursday in season at www.nps.gov/caha/parknews/newsreleases.htm.

Most drivers taking vehicles out onto the beach at Hatteras are fishermen, a park spokesman told The N&O.

In addition to buying a permit for each vehicle you want to take out to the beach beginning February 15, "permit holders will be required to watch an instructional video," The N&O says.

The Park Service will update maps and provide other information about obtaining permits at www.nps.gov/caha in the coming weeks, according to the newspaper.

The N&O's Crosstown Traffic blog has a .pdf of the 82-page NPS final rule designating off-road vehicle routes and authorizing limited ORV use within the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

The National Park Service has confirmed that work to refurbish the Bodie Island Lighthouse will resume next month with completion anticipated in October.

Work was suspended last spring after the Park Service concluded it did not have the money to repair the extent of damage discovered after work had begun the previous year.

But this week's announcement of a $1.89 million contract award confirms Outer Banks Group Deputy Superintendent Darrell Echols' statement to the Outer Banks Voice newspaper in December that funds had been secured.

The work is to include the following renovations:

  * Restore deteriorated metal.
  * Restore components on the lantern level (support beams, masonry, railing/ladder).
  * Replace galley cornice segments.
  * Paint interior and exterior masonry.
  * Replace windows and glass on lantern level.
  * Paint all newly installed metals/wood.
  * Install fire suppression system and rehabilitate electrical power.
  * Install stair strengtheners.

The existing lighthouse, which stands near Oregon Inlet on Cape Hatteras National Seashore, is actually the third Bodie Island Lighthouse, each of which has had a troubled history.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy and the National Park Service have created an interactive map of the AT based on Google maps, that shows a variety of trail features.

In addition to Google's standard map, satellite and map/satellite viewing mode, the ATC's map - which includes the rest of the globe - can be viewed as a terrain map and as a USGS topography map. (Topo information is confined to the U.S.)

With a click of the mouse, users can bring up trail shelter locations, which with another click include a photo, capacity and amenities; plus parking and scenic vistas, which also include photos.

There are about 300 miles of the 2,181-mile Appalachian National Scenic Trail in North Carolina or along the North Carolina/Tennessee border.

Unlike Google maps, the ATC map does not readily create emailable links or code for embedding portions of the map.

"While useful, this map is for general reference purposes only and not intended to replace the more comprehensive and accurate A.T. printed hiking maps, available from the ATC's Ultimate Trail Store," the ATC says.

A years-long project to rehabilitate Appalachian Trail shelters in Great Smoky Mountains National Park has concluded with the completion of shelter reconstruction at Laurel Gap, the various groups involved report.

The Laurel Gap shelter, near the intersection of the Sterling Ridge and Balsam Mountain trails, is the 15th AT shelter rehabbed since 1999, according to The Daily Times in Maryville, Tennessee.

The Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club provided money and labor for the project over the years.

The project provided the shelters with improved natural lighting, a cooking area to separate food odors from the sleeping space, improved bunk access, new roofs and masonry repair, the removal of chain-link fences, and drainage improvements, the newspaper said.

More than 250 three-walled shelters are spaced about a day's hike apart from one another on the Appalachian Trail. In Great Smoky Mountains National Park, AT hikers are required to camp in the shelters.

The ATC points out that "shelters can be grimy and rodent-infested when hikers don't clean up after themselves, and they may be crowded." On the other hand, "shelters are the best places to stay dry in wet weather, ... they are often a good place to meet and talk with other hikers, and most have privies and water sources nearby. But ... more importantly, staying at shelters reduces hiker impact on the Trail environment."

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy is seeking grant proposals for up to $5,000 in funding for a broad range of AT-related projects.

The ATC says in a news release that proceeds from North Carolina Appalachian Trail specialty license plate sales have brought in about $135,000 this year, of which $35,000 is to be dispersed through grants in 2012.

Ten individuals and partner organizations won grants this year.

Proposals will be considered for "physical projects" on the Appalachian National Scenic Trail and its facilities; major public-service projects; enhancement of trail clubs’ long-term AT management abilities; natural heritage and environmental monitoring; education and outreach; and the ATC community partnerships. Grant funds must be spent in North Carolina.

Proposals are due by February 17.

The AT-specialty license plates cost $30 ($60 if personalized), and $20 from each sale reverts to the ATC.

Scroll down on the license plate page for grant application information.

The Blue Ridge Parkway will continue to accommodate bicycles and other modes of transportation as it maps out a management plan for the next two decades, the park said in a statement released Monday.

Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine suggested in an article December 8 that the draft management plan's statement that the Parkway would be "actively managed as a traditional, self-contained, scenic recreational driving experience" meant bicyclists might eventually be banned from the Parkway.

"There is nothing in the General Management Plan Preferred Alternative that precludes any existing uses from continuing, or precludes the consideration of new uses," the Parkway's statement says. "There are many activities that occur on the Parkway - hiking, horseback riding, motorcycle use, running, bird watching - such uses are allowed where appropriate given resource protection and safety concerns. All uses of the Parkway motor road are currently and will continue to be managed under federal laws and National Park Service policies."

The National Park Service released a draft of the proposed management plan for public comment in October. Comments were due by December 16.

This week's statement also says the Parkway's eligibility for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places (an objective of the management plan) is in part due to its serving as an example of rural parkway design. This requires maintenance of "the design and spatial relationship of the travel lanes, grass shoulders, paved ditches, and cut and fill slopes," which is apparently an oblique reference to bicycle lanes and an attempt to cut off consideration of them.

Blue Ridge Outdoors, in a December 12 post, maintains the Parkway's plan is bad for bicyclists. "By placing their management focus exclusively on driving, they can make management decisions such as restricting cyclists during summer months or certain times of day," it says. "They can also close certain sections of the Parkway to cyclists (and runners, hikers, and other outdoor enthusiasts)."

Work on the Bodie Island Lighthouse at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, which was halted in March, could resume soon, according to a report in The Outer Banks Voice.

National Park Service Outer Banks Group Deputy Superintendent Darrell Echols told the newspaper that funding for repairs to the lighthouse has been secured and a contract to continue the restoration could be signed in a matter of weeks.

A $3.09 million project to refurbish the lighthouse that began in December 2009 was halted in January 2010 when damage that exceeded expectations was discovered. After an extra $1.6 million couldn't be found, the project was shelved in March 2011.

The newspaper's report, which focuses on protection of the tower as it sits open to the elements, provides no other details, but Echols said an announcement on the particulars would be made soon.

Delayed work on the Bodie Island Lighthouse, below, could resume soon.

A proposal to manage the Blue Ridge Parkway as a "traditional driving experience" means bicyclists may be banned from the scenic roadway, according to Blue Ridge Outdoors.

The phrase is from a proposed management plan for the 469-mile drive and the recreation sites along it. A draft of the plan was released for public comment in October, with comments due by December 16.

"The Blue Ridge Parkway’s newly released draft management plan could limit cycling on the Parkway," Blue Ridge Outdoors says in a December 8 report. "The draft plan focuses exclusively on the Parkway being 'actively managed as a traditional, self-contained, scenic recreational driving experience.'"

The National Park Service said in October it favored the alternative of three proposals that "emphasizes the original Parkway design and traditional driving experience." The preferred alternative would accommodate "a wider range of trail-based recreational activities."

"Recreational opportunities would focus on the outdoors and include organized group programs, self-guiding interpretation, nature observation, picnicking, hiking, backpacking, viewing natural and cultural resources, photography, exploring, and backcountry camping," the management plan report says.

The magazine's report supplies pro-cycling replies that interested parties can submit through a National Park Service web page collecting public comments on the plan.

Rental cabins at Cape Lookout National Seashore can now be reserved online, the National Park Service announced Monday.

The 20 cabins at Long Point Cabin Camp on North Core Banks and the 25 cabins at Great Island Cabin Camp on south Core Banks are available from March 16 to November 30 next year. Reservations open at 10 a.m. January 5 through the federal recreation.gov service.

Park Superintendent Pat Kenney says in a news release the move to recreation.gov is in response to input from visitors about the current telephone-based reservation system.

Recreation.gov is the federal government's central reservation system for thousands of recreation sites. It requires upfront payment through a credit card and charges a fee for a cancellation.