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Watching those entrusted with the care of our public lands

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Established in 2011 in response to the proposed backcountry fee in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Our primary purpose is to stop this illegal backcountry tax in its tracks.  We are a non profit organization recognized by the State of Tennessee with pending 501 c-3 status 
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Smokies Smokescreen means entrance fee for backpackers  Lawsuit Filed 3/02/13

This is an entrance Fee.

Smokies land was donated by private entities and the US govt. Native Tennesseans and North Carolinians were kicked out of their homes and land to create a public area. We give Superintendent Ditmanson 20.3 million tax dollars annually. Last year conferred another 64 million EXTRA stimulus tax dollars to build roads and fix horse trails, now he wants to take more of our money to increase his staff. Isn't that what tax dollars are for in the first place, to support the park? He blew through what amounts to 3 times his annual budget with no mention of any "backcountry" issues with backpackers. The good ole Smokies 911 Scheme: Tell the public there is a security issue and they will gladly open their wallets. Tennesseans have always been a shrewd bunch. That's why the Tennessee legislature placed a deed restriction on Newfound Gap road before ceding it to the Park Service stipulating that there could never be a toll on this road. Once enacted, this tax on backpackers will, like most toll roads only increase over time. It is a foot in the door for other entrance fees. First backpackers, then horses, hikers and automobiles.  See the actual deed here.

 

Sign the Petition to Repeal this Tax

We need your assistance to fight the feds in court.  Can you spare some coin to keep the Smokies free as it was intended?

Johnny Molloy, noted Smokies backpacker, author and Southern Forest Watch member, has this to say about the fee, "That Great Smoky Mountains National Park does not charge an entrance fee is a point of pride for this native Tennessean. And that the park shall remain “forever free”, means forever free and not until park personnel decide they need money for something. Why don't they put quarter slots on the bathroom doors at park visitor centers? How about a fee for bicycling Cades Cove? How about a fee for entering an historic building? We know the answer. The public would become outraged. Instead, they are targeting backcountry users because they can; the permitting system provides the venue for general revenue generation."

Read the article Molloy wrote opposing this backcountry tax

 

 

 
 
 
 

We support additional wilderness designation for CNF and the work done by Wildsouth.

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No one is more synonymous with fly fishing in the Smokies than North Carolina Resident and retired Professor, Dr. Jim Casada. Casada's book, Fly Fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park: An Insider's Guide to a Pursuit of Passion has long been considered the bible for Smokies anglers and his work with the Smoky Mountain Field School underscores his lifelong love of the Park. As a noted outdoor writer with books too numerous to mention Casada was first to call out the Sugarlands for their “solution in search of a problem” Jim's work to expose the hypocrisy of this absurd and unfair fee proposal continues on a daily basis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

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