[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 137 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 137

  Recognizing and commending the people of the Great Smoky Mountains 
National Park on the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the park.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 7, 2009

   Mr. Alexander (for himself, Mr. Burr, Mr. Corker, and Mrs. Hagan) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                            on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Recognizing and commending the people of the Great Smoky Mountains 
National Park on the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the park.

Whereas, in the 1920s, groups of citizens and officials in Western North 
        Carolina and Eastern Tennessee displayed enormous foresight in 
        recognizing the potential benefits of a national park in the Southern 
        Appalachian Mountains;
Whereas the location of the park that became the Great Smoky Mountains National 
        Park was selected from among the finest examples of the most scenic and 
        intact mountain forests in the Southeastern United States;
Whereas the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was the product 
        of more than 2 decades of determined effort by leaders of communities 
        across Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee;
Whereas the State legislatures and Governors of North Carolina and Tennessee 
        exercised great vision in appropriating the funding that was used, along 
        with funding from the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Fund, to 
        purchase more than 400,000 acres of private land that became part of the 
        Great Smoky Mountains National Park;
Whereas the citizens of communities surrounding the Great Smoky Mountains 
        National Park generously contributed funding for land acquisition to 
        bring the Great Smoky Mountains National Park into being;
Whereas more than 1,100 families and other property owners were called upon to 
        sacrifice their farms and homes for the benefit and enjoyment of future 
        generations that would visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park;
Whereas the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established as a completed 
        park by the Act entitled ``An Act to establish a minimum area for the 
        Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and for other purposes'', approved 
        June 15, 1934 (16 U.S.C. 403g);
Whereas the Great Smoky Mountains National Park covers approximately 521,621 
        acres of land in the States of Tennessee and North Carolina, making it 
        the largest protected area in the Eastern United States;
Whereas the Great Smoky Mountains National Park provides sanctuary for the most 
        diverse flora and fauna of any national park in the temperate United 
        States, and preserves an unparalleled collection of historic structures 
        as a ``time capsule'' of Appalachian culture during the 19th and early 
        20th centuries;
Whereas, on September 2, 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the 
        Great Smoky Mountains National Park;
Whereas the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has been the most popular 
        national park in the United States since it opened, and attracts between 
        9,000,000 and 10,000,000 visitors each year, making it the most visited 
        of the 58 national parks in the United States; and
Whereas visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park contribute more than 
        $700,000,000 to the local economy each year, resulting in more than 
        14,000 jobs in North Carolina and Tennessee: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) commends the citizens of Western North Carolina and 
        Eastern Tennessee for their vision and sacrifice;
            (2) commends the people of the Great Smoky Mountains 
        National Park and the National Park Service for 75 years of 
        successful management and preservation of the park land;
            (3) congratulates the people of the Great Smoky Mountains 
        National Park on the 75th anniversary of the park; and
            (4) requests the Secretary of the Senate to transmit an 
        enrolled copy of this resolution for appropriate display to the 
        headquarters of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
                                 <all>