Monday

Re: Monday

I maybe blowing smoke on this one. I can't see the horizon for the haze.

John

Re: Monday

Uhh...Death Valley? ;-)

T.

Re: Monday

Celebrating its 75th Anniversary this year?

Fred

Under clear skies in Eastern Missouri

Re: Monday

I'd think the largest species of trees would be in the eastern US. Would tend to guess that John's answer is correct. Think I'll go climb a mountain and have a smoke. Thanks for the question.

Re: Monday

I'm with John & Dale. Might be a nice drive too.

Re: Monday

I know that I am probably wrong, but I will give you the reasoning for my choice. I am going to go with Olympic National Park by Seattle. My wife and I went there several years ago. It has both the coniferous trees you would expect, but in the Ho Rainforest which is part of Olympic National Park, it has deciduous trees. My wife and I had always been tree hugger types and stayed overnight in Shelton, Washington. The lady at the hotel asked if we were there for the festivities which ended up being a parade (including the Miss Lumberjack or something like that) and a timbersports show. As much as they talk about wood as a renewable resouce and back it up with how many of acres of trees they replanted we came away with a much better view of the logging industry. I am sure there are still irresponsible loggers out there, but they weren't in Shelton, Wa.

Re: Monday answer. Early day

John gets the large gold star for being first correct today. Dale and Don get smaller ones for also being correct.

The answer is the Great Smoky National Park.

Gross Area Acres - 521,621.15

First conceived in 1923, it had to battle the timber and other natural resource lobbies to say nothing of the numerous formerly legitimate land holding Cherokees, who took to the woods to avoid the �Trail of Tears�, and also the fiercely independent, isolated mountain folk who (after Civil War incidents from both sides) wanted no part of any Fedral Gobment. Actually it took the Rockefeller family to secretly buy much of the land even after both Tennessee and North Carolina donated two million dollars apiece in 1936 dollars to accumulate the required number of acres to qualify as a National Park. Because of the political situation, lobbyists, and local opposition it didn�t become one until 1940.

It wasn�t too soon. From 1900 to 1940, and especially from 1936 to a little after 1940, 67% of the old growth timber both in and near the eventual park boundaries was clear cut. This took place even after a moratorium was in place for timber cutting on anticipated and private "park" land, but ignored by locals who needed the jobs. Tourism and preservation of the land for the future took a poor second to wages for clear cutting "today". This attitude is not so awfully dissimilar to current mountain top removal in exchange for coal energy jobs.

Great Smoky is the perfect location and elevations for plant growth�neither too hot nor too cold�right in several climate zones. Five forest types dominate the Great Smoky Mountains. Together these forests sport more than 130 species of trees, and 4,000 other plant species. They represent all the major forest types along eastern North America. As elevation increases within the park, temperature decreases and precipitation increases. There each 1,000 feet of elevation gained is the equivalent of moving 250 miles north. The additional precipitation classifies small sections of the Park as a rainforest.

The wispy, smoke-like fog that hangs over the Smoky Mountains comes not from past or current pollution but from rain and evaporation from trees. On the high peaks of the Smokies, an average of 85 inches of rain falls each year, qualifying these upper elevation areas as temperate rain forests. (I always thought it was a preserved place named Smoky owing to real smoke from some historical fire or weather pattern but I thought wrong.) Today, even with acid rain problems, and naturally acidic geology it may be one of the "cleanest" parks around.

Checklists are available for trees (and shrubs) through the National Park Service, Great Smoky Mountains. If you need a trip and are within driving distance the Autumns there are spectacular.

Re: Monday answer. Early day

My family and I made a trip to this park last April, and they were making a big fuss about it being the 75th Anniversary of the Park. The literature they handed out at the time mentioned the diversity of trees and other flora within the park.

We took a pleasant drive around the Cades Cove Loop Road and saw all kinds of wildlife, as well as quite a variety of the trees in the park, but by no means all of them. It made for an excellant day-trip.

Fred

Still clear in Eastern Missouri

Frederick,

if you were there, and you were told 75th anniversary then a gold star is yours also. At your answer I did look up the Parks dates, but none of the dates matched 75. The original idea for a Smokies National Park came in 1923. Actual fund-raising began in 1925. A bill to authorize and protect the area as a park was passed in 1926, but came with strict stipulations that a minimum of 300,000 acres be acquired and minimum commitments in funds be obtained. North Carolina supporters, who had held out for a national park strictly in North Carolina, finally came around for a shared border to a park and their legislature appropriated $2 million in 1927�but only if Tennessee matched it. Not to be outdone, Tennessee�s legislature appropriated $2 million the same year.

When it became clear that the funds appropriated and subscribed to that point was not nearly enough, Arno Cammerer of the National Park Service and Colonel David C. Chapman of Knoxville, convinced John D. Rockefeller Jr. to make a gift to ensure the success of the effort. The philanthropic Rockefeller family was known to be sympathetic to national park causes (having contributed to the success of others) made a gift of $5 million to the effort, but only on the stipulation that it would be matching funds. To get the full $5 million, the states and park commission would have to come up with $5 million of their own.

With funds committed, 1929 was spent trying to get landowners to sell. This was a daunting task, because even though timber companies were the largest landowners, there were many other owners with very small tracts to obtain�over 6,000 in all. Many were descendants of original settlers, some simply loved their homes and didn�t want to move under any circumstances, and a few were big business interests such as the Little River Lumber Company and the Champion Fiber Company (the single largest owner) who held out for as much as they could. So in 1930, condemnation suits began. States had the right to "condemn" property for higher use. It wasn�t until 1931 that the Champion suit was settled. The Little River Lumber Company would settle too, but continued cutting timber for 7 more years. In June 1931 the Park�s first superintendent (Major J. Ross Eakin) and rangers reported for duty. The purchase of smaller tracts of land continued through 1932 (and would not be completed until 1939). In 1935, Franklin D. Roosevelt allotted more than $1.5 more based on new estimates of funds required to purchase lands. In 1936,the minimum number of acres was acquired to officially qualify for park development. Finally, 17 years after the initial idea, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was dedicated at Newfound Gap, which sits on the borders of Tennessee and North Carolina. Half on each state�s boundary, a plaque memorializing the Rockefeller Foundation gift was placed�a memorial to the single most important financial accomplishment in developing the Park.

As to 75 years. With a more extensive search I found Congress legislatively established the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on 15 June 1934, and turned its stewardship to the National Park Service. The park was "open". The authorization wasn't approved until signed by President Roosevelt Sept 2, 1940. If Park Officials said 75th anniversary using the 1934 date then you and they were correct. Congrats.

The Cherokee name for the area, Sha-co-na-qe, means "place of blue smoke. ...