region with a view to selecting a national park and that sufficient funds be appropriated to carry on this work. On January 27, 1925, Representative Temple introduced a bill in the House, and Senator Swanson in the Senate, to provide for securing lands in the southern Appalachian Mountains and the Mammoth Cave region of Kentucky for perpetual preservation as national parks. This bill passed the Senate February 12 and the House February 16, and was approved by the President February 21, 1925. (Public No. 437, 68th Cong.) It reads as follows: An Act To provide for the securing of lands in the southern Appalachian Mountains and in the Mammoth Cave regions of Kentucky for perpetual preservation as national parks Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to determine the boundaries and area of such portion of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia lying east of the South Fork of the Shenandoah River and between Front Royal on the north and Waynesboro on the south as may be recommended by him to be acquired and administered as a national park, to be known as the Shenandoah National Park, and such portion of the Smoky Mountains lying in Tennessee and North Carolina as may be recommended by him to be acquired and administered as a national park, to be known as the Smoky Mountains National Park, and in the Mammoth Cave regions of Kentucky and also such other lands in the southern Appalachian Mountains as in his judgment should be acquired and administered as national parks, and to receive definite offers of donations of lands and moneys, and to secure such options as in his judgment may be considered reasonable and just for the purchase of lands within said boundaries, and to report to Congress thereon: Provided, That the Secretary of the Interior may, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act, appoint a commission of five members, composed of a representative of the Interior Department and four national park experts, said four members to serve without compensation. SEC. 2. A sum sufficient to secure options and to pay the necessary expenses of the commission in carrying out the provisions of this Act, including the salary of one clerk to the commission at a rate not to exceed $2,000 per annum, necessary traveling expenses of the members of the commission, and $10 per diem in lieu of actual cost of subsistence, in all not to exceed $20,000, is hereby authorized to be appropriated. Immediately after the passage of this bill Secretary Work appointed all the members who had served on his informal committee previously, again designating Representative Temple as chairman. Miss E. Louise Belcher was appointed as clerk to the commission. She was later succeeded, upon her resignation on October 31, 1929, by Mrs. Dorothea H. Erbach, of the National Park Service. Chairman Temple called a meeting of the commission for March 5, 1925. At this meeting Mr. William C. Gregg was elected vice chairman, and Col. Glenn S. Smith was again elected secretary. On March 7, 1925, the Northern Virginia Park Association held a banquet at the City Club, Washington, D. C., in celebration of the passage of the bill authorizing the selection of a national park site in the Blue Ridge region. The honor guests present were Representative Temple, Major Welch, and Colonel Smith, members of the Southern Appalachian National Park Commission; Director Mather, of the National Park Service; Senators Swanson and Glass and Representative Harrison, of Virginia; Mr. Helmer H. Bryn, minister from Norway; Colonel Bell, engineer, District Commissioner; Representative Abernethy, of North Carolina; and Robert Sterling Yard, secretary of the National Parks Association. The chairman called a meeting of the commission for April 28, 1925. All the members were present except Mr. Kelsey. It was agreed that the commission should visit the Mammoth Cave area May 21, 22, and 23, and that as many of the members as possible would arrange to attend the fifth annual conference on State parks to be held at Skyland, Va., May 25 to 28, inclusive. Secretary Work accepted an invitation to be present at this conference. This constituted his first visit to any of the sites proposed for national parks by the Southern Appalachian National Park Commission. The commission arrived at Louisville on May 21 and were met at the train by members of the entertainment committee of the Mammoth Cave National Park Association. The commission was given an informal luncheon at the Pendergrass Club by this association, after which they were taken about the city. They were entertained at dinner at the Brown Hotel by the Louisville Automobile Club. Several hundred guests were present at this dinner, including Hon. William J. Fields, Governor of Kentucky; Congressman M. H. Thatcher, of the Louisville district; Edward S. Jouett, vice president and general counsel of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Co.; and members of the Mammoth Cave National Park Association. On May 22 the commission was taken to Cave City, from which they were taken in automobiles to visit the area proposed for a national park and the numerous caves lying within the area. That evening a dinner was given to the commission at the hotel in Cave City. The next day the commission continued their investigation, including a trip on the Green River. After the completion of this investigation they returned to Louisville and left for Washington. On May 25 Secretary Work, accompanied by Colonel Smith, attended the fifth national conference on State parks at Skyland, where Major Welch and Mr. Gregg were already in attendance. The Secretary addressed the conference as follows: Man's ingenuity has led him into many diverse lines of thought. One of the most remarkable products of his mathematical mind was the discovery of the chronological cycles. These cycles are based on the recurrence of the same astronomical event after the lapse of a regular period of years. They cause us to realize that our universe is laid out according to a definite plan and help establish our faith and respect for the Architect. In the most obvious operations of nature we also see this idea of the cycle manifested, as in the ebb and flow of the tide, the seasonal changes, and the budding and falling of the leaves. Man, in his small way, also finds himself running around in circles. The cycle of man's life is easy to follow and was well expressed by the great writer who said that time's glory is to show the grandmother daughters of her daughter, to make the child a man and the man a child. In our study of man's composite existence, as written in history, we find civilizations rising in splendor from out of the shadow, only to dissolve into the nothingness from whence they came, after completing their cycle of existence. Ruins are superimposed upon ruins, and all are now covered by the dust of the ages. This brings to mind a side light on one of the influences which may be remotely responsible for this meeting here to-day. I wonder whether the great outdoor movement now sweeping the country is not after all only the operation of the law of cycles. One of the earliest impulses of man is his instinct for shelter. Long before written history humanity was struggling for protection from the elements, and this instinct, from necessity becoming spontaneous in its inception, has continued down through the years till now. It is second only to food in the struggle for self-preservation and contributing to comfortable existence. Primitive man must have been decimated in large numbers by the fury of the elements before he learned to build houses for himself, and it took him thousands of years to attain even the most modest structures compared to those we now call homes. The early colonists in Virginia, when they transformed the wilderness into civilized communities, responded to the same instinct as primitive man and in a degree repeated his struggle for shelter. We all remember the accounts of their hardships and the efforts of their vigorous leader, Capt. John Smith, to persuade them of the necessity to labor with their hands if they would lift themselves out of their predicament. Those first log cabins have since moldered, and in their place have arisen more modern structures. We have gradually established an artificial life dependent upon the indoors, until now to complete the cycle we are turning back to the simpler pleasures found in the woods, in contact with nature. There is no action without reaction. It may be the urge of the returning cycle that is drawing our people from the conveniences of modern homes, which it has taken so long to design and build, to the more natural surroundings of the outdoors. Residents of modern palaces sleep out on the porch and our American Indians refuse to sleep in houses built for them. It may be the call of the primitive in us rebelling against the hothouse existence to which we have become accustomed; it may be the instinct of self-preservation working to insure the survival of the species by the disciplinary effect of resistance to the elements, sometimes seen in those who go out to walk in a storm; or it may be only an effort to add variety to our daily round. But whatever may be the immediate cause of this outdoor movement, back of it all may be the operation of another phase of the cycle of existence. We are attempting after a fashion to complete a cycle begun by the forebears of those in this region who struggled to overcome the forests and wild life we now seek to conserve. And here in the Blue Ridge of Virginia, in the very heart of civilized America, lies preserved for our use a bit of nature that is identical with the virgin territory found by Capt. John Smith and his heroic followers. Its very inaccessibility has kept it intact, and in the hurried distractions of modern life your forefathers have not had the time to conquer this wilderness, which is one of the few remaining in the East. It is now, I hope, to be dedicated to the encouragement of our instinctive tendency to return to nature and the outdoors. The whole national-park movement is based on this desire of man to commune with nature. More than a million and a half people last year visited the 19 national parks and 32 national monuments guarded by the Department of the Interior. The geysers and buffalo of Yellowstone, the gorges of Grand Canyon, the giant trees of Sequoia, the glaciers of Mount Rainier, the falls of Yosemite, the prehistoric dwellings of Mesa Verde, the living volcano of Lassen Peak, and the petrified forests of Arizona have attracted millions of people and will continue to draw them westward in the years to come. It is time that other primeval spots in the East containing similar natural wonders be preserved for the benefit of this densely populated section. The opportunity for State participation in reserving smaller areas for park purposes has developed from the growing popularity of the national parks. Director Mather's slogan, “A State park every hundred miles," has spread like a contagion. It would permit the motorist traveling across the country primarily to visit the national parks to break his journey in a State park about every day's drive. The idea in the minds of many of us is that the National Park Service by the maintenance of large areas in appropriate sections should form the backbone of an interstate park chain of which State parks would form links. Some of the smaller national parks and national monuments should revert to State control and become State pride. This plan should include the taking over by them of limited areas of a few hundred square miles or less suitable for park purposes. There are small areas-for example, the internationally known Cumberland Gap, the Carlsbad Cave in New Mexico, all potential, each of absorbing interest to the naturalist and financial assets to States of great possibilities-that might well be developed by the States in line with this policy. But scenic attractions are not sufficient to bring people to a State in large numbers if highways remain unimproved. This has been the experience of the West, and it will be the experience of the East if the park system is to be extended. Many States in the West long ago realized the financial returns from good roads as feeders for the national parks, and we now have a chain of highways that enable tourists to go from park to park in safety and comfort. Linked with these national parks by good roads and cooperative administration should be smaller parks and monuments patterned after the large areas but under State jurisdiction. To further the State park idea, which is the inspiration of this gathering, I hope it is unnecessary for me to reiterate my desire to support your efforts along these lines. In doing so let us not overlook the underlying purpose of the outdoor movement, which is to give us a momentary glimpse of the simpler things of life, to increase our appreciation and understanding of nature, to bring us closer to the scheme of the creation, and educate our children "through Nature up to Nature's God." The groves were God's first temples. Ere man learned To hew the shaft and lay the architrave And spread the roof above them-ere he framed The lofty vault, to gather and roll back The sound of anthems; in the darkling wood, And offered to the Mightiest solemn thanks Immediately after his address the Secretary and Colonel Smith returned to Luray and thence to Washington by private car, furnished by the president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. On the conclusion of the conference at Skyland Mr. Gregg proceeded to Bryson City, N. C., with a view of making further investigations in the Great Smoky Mountains area from the North Carolina side. The special objects of his visit were to determine the feasibility of locating a scenic drive along the backbone of the high mountain range and to determine what amount of damage the numerous lumber companies were doing by cutting timber in the proposed area. On July 7, 1925, a meeting of the North Carolina Park Commission, the Asheville Chamber of Commerce, representatives of the lumber companies, and residents of several near-by towns was held at the Battery Park Hotel, Asheville, with State Senator Mark Squires presiding. All the members of the Southern Appalachian Park Commission were present except Mr. Kelsey. A discussion which lasted throughout the day on the possibility of securing the lands in the Great Smoky Mountains area that at the time were being lumbered was carried on by the members of the commission and the representatives of the lumber companies. It was evident from this discussion that strong opposition existed to the park idea and also that lumbering could not be stopped except through injunction proceedings or condemnation by the State of lands proposed for this park, if the area was selected. Members of the commission visited the officials of the lumber companies and endeavored to convince them that any further cutting in this area would injure the chances of its being selected for a national park, but met with very little encouragement from any of these officials. During the first week of July Colonel Smith, at the request of Senator Mark Squires, chairman of the North Carolina Park Commission, met that commission at Bryson City, N. C., for a conference. The North Carolina commission had spent several days in visiting the proposed Great Smoky Mountains National Park area, as a great deal of pressure was being brought to bear on that commission for them to recommend the Linville Gorge and Grandfather Mountain area in preference to the Smoky Mountains area. After they had visited several of the high peaks on the North Carolina side of the Great Smokies and viewed the area proposed for a park, the members of the commission were unanimous in stating that there was no question as to the area they had just investigated being the most suitable for the proposed park. Chairman Temple called the third meeting of the Southern Appalachian National Park Commission July 18, 1925. All the members except Major Welch were present. The primary cause for the holding of this meeting was the opposition that had developed on the part of a great number of landowners in the Smoky Mountains area to the establishment of a park there. It was decided that the commission would give out the following statements: Owing to the opposition of certain business interests in North Carolina to the original plan for a national park in the Great Smoky Mountains, the commission may find it necessary to modify its boundary as originally contemplated and consider the advisability of the creation of a national park which will lie largely in the State of Tennessee. The original Tennessee area is large and scenic; about one-half of the North Carolina project originally designated seems available, but the holdings of two or three of the largest timber corporations are difficult to acquire as virgin areas; if they are not secured until after the timber is cut off, they will not be fit for a national park for recreational use. The companies referred to are at the present time engaged in active operations on some of the higher elevations and are removing the spruce and balsam forests in their entirety. The spruce and balsam areas which have been cut over do not reforest themselves and immediately become covered with an almost impenetrable thicket of blackberry and other undesirable growths peculiarly susceptible to forest fires. The commission also passed the following resolution: That when the commission makes its final report and recommendations on the proposed national park areas that it designate the outside boundary of these areas (somewhat as the Weeks Commission designates forest purchase areas) with the purpose of securing at once as much as possible of the designated territory to be established as a national park; the remainder of the designated areas to be acquired as rapidly as possible. At the request of Col. D. C. Chapman, vice chairman of the Tennessee Conservation Association, a delegation from North Carolina and Tennessee, composed of Colonel Chapman, Mr. W. M. Clemens, and Mr. Russell Hanlon, of Knoxville; Dr. E. C. Brooks, of Raleigh; Hon. Plato Ebbs, of Asheville; and Dr. Dan R. Bryson and Mr. Horace Kephart, of Bryson City, met Messrs. Gregg, Kelsey, and Smith on August 24, 1925, at the office of the Southern Appalachian National Park Commission in the Interior Department Building. The visiting delegation desired to consult the commissioners regarding a proposed cooperation between the Shenandoah National Park Association (Inc.), of Virginia, and the North Carolina and Tennessee Park Associations for raising funds for the purchase of land for the two parks. It was evident from the discussions at this meeting that there was a conflict of opinion as to the advisability of the three States trying to cooperate in the raising of funds for the respective parks. The members of the commission pointed out to the visiting delegates that they could not, as a commission, be drawn into any controversy between the States as to the method to be adopted for raising funds, but the commission was willing and anxious to assist them by advice or in any other way to bring about harmony between the representatives of these areas, and suggested a conference at which they might come to some understanding as to the action that might be followed regarding the raising of money outside of the States and the method |