State

Volume VI Number 2 June 1 1, 1938 Entered as second-class matter, June 1, 1933, at the Postoffice at Raleigh, North Carolina, under the Act of March 3, 1879 Hundreds of mountain¬ eers eventually will have to find other home- sites. Many already laave left the National Park area. J. B. HICKLIN WHILE the areas within the Great Smoky Mountains Na¬ tional Park are to he eventually cleared of all o± the present population, the United States Depart¬ ment of Interior will deal kindly with these simple folk who have lived in the coves, generation after genera¬ tion, and will not molest their dead. Private ownership of property within the area is forbidden, just as is forbidden private business — except such enterprises as are especially authorized through permits by the National Park Service for the com¬ fort and convenience of visitors. Yet hundreds of families are to be found tucked snugly away in the shadows of towering mountains within the ap¬ proximately 715 square miles of park lands when it is formally opened. Part of Work Accomplished Part of work of displacing the mountain natives was accomplished by North Carolina and Tennessee as they purchased lands; but the com¬ pletion must he left to the Federal Government and the Grim Reaper. Anticipating that the task would be a thorny one, Congress provided a gloved hand with which to accom¬ plish it. The glove is a legal con¬ cession that residents of the Smokies who sell their homesteads to the State Park Commissions may continue to live on them indefinitely, if they wish, Л &>. .v .*.•••.•• .*. V « V«*# V I* x- wXv; xv: '."I- •••:•>. •; ; : ^■С-4:Йф:*--х;х x>"‘ frv-xvx ■ •• SHE’LL BE COMING ’ROUND THE MOUNTAIN— That gash on the distant hill is the Blue Ridge Parkway, hewn out of the mountain as it soars on its way from Shenandoah National Park to the Great Smokies of North Carolina. Ten links in the parkway are authorized for present construction. The view above is from near Mt. Mitchell State Park, North Carolina. under short term but renewable leases issued by the Interior Department. Rentals paid under this provision are “nominal,” or of the dollar-a-year variety. The leasing privilege is limited to the lifetime of persons now living within the park area. When the last present resident dies, the authority for the lease expires. The obvious purposes of this con¬ cession were to facilitate land buying for the park, and to forestall ill-feel¬ ing. The park’s populace includes many old-timers who have been anchored to the Smokies’ blue recesses all of their lives. There doubtless would have been a miniature rebellion had the states, or Uncle Sam, sent in agents armed only with bags of cur¬ rency and eviction notices. The leas¬ ing policy serves to lessen resentment, where resentment exists, against the turning over the Smokies to pleasure- seekers. It helps reconcile the moun¬ tain people to the loss of their homes, and palliates condemnation proceed¬ ings. Some Have Left How general the demand for leases will be remains to be seen after the National Park Service formally takes over the park. Some of the property- owners, of course, have been glad to sell and get out. On those who elect to stay there will be certain restric¬ tions which will not be pleasing. Some will not relish the influx of visitors which development of roads, trails and bridle paths will bring. The urge to follow old friends, when old friends leave, will be strong. School facilities, already meager in most of ( Continued on page seven)