Welcome to the Smokies: Superintendent directs traffic as park reopens

Source: The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn.迷你倉最平Oct. 16--TOWNSEND -- Great Smoky Mountains National Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson was directing traffic near the Townsend Wye entrance to Cade's Cove Wednesday morning, and he couldn't have been happier."That's what we do is welcome people, so it's hard for us not to welcome people into the park," he said. "It is the most visited national park in the country at the busiest time of year. We could not be happier that the states of Tennessee and North Carolina and Blount and Sevier counties worked together to make this happen."Park spokeswoman Dana Soehn said the Little River Road between the Townsend Wye and Metcalf Bottoms remained closed Wednesday morning because crews were making repairs to the pavement after a windstorm last week downed a tree that uprooted some of the pavement. Crews anticipated finishing their work before noon.Ditmanson said rangers were able to start late Tuesday night reopening portions of the park, and he said the gate was opened to Foothills Parkway coming from Calderwood Highway about 11 p.m.Rangers and work crews were expected to be working throughout the morning to reopen all the park.Campers were allowed back into the Cade's Cove campground about 7:30 a.m. The superIntendent said all standing reservations would be honored and because the national park website was still off because of the federal shutdown, all new reservations would have to be made on a first-come, first-served basis through park offices.Blount County Commission Chair Jerome Moon said he has heard a lot of feedback from residents about the county helping to pay federal expenses to reopen the park."We've had some questions that we have no revenue to run school buses but we have revenue to reopen the park," he said. "Sales tax revenue is a very important part of our revenue stream that helps support education so we are glad this is happening."Blount County Mayor Ed Mitchell said this is the perfect example of how government can work."Ultimately the governor's office put this puzzle together and made this work," he said. "The federal, state and local government worked together for what is good for citizens and the end result is we have people visiting the park again."Ditmanson said the way residents in Tennessee and North Carolina are cooperating to reopen the park was reminiscent of how residents in the two states worked together to create the park."That is what happened today as the traffic keeps going behind us going into the park," he said.Ditmanson said he told others throughout the shutdown that a lot of governments involved."But this is about the people and businesses in the community losing during a critical time of year. It is a time when everyone wants to be here so we are delighted to be open," he said.Blount and Sevier counties joined with the states of Tennessee and North Carolina to pay a total of $60,000 a day in federal expenses to reopen the park that closed when a congressional budget impasse forced a partial closure of all government agencies more than two weeks ago.Gov. Bill Haslam's plan for reopening the park with state and county money covers just five days and does not deal with other closed national park 迷你倉ites in Tennessee.The governor said Tuesday that a "unique set of circumstances" applies in the Smokies, where October is a peak visitation month and local businesses are losing millions of dollars in sales to tourists because of the park closure. That means the state and local governments are also losing sales tax revenue, he noted.The park is to remain open until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, according to Haslam and North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory.Tennessee state government is paying $240,400 to the federal government for five days of operation costs 80 percent of Tennessee's share Sevier and Blount counties will splitting the remaining $60,100, or 20 percent. McCrory said North Carolina will pay $75,000.In both cases, the governors said the state funds would come from appropriated but unspent tourism promotion funds. In Tennessee, the formal mechanism calls for the state to send its $240,400 to Sevier County, which will also collect funds from Blount County, then send the Tennessee total of $300,500 to the National Park ServiceHaslam said about three times as many people enter the park from Tennessee than from North Carolina, giving the Volunteer State a bigger interest in reopening.National parks in other states -- including Arizona, New York, South Dakota and Utah -- reopened last weekend using state funds. Haslam said Tennessee did not get the information it needed to act Friday, when the other states apparently moved."I don't know why did didn't get more information to begin with," he said.Haslam said he would also consider moves to reopen other national park sites in Tennessee if the shutdown continues. The National Park Service also operates Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, Shiloh National Military Park and Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park in Tennessee."The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is America's most visited national park, and for the Smokies and the people around it, the month of October is the most important time of the year," Haslam said. "I remain hopeful that an end to the federal government shutdown will come this week."Legislation filed in the U.S. Congress with support from U.S. Reps. John J. Duncan Jr. and Phil Roe as well as Sen. Lamar Alexander calls for the federal government to reimburse states for money spent to keep parks open because of the partial shutdown. Haslam said he supports the bill and has been working with all three men in trying to line up arrangements for reopening the Smokies.McCrory cited an analysis by Steve Morse, director of Western Carolina University's hospitality and tourism program, that estimated the shutdown has already cost more than $12 million in lost wages for workers, nearly $2 million in lost state taxes and more than $1 million in lost city and county taxes.Morse estimated Tennessee has been losing $130,567 per day in state taxes, more than double the daily cost of keeping the park open.More details as they develop online and in Thursday's News Sentinel.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Knoxville News-Sentinel (Knoxville, Tenn.) Visit the Knoxville News-Sentinel (Knoxville, Tenn.) at .knoxnews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存