A fee is charged. Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park Organized in 1993 to help the park through direct funding and outside financial support, the Friends operate under a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service. Dedicated to restoring, preserving, and enhancing the park, their partnership provides needed help in the current fiscal atmosphere. Additional Information Obtain a 25-cent copy of the park newspaper, Smokies Guide. It offers current information on interpretive programs and services.
Items are also available for sale at the visitor centers.
In 1923, when Mrs. Willis P. Davis of Knoxville visited the American West, she fell in love with America's national parks. Mrs. Davis believed the Smoky Mountains were worthy of such status. Thus was born the Park Movement. Support came slowly. Debates raged over who would buy the land and whether the Smoky Mountains should become a national forest or national park.