Earlier this week Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park announced that they were the successful bidder in a public auction of 20 acres of land surrounded on three sides by the national park. The not-for-profit organization bought the two 10-acre tracts on September 11 for $775,000.
Major funding for the land purchase was made possible from proceeds from Friends' annual Ogle-Fulmer "Picnic in Pittman for the Park" fundraiser over the last ten years. The Foothills Land Conservancy also partnered with Friends of the Smokies in the purchase.
"In addition to providing this rare opportunity for the Park to add 20 acres of prime property to its holdings, we also fulfilled our annual Needs List commitment of about $1.5 million to the Park this week," said Friends of the Smokies President Jim Hart.
The two tracts are located off of U.S. 321 near Pittman Center (roughly half-way between Gatlinburg and Cosby).
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Articles and information on hiking, outdoor adventures and the Great Smoky Mountains. For hiking trail information in the Smokies, please visit HikingintheSmokys.com
20 acres /
Friends of the Smokies /
land purchase /
Pittman Center
Great Smoky Mountains grows by 20 acres
Friday, September 17, 2010
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I think this is great news for our Park and I am glad we have invested in preserving more of the land surrounding the Smokies. The Great Smoky Mountains is a National Treasure.
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