Click Here –>1990's
2001
2001: 25 elk are released into the Cataloochee Valley, marking the beginning of a 5-yr experimental reintroduction. A year later another group of 26 is released in the same area. In 2007 the heard had increased in size to 75 adults and approximately 11 calves.
> Home Again
> Elk Information
Elk Products
2001: The property known as Purchase Knob is donated to the park by Kathryn McNeil and Voit Gilmore. The summer home and adjacent buildings are now used as a science and education center used primarily by visiting scientists and students from schools in Western NC.
> PAC info
> The Purchase Info
2002
May 2002: The first discovered Hemlock Woolly Adelgid infestation in the park is recorded about 3 miles North of Fontana Dam. Since the initial infestation all areas of the park have been effected by HWA. The operation to combat HWA is one of the largest ongoing projects in the park.
> What’s Killing The Trees?
> HWA Link
2002: North Carolina passes the Clean Smokestacks Act, which requires significant reductions in sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury from many of the power plants.
> Air Quality in the Smokies
> Clean Smokestacks Act
2004
2004: NPS transfers 143 acres within the park to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to be the site of new tribal schools in exchange for 218 acres off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Waterrock Knob in North Carolina.
2005
2005: Strong storms impede President Bush's trip to Cades Cove in honor of Earth Day, leaving Franklin Delano Roosevelt as the only sitting president to ever visit the park.
2006
2006: New bilingual exhibits are dedicated on the Oconaluftee River Trail, which links the Oconaluftee Visitor Center to the town of Cherokee. The exhibits, with text in both English and Cherokee represent a partnership between the park and the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indian.
2007
2007: A record of decision is signed that officially calls for a monetary settlement to Swain County, in lieu of building the North Shore Road.
> Northshore Road
> Northshore Road
2007: The new Twin Creeks Science and Education Center has its grand opening. U.S. Senator and former Tennessee governor Lamar Alexander gives the dedication speech. The new center will serve as offices for park staff and visiting scientists as well as a forum for educational programs and the new home of the Park’s collection of biological specimens.