Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a sanctuary. This is one of the few places in the eastern United States where animal populations can live, propagate, and die with relatively little influence from humans. Plants flourish in untold numbers and often achieve record size. Gene pools are remarkably diverse. Some species here are rare or endangered, and new species may yet be discovered.
These mountains have also become a refuge for humans. But a natural area like this benefits people far beyond the simple pleasure of being in an unspoiled forest. It provides clean water to nourish communities, and a diversity of life that helps make our world so interesting. Many have called the Great Smokies a living laboratory, providing a standard to help monitor the health of the world's environment.
"Man has created some lovely dwellings-
some soul-stirring literature.
He has done much
to alleviate physical pain.
But he has not...
created a substitute for a sunset,
a grove of pines,
the music of the winds,
the dank smell of the deep forest,
or the shy beauty of a wildflower."
Harvey Broome, Naturalist
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