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Although at the very core of the Park Service idea is the statement “to preserve and protect” for the enjoyment of future generations, there are some things that the NPS cannot always control. The forest and park is often compared to a living, and therefore fluid organism changing and growing like any other living thing.

Just like anything else the park is effected by the happenings of the outside world, although it is seemingly removed from it. Just like elsewhere we are effected heavily by pollution, urban encroachment and pests of other sorts.

Chestnut Blight

One of the most notorious pests to enter the park area was the Chestnut Blight. Chestnut Blight, an Asian parasite, wreaked havoc in the area in pre-park days killing off every American chestnut, once one of the largest and most abundant deciduous trees in the area.

Chestnuts were once a “keystone” species providing shade for undergrowth, high amounts of healthy mast for forest animals and amazingly rot-resistant wood for building materials (many of the historic cabins in the park are made of chestnut).Since the devastating loss of the Chestnuts in the 20s and 30s, the forest has recovered with other tree species filing in the gaps, like Tulip Poplar.

Scientists are working to breed a strain of the tree that will be resistant to the disease by breeding a hybrid mixture of the native American Chestnut and an Asian species. The park will not attempt a reintroduction however, until the strain is deemed sufficiently pure (having a high percentage of the native specie present).

Balsam Wooly Adelgid

Although the loss of the Chestnut was devastating and complete, the forest has regenerated to a point at which it is difficult to see the remains of the species in the lush undergrowth. There are several places in the park where the widespread loss of a species is evident though. In the high elevations all over the park such as Mt. LeConte, Mt. Sterling and Clingmans Dome the loss of the Fraser Fir is obvious.

Often thought to be caused by the devastation of forest fire or pollution, these trees were actually killed by a non-native pest. Balsam Wooly Adelgid (BWA), an insect native to Northern Europe, arrived in the Smokies in 1963.

Although the pest was quickly discovered, identified and treated, the early attempts to treat the areas infested were not effective. It was not until the 80s that a fatty lipid spray, applied to the trees’ trunk, was widely used, and by that point BWA was present in most of the high elevation areas in the park.

Since 1963 BWA has killed nearly 95% of the Fraser Fir trees in the park, leaving behind scenes of desolation in the high elevation where the skeletal remains of firs are most prominent. Because the insect only feed on mature firs it is possible for young trees to grow on these mountain peaks.

This is good news for those species dependent on the delicate spruce-fir ecosystem of which the Fraser Fir is an integral part. The juvenile trees provide a miniature ecosystem, so that even with what might be the inevitable loss of these trees in maturity, there might still be life in the small stands of the younger trees.

Hemlock Wooly Adelgid

Almost 40 years after the arrival of Balsam Wooly Adelgid, another adelgid was discovered in the Smokies. Hemlock Wooly Adelgid (HWA), a non-native from Asia, was discovered by park officials about 3 miles from Fontana Dam in 2002. Having tracked the movement of the pest down the East Coast, park scientists were prepared for its eminent arrival.

HWA, although similar in some ways to BWA, is different in one very significant way. HWA, because of the way it feeds, effects Hemlocks of all ages from the tiniest sprout to the largest, 400 year old giant. This makes the spread of HWA quick and complete. In fact, just 6 years after the original discovery, all of the Hemlocks in the park are now effected by HWA.

This makes the effort to combat this pest an extremely important one. Hemlocks, like Chestnuts, are considered a “keystone” species, indicating its importance to ecosystems all over the park, growing prolifically in places below 4500 ft. Hemlocks keep streams cool during the summer and ground areas warmers during cold winters as well as providing important habitat for many of the native animals in the park.

Park officials have been working to preserve the trees since 2002. In order to rid the trees of the pest, vegetation management specialists spray, inject and drench the root systems of hemlocks al over the park with a chlorinated nicotine which paralyzes the mouth parts of the insects keeping them from feeding.

This initiative is highly work intensive and limited by the naturally rough topography and dense under story of the Smokies. These treatments are often limited to places with the most access such as roadways and trails. Because of this, another plan was developed to work towards a more self-sustaining ecosystem, complete with hemlocks. After extensive testing in labs, a tiny beetle was approved as a natural (or biological) control method. These tiny beetles are released into park areas densely covered with hemlocks so that they may feed on HWA. The hope is that, although they will likely never rid the area of HWA completely, they may reduce the numbers of the pest enough for the park to keep some of its hemlocks.