Supporting your national park is crucial-
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Friends Events
 From our May 3rd Sunset Elk EcoTour to June 1st's National Trails Day, keep up with Friends on our Events Page
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Don't Miss
April 23-27- 63rd Annual Spring Wildflower PilgrimageApril 27- National Junior Ranger Day in the SmokiesApril 27- DLIA's Salamander BallBuy A Plate- Support the Park
If you are a resident of North Carolina or Tennessee, please purchase a Friends plate for your vehicle. Your annual decision to own a Friends of the Smokies license plate helps us meet our commitment to give $1.1 million this year to Great Smoky Mountains National Park to help protect bears, heal hemlocks, repair trails, preserve historic log cabins and churches, and so much more.  | | We receive $20 of the $30 specialty plate fee |
 | | We receive $30.75 of the $35 specialty plate fee |
Membership Matters  For only $35/year your official Friends of the Smokies membership card packs a wallop in your wallet- - it comes with great Smokies discounts, so it pays for itself
- it's a reminder that you made a tax-deductible contribution
- you help us reach our goal of giving $1,147,000 to improve Great Smoky Mountains National Park this year
- you are a part of our successful 20th year of preserving and protecting the Smokies
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Greetings!
It's Friends of the Smokies' 20th Anniversary, and things are happening fast.
Every 2013 Classic Hike highlights a Park success that every donor and supporter has helped realize in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
It's our chance to showcase the difference your membership makes, and how the Park is putting to work more than $1 million each year from Friends of the Smokies.
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This is Marty
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 And This is Marty, Too
You have to look a little closer to find this Marty.
He doesn't have a snazzy orange vest. He's a hemlock tree. One lone hemlock tree in the middle of the reconstruction area adjacent to the new roadbed along US 441/Newfound Gap Road. (By the way, if you haven't heard the news, the road is open now! Read Morgan Simmons' story in the Knoxville News Sentinel) But he's a success story, and proof that our park management team had the right people on the job. This 30' tall, 8" diameter hemlock was saved by the other Marty who works for the federal Department of Transportation.
Marty Hatcher spied this healthy tree standing in an area that was excavated during the reconstruction process. He pointed it out to Mike Luker with Phillips & Jordan, an employee of the US 441 Phase II contractor. Using a trackhoe, they moved the tree 60 to 70 feet, stabilized it in the slope, and have their fingers crossed it will live for many years to come. After it was done, the crew named the tree "Marty" in honor of their colleague who just had to try to save it. Hatcher described this as a "cooperative effort between the federal highways and the contractor". We think it's just plain nice- THANK YOU, Marty!We met both Martys on opening day of US 441/Newfound Gap Road. Here's Charlie Sellers moving the sign at 10 a.m. on April 15th, and the first car to drive through on the new surface.  
Since 2003, Friends of the Smokies has provided more than $1.3 million to establish the world's largest hemlock woolly adelgid suppression program in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, including outstanding support from the Aslan Foundation of Knoxville as well as Fred & Alice Stanback and Brad & Shelli Stanback and the Lowe Family Foundation. |
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Pop a Cork for Friends of the Smokies
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The latest limited-edition seasonal offering from Sugarland Cellars is available now. In partnership with Robert A. Tino, who created this custom label artwork, the winery is selling 1000 bottles of a bubbly Riesling called 'Sunny Days' to celebrate the effervescence of springtime in the Smokies. Also available are matching art tiles, and a coordinated set makes a great gift for Mom, college grads, or simply add to your collection. Each bottle purchase generates a $5 donation for Friends of the Smokies. Through the generosity of Sugarland Cellars and Robert A. Tino, the 4 wines to debut this year
(Sunny Days- available now, Dance of the Firefly- May, Autumn Path- September, Winter's Blessings- November) will raise $20,000 to support the preservation and protection of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
In closing, I hope you've had a chance to enjoy the beauty of the Park this spring, but if your boots haven't hit the dirt in search of wildflowers, check out the blooms Keith Hoffman found on the April 16th Hyatt Ridge Discovery Classic Hike. New wildflower pictures are popping up almost daily on our Facebook page by Genia Stadler. Get Out and Enjoy Spring,
 Holly Scott
Marketing Director
Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park
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