State Parks Hosting First UC Meeting

Tennessee State Parks will present more information on the park’s ten-year comprehensive plan during a series of statewide meetings, including a Tuesday night stop in the Upper Cumberland.

Tennessee State Parks Area Four Manager Kenny Gragg said the meetings serve as progress report on the plan. Gragg said all of the Upper Cumberland state parks plans will be discussed across the eleven meetings they have set. Gragg said the meetings are open to the public and he encourages everyone to attend the meetings.

“It will probably be more or less than minor updates to these plans since we are just about a year in,” Gragg said. “But we do want to be transparent with the public that this is our plans for your park. At the end of the day, the parks belong to the citizens of the state of Tennessee.”

Gragg said there will be an opportunity for the public to have their input heard about the plans moving forward for the parks in the Upper Cumberland. The meeting takes place Tuesday at the Cordell Hull Birthplace State Park, beginning at 5:30pm.

Gragg said the ultimate goal is to gather ideas that will help the overall mission of preserving and protecting the parks.

“That’s going to be the first barrier that any of us needs to get past,” Gragg said. “You know, we are not going come in and put in a giant water park sitting on top of Fall Creek Falls. That’s just not what we are in the business of doing.”

Gragg said the meetings used to happen on a five-year cycle. Gragg said the meetings will now be held every year.

“We decided we are going to do so many plans every year to ensure that we are updating all of them every five years and not doing everything all at once again cause that was quite a load to do,” Gragg said.

Fall Creek Falls will also host a meeting later this month.