| Pigeon
Forge, TN – February 2015 / Newsmaker Alert / The 25th year
of Wilderness Wildlife
Week, Pigeon Forge’s annual salute to Great Smoky Mountains National
Park and numerous outdoor recreation topics, was a record-setter – and
in a big way.
Program attendance for the
eight-day event was 39,624, a leap of 11,824 beyond the 2014 total of 27,800,
the previous record.
“We offered more than 400
programs and 64 hikes and excursions into Great Smoky Mountains National
Park and surrounding areas. Interest was high throughout the week,” said
Butch Helton, special events manager for the Pigeon
Forge Department of Tourism, which organizes the event.
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Approximately 250 experts
– nature photographers, biologists, raptor rehabilitators, social historians,
musicians and others with ties to the Smokies – donated their time to lead
Wilderness Wildlife Week programs. Programs included photography workshops,
wildlife lectures, mountain music mini-concerts, crafts classes and special
sessions for children.
The hiking schedule was especially
active, according to Helton, attracting 692 hikers for outings that ranged
from three to 13.5 miles.
Those hikers logged 3,631
miles, bringing the total Wilderness Wildlife Week hike mileage to 31,516.
Hiking records have been kept for 11 years.
This was the second year
for a special series of programs about trout fishing. Southern Trout, an
online magazine, organized the Southern Trout Fly Fishing Fair on the last
day of Wilderness Wildlife Week, with programs about mountain fisheries,
the history of Smoky Mountain trout flies and back-country cooking.
The week attracted guests
from across the U.S. A voluntary sign-up sheet showed guests from 28 states
and Germany. The most distant visitors were from California, Alaska, Wyoming
and New York.
Wilderness Wildlife Week,
which was inspired by nature photographer Ken Jenkins, will become a springtime
event in 2016 when it shifts to May.
“Spring will open new opportunities
for different programs. Winter is fun, but we know we won’t have any snow
challenges in May,” Helton said.
Pigeon Forge completes Winterfest
2015 with Saddle
Up, a celebration of cowboy poetry, western music and chuck wagon cooking,
Feb. 18-22.
Information about all aspects
of visiting Pigeon Forge is at www.MyPigeonForge.com
or by calling 800-251-9100.
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Media Contact:
Tom
Adkinson, APR
for Pigeon Forge Department
of Tourism
615-341-8796 |
