Blue Ride Parkway Facts

America's most visited national park site - last updated October, 2008

Quick Links:

• Parkway Budget Information
• Consequences of Parkway Budget Status through 09/30/2007
  --to Management
  --to Visitors
  
  In Context: Comparing the Blue Ridge Parkway to other National Parks

• Provisions for the President's Budget proposal (FY 2008)
• Historical Facts
• Boundary Features
• Physical Facts
• The Parkway By the Numbers

Parkway Budget Information

• Between 1980 and 2006, the Blue Ridge Parkway Budget only increased 0.5% (adjusted for inflation)
• FY 2006-2007 Annual budget: $14,142,000
• FY 2007-2008 Annual budget: $16,100,000
• Comparison: The combined police, fire, EMS budegt for Roanoke County, Virginia (FY 2008-2009) is $22,000,000

Consequences of Parkway Budget Status through September May 1, 2008

To Management

• Staffing levels have decreased, from 241.5 work-years in FY 2001 to 219.3 work years in FY 2005. As of May 1, 2008 68 of 237 positions are currently vacant i.e. 1 in 4 positions.  These positions include the chief of concessions, community planner, public relations officer, section chief for cultural resources. Despite the Blue Ridge Parkway being the largest landscape construction project in the history of the United States, the park does not have a full-time committed landscape architect.
• The current staff vacancy rate in Resource Planning and Professional Services (compliance, landscape architecture, planning) is 40%; consequently, the General Management Plan (GMP, the guiding
  document for park management) is three years behind schedule and most future management decisions about park as they impact communities have been delayed or remain undefined. The completion of the management plan is still not fully funded. Proactively discouraging encroaching development no longer occurs; more trophy homes are being built adjacent to the motor road.

• To operate within budget of FY 2008, the Parkway will continue to impose a general hiring freeze on permanent positions.
• To fully replace loss staff would require an operating increase of approximately $4.0 million.
• Within the next five years, nearly 40% of the existing permament staff will be eligible for retirement. The Parkway in addition to the unfilled vacancies could concevably loose half of its work force.

To Visitors

• The demand for Parkway services has continued to increase while the Parkway's budget has decreased. Many campgrounds, picnic areas, visitor centers and other facilities now open later in the spring and close earlier in the autumn. The Blue Ridge Parkway at the outset of FY 2005 began operating at a $1.0+ million dollar deficit if operations were to continue at FY 2006 levels of service and staffing.The maintenance backlog for the Blue Ridge Parkway remains more than $200M.The current staff vacancy rate in maintenance and engineering is approximately 30%.  As a result:
        -- Downed trees are cleared less frequently, often taking weeks instead of days.
        -- Vistas have become overgrown or become non-existent.
        -- Restrooms (over 200) which are serviced by mostly outdated sewage treatment facilities ar cleaned less often.
        -- The mowing schedule is greatly reduced.
  
• Eight additional positions are needed in law enforcement.  There are currently only 34 rangers to respond to traffic wrecks and health emergencies, to rescue stranded hikers, arrest criminals and address drug interdiction.  Law enforcement coverage is not 24/7, 365 days per year, or for 469 miles of motor road; consequently, coverage is sparse, which means if you needed one, it could take two or more hours to find one. The National Park Service agency in concurrence with Homeland Security is required to maintain a "no net loss" policy in law enforcement. Consequently, other diviosn such as interpretation and maintenance suffer from this staffing requirement.

In Context: Comparing the Blue Ridge Parkway to other National Parks

• During the FY 2002 through FY 2005, the Parkway's operation budget decreased by 1 % (in constant dollars) while the National Park Service budget increased approximately 5%. Visitation to the Blue Ridge Parkway is more than twice the combined visitation to Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon; while the annual operating budget of the Blue Ridge Parkway is approximately only half of each.
• Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon each generate more than $4M/year in entrance fees; the Blue Ridge Parkway generates none.

Provisions and consequences of the Parkway's Actual Budget for FY 2008

• An increase of $1.5 million was actually due the Parkway from an increase in the operating budget of the National Park Service ($1.763 billion in '07 to $1.970 billion in '08) Offsets and allocated expenses have actually reduced the operating budget to $100,000 less that in 2007-2008. These are attributed to:

1. Cost of living increase
2. Increase in health care premiums
3. Predicted sssessment by WASO (Washington office)with the expectation that loss would be made up by "increase in management efficiencies" and income from commercial filming permits (the Parkway has few)
4. An across the board mandated reduction of 1.56% (including centennial funds) to blaance the agency budget. This is referred to as the "fudge factor" to insure that the national budget balances
5. SERO (Southeastern Regional Office) contingency offset
6. Service wide IT assessment

• A hiring freeze remains in place for permamnent staff in 2007-2008, and most likely will remain in place for 2008-2009 because of a new adminsitration.

Historical Facts

• Establishing Legislation The act establishing the Blue Ridge Parkway under the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, passed on June 30, 1936. Boundary adjustments were made on June 30, 1961, and October 9, 1968.  
• Initial Funding  Initial construction funding was allocated under the authority of the National Industrial Recovery Act (June 16, 1933).

HISTORICAL DATES - compiled by Anne Mitchell Whisnant, author of Super-Scenic Motorway: A Blue Ridge Parkway History. Please credit the author. Contact the author.

Purposes of the Blue Ridge Parkway (from Parkway management documents) - Purpose statements describe the reasons for establishing Blue Ridge Parkway, as noted in the parkway’s legislative history and the National Park Service’s
Organic Act.

• Connect Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains national parks by way
  of a “national rural parkway” — a destination and recreational motor road
  that passes through a variety of scenic ridge, mountainside, and pastoral farm
  landscapes.
• Conserve the scenery and preserve the natural and cultural resources of
  the parkway’s designed and natural areas.
• Provide for public enjoyment and understanding of the natural resources
  and cultural heritage of the central and southern Appalachian Mountains.
• Provide opportunities for high quality scenic and recreational experiences
  along the Blue Ridge Parkway and within the corridor through which it
  passes.

Significance of the Blue Ridge Parkway (from Parkway management documents) -Significance statements describe the parkway resources and values that are important enough to warrant national designation. They describe the Blue Ridge Parkway’s distinctiveness and help to place it in its regional and national
context.

• The Blue Ridge Parkway was the first national rural parkway to be conceived,
  designed, and constructed for a leisure-type driving experience. Its
  varied topography and numerous vista points offer easy public access to
  spectacular views of central and southern Appalachian rural landscapes and
  forested mountains.
• As an example of pre– and post–World War II automotive rural parkway
  design, the Blue Ridge Parkway retains the greatest degree of integrity of any parkway in the United States. The parkway is further recognized throughout the world as an international example of landscape and engineering design achievements with a roadway that lies easily on the land and blends into the landscape.
• The parkway is the highest and longest continuous route in the Appalachian
  area. Along its 469-mile length, the parkway provides scenic access to
  crests and ridges of five major ranges within the central and southern Appalachian Mountains, encompassing geographic and vegetative zones that range from 649 feet at James River in Virginia to 6,047 feet at Richland Balsam in North Carolina.
• The parkway’s uninterrupted corridor facilitates the protection of a diverse
  range of flora and fauna, including rare and endangered plant and animal
  species and globally imperiled natural communities.
• The parkway preserves and displays cultural landscapes and historic architecture characteristic of the central and southern Appalachian highlands.
• The Blue Ridge Parkway is a primary catalyst for promoting regional travel
  and tourism, serving as a unifying element for 29 counties through which it
  passes, engendering a shared regional identity, providing a common link of
  interest, and being a major contributor to regional economic vitality.

Boundary features

• Ancestral home to the Cherokee Indians Boundary state park has the highest mountain east of the Rockies (Mount Mitchell) Boundary national forest has the deepest gorge in eastern America (Linville Gorge) Headwaters to the oldest river in North America (New River) Boundary with globally recognized nature preserve (Grandfather Mountain International Biosphere Reserve) Boundary national forest site of the first forestry school in America (Cradle of Forestry, Biltmore Forestry School, 1898-1913)
• Boundary with the largest home in America (Biltmore House)

NATURAL RESOURCES

• The Blue Ridge Parkway is one of the most biodiverse parks in the entire National Park Sysytem - Total vascular plants and vertegrates by park: Blue Ridge Parkway, 2074; Great Smoky Mountains NP, 2073; Big South Fork Recreation Area, 1472; Olympic NP, 1531; Yellowstone NP, 1678 (2007 data source, National Park Service, Appalachian Highlands Inventory and Monitoring Network)
• The Blue Ridge Parjway supports a substantial number of federally listed threatened and endangered rare species: Blue Ridge Parkway, 9; Great Smoky Mountains NP, 12; Big South Fork Recreation Area, 12; Olympic NP, 8; Yellowstone NP, 7 (2007, NPS, Appalachian Highlands Inventory and Monitoring Network)
• The Blue Ridge Parkway supports a substantial number of "critically imperiled" (G1), "imperiled" (G2), and "vulnerable" (G3) species: Blue Ridge Parkway, 74; Great Smoky Mountain NP, 125; Big South Fork NRA, 31; Olympic NP, 30' Yellowstone NP, 23.
• Animal species by park:

  	Olympic NP	Blue Ridge Pky	Great Smky Mtn	Yellowstone NP
  Reptiles	4	30	39	6
  Amphibians	13	43	41	4
  Mammals	64	67	75	66
  Fish	93	93	71	18
  Birds	243	227	209	320

Physical Facts

• Length    470.02 miles (752 km)
• Beginning Point  Milepost 0 at Rockfish Gap in Virginia (elevation 1,900'). The Parkway begins here at the southern end of Shenandoah National Park.
• Ending Point     Milepost 469 is at the Oconaluftee River in North Carolina (elevation 2,020'). The Parkway ends here at the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.      
• Highest Elevation     VA - 3,950'    NC - 6,053'
• Intersecting Interstate Highways    I-64, I-77, I-40, and I-26 with no interchanges. (I-81 comes near, but does not intersect the Parkway.)

• Total Acreage:      81,680
• Number of acres in North Carolina 46,961
• Number of acres in Virgina 34,719
• Scenic Easement  acres   2,135
• Fee Simple   acres          77,092
• Total Boundary   >12,000 miles

The Parkway By the Numbers

• Number of counties traveled through 29 (VA-12; NC-17)
• Number of historic houses 6
• Number of Metropolitan Areas with a common boundary 3
• Number of miles of Paved Roads 525
• Number of miles from Rockfish Gap to the Oconaluftee River 470.2
• Number of miles in North Carolina 253.07
• Number of miles in Virginia 216.96
• Number of miles of trail 350
• Number of paved overlooks    275
• Number of feet at highest point - 6,047 - near Richland Balsam
• Number of feet at lowest point - 649 - Otter Ck near Lynchburg
• Number of Picnic Areas    11

• Number of public use buildings   246
• Number of signs    14,000+
• Number of tunnels     26
• Number of vistas 900
• Number of visitor centers   14
• Number of Adjacent Private Property Owners >4,500
• Number of National Forests Crossed 4
• Number of miles in National Forests 185
• Number of backcountry Areas 14 (ranging from 1,000-5,000 acres) Number of Campgrounds   9

• Number of Recreation Areas Within Borders 18
• Number of state parks with a common boundary 2
• Number of miles in Qualla Boundary Reservation of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians 11
• Number of administrative/residential buildings 36

• Number of bridges 151
• Number crossings and access points   270
           Public      109 (VA-86; NC-23)
           Private     161
• Number of dams 14
• Number of maintenance facilities 13
• Number of public road crossings with No Grade Separation 
            NC - 63

• Number of Radio Towers (Communication system) 10
• Number of Sewer Systems 101
• Number of Utility Lines bisecting natural features 400
• Number of Water Systems 51

About Us | Donate | News | Projects & Partners | Stories | Events | Family Archives | Links | Contact Us
Sign up for our free E-newsletter | Guest Register | Privacy Policy | Ethical Fundraising