Friends, family and park officials gathered Friday to celebrate the life of Tennessee’s first state Naturalist, Mack S. Prichard.
The Cummins Falls Visitor Center was also dedicated in Prichard’s name. Tennessee State Naturalist Randy Hedgepath said the legacy left, are areas that will make someone feel renewed and their true self while in nature.
The natural areas that he protected or helped protect are some of my favorite places,” Hedgepath said. “So I’m especially grateful, because I can go to these places and think this so wonderful… And thank you Mack for helping save it for me.”
Cummins Falls State Park was the last state park that Prichard helped Tennessee acquire for conservation. In total, out of Tennessee’s 56 state parks, Prichard was instrumental in 24 of those sites becoming state parks.
The theme through out the celebration was synonymous with the owl, a bird call that Prichard would often imitate. The closing statement was that forever in Tennessee parks, when an owl is heard people can think of Mack Prichard.
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