One of those who advocated for the creation of Cummins Falls as a park is the subject of a new book.
The book is titled “The Essential Mack Prichard, Writings of a Conservation Hero”. Editor Mary Priestley said the book covers the life of Prichard and his conservation efforts. Priestley said readers get to know the person Prichard was as the book features articles and letters that Prichard wrote himself.
“He had a deep sense of place and deep friendships, great storyteller, was interested in our water resources, our land resources, conservation of all of the above,” Priestley said. “And then occasionally he would get really angry and write letters. And lucky for us, he saved basically everything.”
In 1971, Prichard became the first state naturalist in Tennessee due to his efforts in conserving Tennessee’s natural resources. Prichard passed away in 2020, and Priestley said she put the book together to carry his legacy forward.
“The thing that I can do was to put some of his writings down and put them out there for people to read,” Priestley said. “I think his message is timeless, but unless people have access to it and can see what he was about, that timeless message may just disappear.”
Priestley said Prichard remains an inspiration to many people at the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation today. Priestley said she hopes the book inspires more people to stand up and conserve the great natural beauty we have here in our state.
“He was all over the place, as I say, not only with state parks, but just in general, trying to save these what he called beauty spots,” Priestley said. “I am sure that there are writers among your listeners, and if they were to be inspired to write themselves about these amazing places that are near and dear to their hearts, that would be a huge way to pass on this legacy.”
Preisetley said the book also covers some of Prichard’s failures. Priestley said Prichard was against the construction of the Tellico Dam as it would inundate key Cherokee sites. Prichard was not successful in stopping the construction of the Tellico Dam.
Priestley said she hopes people seeing Prichard’s failures will send a message that even if you are passionate and fail in the present, if you stay passionate, it may bring success later in life.
Prichard was an advocate for conserving land and was also essential in helping create 24 state parks, with his last park being Cummins Falls.