Introducing the New Smokies Superintendent

Cassius Cash, who became the new superintendent of Great Smoky Mountains National Park in February, knows a thing or two about bridging divides. The Memphis native previously made waves presiding over—and building connections between—Boston’s two downtown national parks. As the first African-American to hold the top post at GSMNP, Cash shares here how he hopes to work with neighbors on both sides of the mountains to incorporate the region’s many layers of history.

What opportunities do you see at GSMNP? 

In Boston, my team and I rebranded the Freedom Trail and the Black Heritage Trails as Boston Trails To Freedom. What drove us was our vision for what we wanted the visitor experience to be. We did not want millions of visitors to feel that there were two different histories—one for the American Revolution and the other for abolishing slavery. Instead, we wanted to highlight Boston’s “total” contribution to this country. We will take the same approach here in the Great Smokies. We will look at the current visitors’ experience and ensure that it connects the resources with the history of the communities that lived in these mountains in a way that speaks to how these sensitive and resilient ecosystems serve as crucial habitat for many indigenous plants and animals today. It is equally important to highlight Native Americans’ and European settlers’ relationship to these resources. 

You hosted a series of open houses in your first month on the job. Why reach out to the park’s neighbors? 

Some of the best ideas that I have been part of were those that were in collaboration with our park neighbors. It is important for me to understand, firsthand, how our neighbors want to experience their national park. We can’t truly protect our natural resources without valuing the people who live and work near them. It has been a longstanding belief of mine that science, by itself, doesn’t always make a good management decision.

What challenges do you hope to tackle at GSMNP? 

I think a shared concern for all of us is the answer to this question: Does the next generation see themselves as future stewards of our treasured park and its natural resources? I question whether that is a role they see for themselves and I ask myself, how do we all compete for our youth’s attention span when it comes to appreciating their national parks versus video games and smart phones? I’d like to see us come together to help our rural and urban youth understand that they have a role in the park’s future—to protect these resources and outdoor experiences for their children as we have strived to do for ours.