Big South Fork Country

Big South Fork Country by Baker, Howard. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9781558532588.

In 1974, Congress set aside 100,000 acres on the Tennessee-Kentucky border as the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. Gorges hundreds of feet deep have earned the area the nickname of "Yosemite of the East." Natural arches, blue heron, tulip poplars, white-tailed deer, wild hogs, and eight varieties of bass can all be found in Big South Fork country. One of the areas most famous residents is Senator Howard Baker, politician and photographer. In this book, he and nature photographer John Netherton combine their love of Big South Fork country with their photographic skills to produce a beautiful book that celebrates the natural beauty of the area. In ten interviews, those who live in the area tell about catching moonshiners, a mysterious light, harvesting ginseng, and more. Big South Fork country is an area of rare beauty; a wilderness undisturbed by civilization, even though 150 million Americans live within a days drive. As Howard Baker says, "Because the Big South Fork is a new federal reserve, only 800,000 visitors came to see us in 1992, compared with 8 million who journeyed to the Great Smokies two hours south of here. We think we can accommodate a few more than 800,000, but frankly we dont want 8 million people a year tramping around in our mountains. Were going to share the secret of the Cumberlands with you, but we would prefer you didnt mention it to anyone else."