Greg Smith has been with the National Park Service for 14 years. Currently, he is the Trails Coordinator for the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail and is the Scenic Resources Program Lead for the Natchez Trace Parkway. His passion is the restoration of Old Natchez Trace remnants for inclusion as sections of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail. An example of his work is the development of 3.5 miles of Old Natchez Trace into a new section of Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail called “Potkopinu” which means “little valley” in the Natchez language. This was accomplished by consultations with Native American tribes and by leading the restoration efforts of a multi-divisional park team, and student conservation organizations. Greg’s trail involvement also includes the development of a trails map for the national trail, the naming of each trail segment, and an overhauling of the trail signing system. Greg has a Master of Science degree in Landscape Architecture from Mississippi State University and graduated with honors from the American Society of Landscape Architects for “Excellence in the Studies of Landscape Architecture”. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering also from Mississippi State University.
Presentation Title: Making National Historic Trail Retracement Trails
E-mail: greg_smith@nps.gov
