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"This place was built with our tax dollars," Otton said. "Why can't they take care of the place? It's a gorgeous place if you take care of it."

Jobs empty, hiring frozen

Park Superintendent Phil Francis says the answer is in the balance sheet on his desk. The park's approximately $14 million budget comes entirely from the federal government. Congress awards the park a small increase each year, but it is often less than the cost of the pay raises that Congress mandates for his staff, not to mention rising fuel and construction costs, Francis said.

Nearly one-quarter of the park's 236 permanent jobs are empty. Francis says the park, which had a $1.5 million deficit when he took the helm a year ago, is in a hiring freeze that won't end anytime soon.

He now has only seven permanent "interpreters" who are stationed around the park to answer questions and conduct educational programs. He hires a few dozen seasonal ones, but he worries that, if the budget keeps tightening, he will have to eliminate those, too. His maintenance staff is down by 30 percent.

Bathrooms are cleaned less frequently. Downed trees take weeks to clear. Litter isn't picked up very often.

Overlooks are now cut back only once every three years. And larger trees that block views can't be removed at all. It's simply too expensive and time consuming.

Some of the overlooks just north of the Linn Cove Viaduct, one of the parkway's most scenic stretches, are so overgrown that there is no view at all. Many of the vistas that were part of the park's plan, but are not official overlook points, have been allowed to return to forest.

The park has only 34 rangers -- who respond to traffic wrecks and health emergencies, rescue stranded hikers, arrest criminals and try to stop those who grow marijuana or poach valuable wild herbs from federal land. Francis said one ranger is often responsible for more than 100 miles of road, meaning a stranded driver might wait hours for help. He estimated that the park needs50 percent more rangers to do the job adequately.

"I worry about the future," Francis said.

Dotted with development

As the park staff struggles to cover the basics, a real estate boom is transforming the ridges and valleys around the park, which is only 800 to 1,000 feet wide in most places.

From Walnut Cove Overlook, just south of Asheville, a glimpse of the parkway's future is taking shape.

This was one of the road's most scenic views, a panorama of mountains, spreading out around a small farm in the valley below. Now, the farm has been replaced by a golf course, a clubhouse and a cluster of condos. Nearly 500 homes will eventually go up in the surrounding hills, along with a fitness center, a restaurant and a small inn. Homes in The Cliffs at Walnut Cove start at $650,000, but many will go for more than $2 million.

Each year, more rooftops are popping up within view of the parkway, especially in the areas around Asheville, Boone, Blowing Rock and Roanoke.

Many developers, including the company that is building The Cliffs, say they do their best to blend into the environment, limiting the cutting of trees, using natural materials, setting homes on large lots. But they say it is unrealistic to think that the thousands of acres visible from the parkway, much of it privately owned, can remain unchanged.

"The road is on the ridges," said Doug Miller, a regional president for Ginn Resorts, a Florida company that is building Laurelmor, a 1,500-home community near Boone that will be partially visible from the parkway. "I don't see how you could possibly avoid seeing some development. And with a very low-density project, as you're driving along at 45 mph, I don't think you're going to see much of it."

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