Honoring Mack Prichard, the “Conservation Conscience of Tennessee”

Banner Image: Mack Prichard leads Governor Winfield Dunn and others to virgin timber in Savage Gulf in 1971. Courtesy of Tennessee State Parks.

Mack Prichard was given this nickname by Phil Bredesen, one of the many Tennessee governors he served under during his half-century of service. After Mack’s passing in 2021, Governor Bill Lee designated March 31st as Mack S. Prichard Day, commemorating Tennessee’s first state naturalist and state archeologist. 

But Mack was so much more than those titles can describe. For more than 50 years, he was an eloquent spokesman for the natural world, playing a key role in facilitating the acquisition of more than 40 sites. Many of these sites went on to become state parks or natural areas— meaning if you’ve ever visited a natural park in Tennessee, Mack likely had a hand in creating it.

Mack grew up in Dyersburg and Memphis, hunting and fishing with his father near West Tennessee. At 15 years old, he gave a talk in favor of preserving Parkin Mound, an ancient Indian mound in Arkansas. His speech was so successful, the owner of the property donated the entire site to the state. Shortly after, Mack was hired as a seasonal naturalist at Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park in Memphis. His natural people skills and knack for managing projects was immediately recognized by his superiors, earning him increasingly important positions within the Tennessee State Parks organization. 

Then, in 1964, Mack began working with the Department of Conservation’s Planning Division. With Mack’s help, the department was able to acquire several parks across the state including David Crockett, Rock Island, Henry Horton, Pinson Mounds and Old Stone Fort. Things didn’t end there. In 1971, Mack became Tennessee’s first state archeologist, and continued securing significant archeological sites like Mound Bottom, Mace Bluff, Link Farm, and Sellars Farm. 

Mack’s conservation efforts were fueled by passion, and often involved personal appeals to state representatives and government bodies. In 1971, he convinced Governor Winfield Dunn to join him in visiting the virgin timber at Savage Gulf, in hopes of transforming the land into a State Natural Area. Mack assembled a team to accompany him on several hiking and horseback expeditions into the Cumberland wilderness. After the expeditions, Governor Dunn was so impressed that he not only acquired the park, but signed the Natural Areas Act of 1971—which helped solidify and maintain the acquisition of several State Natural Areas.