“Ponies in the Smokies 2025” is a project aimed at reintroducing ponies to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park by the year 2025. The project is a collaboration between the National Park Service and the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont.
The ponies were originally brought to the Smokies by early settlers in the 1800s. They were used for transportation and farming, and they quickly became an important part of the local ecosystem. However, by the early 1900s, the ponies had been largely replaced by automobiles and tractors, and their population dwindled.
