Gatlinburg receives Municipal League award for Excellence in Municipal Governance

With a permanent population of around 4,000 but an average of 13 million yearly visitors, Gatlinburg’s municipal government must always strike a delicate balance between entertaining the masses coming to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and providing essential services to year-round residents. 

For meeting unique government challenges head-on with innovative solutions, TML is proud to present the city of Gatlinburg with an award for Excellence in Municipal Governance. The award will be presented Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, at the 85th Annual Conference of the Tennessee Municipal League (TML) held at the Chattanooga Convention Center. 

Like many municipalities who border national parks, Gatlinburg is often faced with unique challenges – particularly in the form of the 1,500 black bears who also call the area home. Both a symbol of the region and a safety and environmental concern, Gatlinburg officials have undertaken several unique programs to minimize human-wildlife interactions and ensure that residents, visitors, and wild animals are protected. 

While often the source of viral moments, Gatlinburg officials knew bear encounters were often the result of unsecured waste, posed significant public safety concerns and can negatively impact visitor experience.  In 2024, the city recognized that removing trash as a food source for bears would reduce human-bear conflict and aligned policy, infrastructure, and public education to achieve this goal. A $3 million investment to replace all previously private dumpsters with approximately 460 bear-resistant containers allowed for centralized control and maintenance. 

A new maintenance position was created within the Sanitation Department with plans underway for a dedicated maintenance garage to support the sustainability of the program. The city also coordinated a phased rollout of the dumpster program with local businesses to help with the transition and also offered to dispose of old dumpsters in the process. Afterwards, only city-owned animal resistant dumpsters received service, ensuring city-wide compliance and long-term effectiveness through both policy and practice.  

Beyond infrastructure, the program also built on existing partnerships designed to aid in coexistence between humans and wildlife. Gatlinburg is an active member of the Smokies BearWise Task Force and has maintained a 25-year partnership with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA). This partnership includes the co-funding of a dedicated TWRA Bear Officer who serves Gatlinburg and has led specialized bear-response training for the Gatlinburg Police Department. Ordinances supporting the dumpster program were enacted alongside public education efforts, ensuring community awareness and engagement. 

Additionally, the city expanded its educational outreach to engage the community in being part of the solution and deployed members of the Gatlinburg Police and Fire Departments for door-to-door visits to inform residents and business owners about the importance of compliance. Local businesses were also encouraged to use artificial produce in their fall displays to prevent attracting wildlife into public areas. Educating the public and businessowners has empowered the community to play an active role in minimizing wildlife conflicts.  

The new dumpsters have also contributed to the overall cleanliness of the city. Prior to the program’s implementation, bears and other wildlife frequently accessed traditional dumpsters, leading to scattered trash, property damage, and increased staff hours devoted to cleanup and response. With the new dumpsters preventing this from happening, valuable staff time and resources have been freed up to focus on more proactive city services. The city has also seen long-term operational savings from minimizing property damage, reduced overtime costs, and extending the lifespan of sanitation infrastructure. 

Through strategic investment, collaboration with other agencies, regulation, and public education, Gatlinburg’s program not only balanced public safety, environmental stewardship, and tourism sustainability but has also been recognized as a model program for other municipalities that deal with similar issues. TWRA and BearWise have both used Gatlinburg’s strategy as a model of how communities can collaboratively, sustainably, and proactively protect both the public and wildlife. 

Each year the Tennessee Municipal League honors cities throughout the state for overall excellence, improvement, specific outstanding programs, or department accomplishments. Award winners for 2025 include Chattanooga for Excellence in Energy Efficiency and Conservation; Cleveland for Excellence in Economic and Community Development; Farragut for Excellence in Innovation; Franklin for Excellence in Fire Services; Gatlinburg for Excellence in Municipal Governance; Greeneville for Excellence in Parks and Recreation; Jackson for Excellence in Police Services; Kingsport for Excellence in Economic and Community Development; and Pulaski for Small City Progress.