Mack's slide programs are being scanned so that his conservation work in Tennessee and elsewhere can be preserved and shared with public. National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) is a major supporter of the Mack S. Prichard Archive Project. **See other galleries within Mack Prichard Programs, etc.

Mack Prichard
Conservationist, Naturalist
For more than 50 years, Mack Prichard served as an effective thinker, teacher and advocate for conservation in Tennessee. Mack began his career with the Tennessee Department of Conservation when he was just 16 years old, as the seasonal naturalist at Shelby Forest State Park (now called Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park) near Memphis. In addition to developing extensive knowledge of natural and cultural history, he had a gift for connecting with people and instilling appreciation for everything natural and historic. He died on April 28, 2019 in Cookeville, TN.
Since Mack began his career in 1956, few people have been as instrumental as he was in promoting conservation, state parks and natural areas in Tennessee. Mack was actively involved in securing and protecting more than half of the areas in the state park system today. As state archeologist, he established the Tennessee Division of Archeology in 1971. Mack was natural areas administrator in 1973 and helped protect the first land under the Natural Areas Act. In the last decades of his career, he was known as the state naturalist. In May 2006, in anticipation of his retirement, the Tennessee General Assembly commended Mack’s half-century of being Tennessee’s “conservation conscience” and conferred upon him the title of Tennessee State Naturalist Emeritus through Senate resolution.
Mack’s work outside of state government was also prodigious. He was one of three founding members of the Tennessee Trails Association and was actively involved in starting at least 30 conservation organizations statewide. Mack’s beloved and respected voice inspired a range of constructive work to advance natural resource preservation, resulting in more effective resource management across the state. —Randy Hedgepath, Tennessee State Naturalist