When Laurel Rematore announced she was moving to the Great Smoky Mountains, Denise Matsuoka was shocked. Matsuoka, Rematore’s close friend since high school, remembered how Rematore had described the Smokies when she’d visited a couple of years earlier.

Smokies Life, a nonprofit partner to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, announces Jacqueline Harp as its new chief executive officer. After a national search, Harp was selected and approved by the board of directors and will begin as CEO on Sept. 11, 2024.

Laurel Rematore, CEO of Smokies Life, will be recognized with the Excellence in Cooperating Association Partnership Award at the National Park Service’s Excellence in Service Awards to be held Aug. 21 in Washington, D.C.

Following CEO Laurel Rematore’s announcement that she intends to retire at the end of 2024, Smokies Life, formerly known as the Great Smoky Mountains Association, has launched a national search for her successor.