The eight thousand-acre Curtis Creek tract was the first parcel of land acquired under the Weeks Act. Signed by President Taft in 1911, the act authorized the purchase of parcels of land that would become eastern National Forests. This tract also included several hundred acres that are now part of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Some of the acquired lands were dense native forests, while others had been cut over and were badly in need of restoration. The Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests make up more than two-thirds of the lands that border the Parkway in North Carolina, and these forests are a continuing legacy of the Weeks Act.