Most of Middle Tennessee was settled between 1790 and 1820,
when 99 percent of the country here was naturally forested in stands
of virgin timber as far as the eye could see.
Two hundred years later, 80,000 acres of open space and
woodlands is being converted to development every year in Tennessee.
We are 7th in the nation in loss of open space to roads, subdivisions,
shopping malls and industrial sites. About 1 percent of the land in
Tennessee is being developed every 3 to 4 years. In another hundred
years there may not be such a thing as open space. Wilderness, which
is historically an essential part of the American culture, is indeed a rare
commodity today and is at great risk of disappearing altogether.
Land conservation is a response to development. Alum
Cove Wilderness Center's 600 acres of land is being protected forever by a
conservation easement. This easement specifies that the land will be
preserved in a natural state allowing for the minimal facilities that are
needed to make a learning center for young people.
The Land Trust for
Tennessee, named Land Conservationist of the Year for 2001 by the
Tennessee Conservation League, is assisting us with our conservation efforts
and will hold and manage the conservation easement.
There are other worthy groups locally in Tennessee, and
nationally, who are excellent sources of assistance and information
regarding land conservation. Some of them are:
The South
Cumberland Regional Land Trust, Sewanee, Tennseessee.
The
Friends of South Cumberland State Recreation Area, Inc., Monteagle,
Tennessee
The
Tennessee Parks & Greenways Foundation.
The
Tennessee Chapter of The Nature Conservancy.
The Trust for
Public Land.
The Land Trust Alliance.
The
Conservation Fund.
If wilderness and open space are a part of our future, the
time is now. It is up to us.
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"Only about one percent of the original forest
area of the eastern United States
remains in its original, pristine state. Scattered in small pieces, these
remnants of America's deep history are unique in the diversity and combinations
of plant and animal species they preserve. To walk into them is to travel back
thousands of years in time, to see America
as the first European colonists and even native Americans found it. They are
history and biology combined for all to enjoy."
Edward O. Wilson PhD
Emeritus Professor Harvard University
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