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Our Vision: Connecting Youth With Nature
Where do city
kids have an opportunity to learn about the great out of doors, Nature,
self-reliance and self-sufficiency, how food is grown, animals raised, how
the natural world works and how humans and Nature live in cooperation rather
than conflict?
The values and
knowledge of living close to the land and close to Nature are vanishing with
the current generation and will most certainly be lost to the next. We
would like to help change that.
We live a
self-reliant lifestyle and believe we have much to teach today's youth about
the woods, hunting, first-aid, firearm safety, wild-crafting, and utilizing
nature without destroying it. We want to teach our area's young people
about Nature and how important it is to keep it as part of our lives. As
Tennessee State Naturalist Mack Prichard says, "They aren't making any more
wilderness these days."
We have the
skills that are needed to make this a successful youth educational center.
We are dedicating our six hundred acres in Alum Cove and all of our time and
resources to creating a place and a process that will live on even after we
are gone. We want to teach our area's youth.
The Plan
Alum Cove
Wilderness Center will include some basic infrastructure development to make
a year round facility that will not degrade the wilderness we are
preserving.
We plan to
build a central lodge with a kitchen, a classroom, and hands-on learning
facilities. Small rustic cabins will surround the main center for
student overnights. There will be camp sites for tents, an archery range, a
rifle range, a small kennel for dogs, an outside pavilion for dressing game
and cleaning vegetables, shower and restroom facilities and most
importantly, campfire pits!
The lodge and
cabins will operate with an off grid electrical system using a generator, a
battery bank and eventually some renewable energy technologies such as
photovoltaics. Water will come from a natural spring and/or a well.
Because we
know that not all young people have parents who are able to teach their
children these things (or who do not have the time or desire to do so), we
plan to use local volunteers in a Big-Brother-type program to assure that
all the children will have close adult supervision. All volunteers will be
subject to criminal background checks to ensure the safety of the children
in our care. We know that many of the children will not have the funds
to come to such a camp. Everything will be provided free of charge.
For those who can afford, the programs will still be free but your generosity
to support the Center with tax deductible charitable donations will
certainly be appreciated.
There are many
miles of good logging trails in Alum Cove. These will be excellent for
hiking. As we logged, with forethought, we pushed piles of brush for the
wildlife to escape to and live in, left wildlife trees, and water-barred the
skid roads to prevent erosion. The main roads on the property will be
maintained for emergency vehicles only. No other motorized vehicles
will be allowed.
Alum Cove
Wilderness Center is rich with wildlife. We have deer, turkey, squirrel,
raccoon, rabbit, fox, coyote and dozens of species of songbirds.
Alum Cove
Wilderness Center is a facility dedicated to the education of youth, and
will provide a place for the adults of tomorrow to make a connection with
Nature is ways not possible even in our many fine State Parks. Alum
Cove Wilderness Center is an excellent place to learn safe and proper
methods of outdoor wilderness activities.
The places
where Gregg used to hike, explore and hunt during his childhood have all
turned into sub-divisions. Our mountain land in the Sequatchie Valley
and the Cumberland Plateau is being subdivided and developed for homes at an
ever increasing rate. Development is presently consuming more than
80,000 acres per year in Tennessee. It is now more important than ever
now to set aside land that will remain wild and free. Therefore, we have
placed our 600 acres of land in Alum Cove into the Tennessee Land Trust
Program, to assure this property and program remains for this purpose.
What's
Happening To Date
The site where
the main camp will be built has been cleared and leveled. The roads to the
camp and to other parts of the property have been established. We have
researched with the Tennessee Geological Survey about putting in a water
well on the site.
Harvey
Cameron, our attorney from Jasper, has filed the application for our 501(c)3
non-profit status. We are organizing a board of directors, dedicating
our land to The Tennessee Land Trust through a conservation easement.
We have talked
to our Agricultural Extension Agent here in Marion County, John Wilson,
about funding ideas and youth programs, have talked to Boy Scout leaders
about using the facility. We have put together a list of the schools that
we will offer the use of the facility for field trips, and will let the
students know that the facilities here.
Our 600 acres
will be donated to the nonprofit corporation and our others assets, such as
equipment and our greenhouse will be leased or rented to the nonprofit
corporation as needed for maintenance or activities.
The Start
Up
Plan
Our first and
main hurdle is to obtain funding to keep project going. We will need
support from our local community, and volunteers for building and running
the programs, a Big- Brother/Grandfather volunteer program and donations and
support from local businesses for such items as materials and supplies. The
overall budget is approximately $450,000.00. We would like to have the
project up and well under way by the 2003 hunting season.
The Long
Term Plan
We would like
to have regularly scheduled events and fundraisers, such as a spring and
fall plant and bulb sale, Christmas tree sale and other activities to
maintain and expand to meet the needs of our community. We would like to
establish a perpetual model so that our program will continue to flourish
even after we are gone.
We would like
to develop additional projects for the youth, such as a stocked pond and
food plots to encourage more game into the area. We would also like to
establish a facility to raise game birds to repopulate the area, a facility
where young people can be involved in helping to operate the wild game
husbandry activities if they wish, and a program where college students can
help during the summer to get some experience working with children in a
student teacher mode.
To raise funds
to support this project we will offer to Adult groups for a fee the use of
the facility for special events. Some examples might include events such as
family reunions, corporate meetings, private club events and family camping
adventures.
In
Conclusion
Connecting
youth with Nature and teaching young people about hunting and wilderness
will be a salvation for outdoor sports and conservation. Children need to
know that food doesn't just come from the store and that it takes knowledge
caring for an preserving nature. It is our experiential learning and
close contact with Nature that confirms our belief and has fueled our
vision. We sincerely hope you will share this opportunity with us.
We welcome your involvement and participation.
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