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 | Caney Fork River
Smith County: The next time you are driving I-40 east towards Knoxville, look to your right and your left as you pass over the 3rd and 4th bridges of the Caney Fork River (just before the rest area) and you are looking at one of the most beautiful landscape in the state and one that will now always be protected.
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| Caney Fork River
Smith County: The next time you are driving I-40 east towards Knoxville, look to your right and your left as you pass over the 3rd and 4th bridges of the Caney Fork River (just before the rest area) and you are looking at one of the most beautiful landscape in the state and one that will now always be protected.
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 | River Ridge Farm
Meigs County: The Land Trust for Tennessee, in conjunction with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, is happy to announce that David and Verlinda Waters have completed this week the conservation of their 152 acres of farmland on the Tennessee River through a permanent conservation agreement. The property was one of only two farms in Tennessee to qualify in 2009 for the USDA’s Farm and Ranchland Protection Program, which was created through the Farm Bill to preserve the highest priority working farmland in the nation. Known as River Ridge Farm, the land has been in Mr. Waters’ family since the 1960’s and contains over 2,000 feet of frontage on the Tennessee River.
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 | Putnam Family Property
White and Van Buren Counties: The Land Trust for Tennessee recently announced the protection of 324 acres of high conservation value forestland in the South Cumberland Plateau region of White and Van Buren Counties.
The land – which contains over a mile of Bee Creek - is owned by Paul Putnam from Dalton, Georgia. The property is protected through a working forest conservation easement held by The Land Trust for Tennessee and will remain privately owned.
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 | Hunter Property
Hickman County: This summer, a conservation easement on 338 acres in Hickman County was donated by Lee Hunter from Columbia, TN. This property is a classic western highland rim landscape best described by its long ridges and steep hill sides with substantial oak-hickory forests. This property includes the watersheds of Panther Cave, Mud Branch and Stairstep Hollow, plus over half a mile of frontage on the lower Duck River.
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 | The Hemlocks
Anderson County: Named “The Hemlocks” for the three graceful trees that pre-date the construction of the Edwards-Fowler House, circa 1830’s, the 56-acre farm and residence of Mrs. Bertha R. Fowler is located in the Dutch Valley area of Clinton in Anderson County.
In addition to maintaining the context of the historic home, the conservation easement protects the steep slopes, rare species, and abundant wildlife found on the farm, and in the region of the Upper Cumberland Area of Interest designation of the Tennessee Division of Natural Heritage. The farm features several natural springs and a portion of Cane Creek within the Clinch River watershed.
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 | 10 Acres Adjacent to Radnor Lake Protected
Davidson County: This summer, The Friends of Radnor Lake acquired five tracts of property totaling just over 10 acres along Granny White Pike and worked with The Land Trust to place a conservation easement on the land to make sure this addition would be protected forever. This land was slated to be a residential development and now will be forever wild.
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 | White Bluff Property
Dickson County: In June 2009, William “Spook” Spann and Rolland & Andrea Luplow donated their jointly owned 8-acre White Bluff property to The Land Trust for Tennessee. This beautiful piece of land is located in eastern Dickson County and is situated along the north side of Turnbull Creek, only a few miles from the Harpeth River.
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 | Hill Tract at Warner Parks
Davidson County: On August 25th, The Land Trust for Tennessee accepted a conservation agreement from The Friends of Warner Parks on an extraordinary property in Davidson County: The Hill Tract. This property is 324 acres of forests and fields (with some trees over 200 years old!) containing significant biodiversity and wildlife habitat. The land is located adjacent to the existing Warner park system (between Highway 70 and Highway 100), 9 miles from downtown Nashville.
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 | Farrow Family Farm
Collegedale, TN: In 2006, as the area continued to boom, he bought 40 acres of Collegedale farmland and settled there with his wife Tamatha and two children. To protect his farm and retain some of the area longtime rural appeal, Mr. Farrow recently completed a voluntary conservation agreement on his land with The Land Trust for Tennessee.
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 | Buffalo River Farms Preserved
Perry County: The Land Trust for Tennessee has been focusing over the past several years on protecting lands along the Duck River and its tributaries, so it was a clear progression to start working with landowners along the Buffalo River, the largest tributary to the Duck River. In 2007, The Land Trust for Tennessee worked with three families to protect over 800 acres of land along the Buffalo River in Perry County. That is over 2 miles of the Buffalo River that will be permanently conserved with the scenic views of open farmland that will be enjoyed by canoeists for many generations to come.
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 | Fortune Family Farm
Greene County: Greene County is the sixth largest county in terms of overall area in Tennessee, and despite its scenically steep topography, contains some amazingly rich farmland along its river and creek bottoms. Unfortunately, this farmland is often the most vulnerable to the new development the area is experiencing. The Fortune easement marks the first permanent conservation success story for The Land Trust and its local partner, The Appalachian RC&D Council, and jumpstarts a joint effort to protect the rich agricultural resources of the region. Philip Fortune's easement also helps protect two federally endangered aquatic species, the Chucky Madtom and the Cumberland Bean mussel, and the overall water quality of Little Chucky Creek.
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 | Nashville Naturally
Davidson County Open Space Plan: The plan will be a roadmap for the strategic conservation and creation of green spaces, by both the public and private sectors, in an effort to protect the unique landscape of Middle Tennessee. The project will include opportunities in urban areas such as the creation of neighborhood parks and gardens, and protecting the hillsides and private parks, as well as opportunities outside of the urban core such as conserving farms and forests and protecting river corridors.
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 | Sound Hollow
Williamson County: Sound Hollow Farm on Old Highway 96 in Williamson County has been conserved forever by Anne E. Sanders, who donated a permanent conservation easement late last year. The 230-acre farm is located just 3 miles west of Leipers Fork where the Land Trust completed its first conservation easement in 1999. Anne, who grew up in nearby Nashville, purchased the land in 1998 and immediately fell in love with its steep terrain and scenic views. The land is made up of high ridges and hollows that contain numerous creeks and seeps that drain into Harpendene Branch at the bottom of the steep valley.
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 | Lost Cove
Cumberland Plateau: The Land Trust completed an exciting four-year effort to purchase and permanently protect Lost and Champion Coves. This prize land on the southern Cumberland Plateau could only be saved through a purchase.
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 | Mayfield Family Farm
McMinn County: The original Mayfield Dairy farm, from which grew the family's renowned ice cream and dairy fare business, will be conserved as farmland forever. Nearly 700 acres of rolling farmland and forests, with pine and hardwoods dotting the landscape along State Route 307 and interesected by the Oostanaula Creek, will remain as it has been since 1820.
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 | Dixona Farm
Smith County: Dixona Farm, one of Middle Tennessee's most historic sites has been conserved forever with a conservation easement donated by Faith Adams Young. The farm, with 148 acres of pasture and forest on Dixon Creek, contains one of the oldest homes in Middle Tennessee.
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 | Beech Creek Valley (photo: Nancy Rhoda)
Williamson County: Four landowners have conserved 256 acres of woodlands and farmland
along South Beech Creek Road through permanent conservation agreements with the statewide nonprofit land conservation organization.
Beech Creek Valley sits like a fragile flower nestled between Grassland to the west and the fast-growing Brentwood city limits to the east.
South Beech Creek Road winds through the valley, flanked by a tunnel of trees and series of old stone walls. While it was once protected by inaccessibility,
it is now safe-guarded by a group of like-minded neighbors who banded together to maintain the woods and scenic hills that make his snug valley so unique.
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 | Farm and Forestland Conserved Forever in Giles County
Giles County: Zollie and Jenette McCormack couldn’t imagine their 1300 acres of Giles County farmland, their livelihood for the last 32 years, being anything but what it is today—a highly productive, working farm where the buzz of the combine lives in harmony with the singing birds. And harmony and peace is just what you feel the moment you round the bend into the farm. In the spring and summer, wheat, corn and soybeans cover the rich soils that are fed by the Elk River as it winds through the land for over 4 miles. The Elk River and Richland Creek, both home to many endangered species, meet on the property before the Elk River flows into Alabama and then into the Tennessee River. If you are lucky enough the float the Elk River on a hot summer day, you can’t miss this beautiful farm as the Elk River bends around the land. Of course, you can always catch a glimpse as you drive on Interstate 65 near mile marker 2.
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 | Landowners in the Southeast Region Inspire Each Other to Conserve
Southeastern Tennessee: Just over two years ago, The Land Trust for Tennessee protected our first properties in the greater Chattanooga area - the Circle G Farm and the Circle V Farm in Georgetown, owned by David and Kathy Gooch and Greg Vital, respectively. The conservation of over 220 acres of rolling hills and woods along a beautiful stretch of Highway 60 provided the spark that has encouraged and inspired other landowners in the area to permanently protect their treasured properties. "It's truly been exciting to see the growth of conservation agreements in the Southeast Region and across the state," says Greg, who became a member of the Board of Directors of The Land Trust in 2008.
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 | Lost Cove Updates
Cumberland Plateau: It's hard to believe that nearly a year has passed since The Land Trust for Tennessee and the University of the South protected 3,000 acres around Lost and Champion Coves. How has the conservation of this resource impacted the South Cumberland Plateau? By inspiring other landowners to protect properties adjacent to Lost and Champion Coves, and The Land Trust for Tennessee is there to work with these interested landowners to conserve their special lands.
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 | Glen Leven Estate in Nashville
Davidson County: In an incredibly generous gift, The Land Trust for Tennessee was bequeathed the historic Glen Leven home and its surrounding sixty-five acres from Susan M. West. The property is located in Nashville, Tennessee at 4000 Franklin Road. In fulfilling Ms. West's wishes for her property, The Land Trust is giving thoughtful consideration to ideas on what to do with this treasure in Davidson County.
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 | Beaman Park to Bells Bend
Davidson County : The Beaman Park to Bells Bend project corridor presents an unprecedented opportunity for Nashville and Davidson County to become a regional leader in rural conservation. Few, if any, cities of Nashville's size retain an intact historic rural and agricultural landscape only fifteen to thirty minutes from their downtown. Buffered from development by the Cumberland River on the south and the hills of the Western Highland Rim on the north, the project corridor's abundant natural, cultural, and recreational resources hold vast potential to improve the quality of life of its residents and the greater population of Metro Nashville. It is an "irreplaceable jewel" of natural beauty that could very easily be lost without careful planning, and one that is likely candidate for a determination of eligibility as a National Register of Historic Places rural historic and archaeological district.
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