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McEWEN FAMILY LEGACY BEGINS HICKMAN COUNTY EFFORTS
"This land makes us who we are....." The passion in Bill McEwen's voice was palpable. Standing in front of a crackling fire in a homey log cabin, Bill described his feelings about preserving his family's farm on the eastern edge of Hickman County close by the scenic Duck River. "I am doing something that is forever. It's a profound experience, one that most of us never get the chance to do."
Bill and his wife, Shirley, gathered a house full of friends and family on a cold, clear January morning to celebrate the donation of a conservation easement to the Land Trust for Tennessee on 170 acres of farmland and wildlife habitat. The property is near the hamlet of Shady Grove, a stone's throw from the Natchez Trace Parkway. The gathering included members of the Land Trust staff who worked with the McEwens for more than a year, as well as several Land Trust board members. Present, too, were partners from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency who have been working with Bill for several years to improve wildlife habitat, helping reverse the decline in bobwhite quail populations in Tennessee. The McEwens have lived in this area since the early 1800s. "This land is what makes us who we are, and if we do not respect our relationship with it, we are doing a great disservice to ourselves and future generations," Bill said. "I feel like the luckiest man in the world to have been able to live and raise my family here. I want others to be able to do the same. There needs to always be places for wildlife and beauty to sustain us all."
The McEwen farm rests in a particularly picturesque part of Tennessee, where the rolling pastures and rich bottoms of the Central Basin intersect with the more wooded Western Highland Rim. The farm is another in a string of properties the Land Trust protects along the Natchez Trace corridor in the watersheds of the Harpeth and Duck Rivers. For this landscape, conservation easements now cover land from the outskirts of Nashville to the Duck River, a distance of some thirty miles in three counties, Williamson, Maury, and Hickman. Byron R. Trauger, Chairman of the Land Trust board, is exuberant about the McEwen's stewardship. "As the Land Trust's first Hickman county project, it is only fitting that this first step was taken by a family with such history in our region. The Land Trust is committed to conserving farmland, lands along our river corridors such as the very important Duck River, as well as protecting lands that buffer the Natchez Trace Parkway. This farm is a wonderful combination of all three." The McEwens operate the cabin as a bed and breakfast, which is popular with cyclists riding The Parkway. The relocated 1881 Centerville railroad depot, also on the property, hosts guests as well.
Bob Brandt is a lawyer, historian, writer, and retired Chancelory judge. His books, Touring Middle Tennessee Back Roads and Middle Tennessee on Foot: Hikes in the Woods & Walks on Country Roads, are the premier guides to this region's special places. Bob is a founding board member of The Land Trust for Tennessee.
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