Kinnie-Moran Conservation Celebration
A portion of the Kinnie-Moran Harpeth River-front farm will remain cherished green space forever.
The Celebration
Last week, we headed to Williamson County for a special celebration. John Kinnie put 138 acres of prime farmland into a conservation easement, ensuring a highly visible bend of the Harpeth River will remain undeveloped in perpetuity. With generational roots in the area, Mr. Kinnie wanted to honor his family’s legacy by protecting a significant portion of his farm.
Neighbors, friends, local representatives, and The Land Trust team gathered to celebrate the closing on the afternoon of June 30th. Under a shady tree, the crowd sipped iced tea and reflected on what this decision meant for the community.
Charlie Hatcher.
The Remarks
As The Land Trust for Tennessee’s President and CEO Liz McLaurin explained, “When Mr. Kinnie decided to protect his land with us, he didn’t give it to us. He gave us his development rights and we have extinguished those development rights,” she said. “It’s a transaction between a landowner who has a vision for his or her piece of property and The Land Trust for Tennessee – and that goes on forever.”
Liz passed the microphone to Williamson County Mayor Rogers Anderson. Reflecting on current trends in his district, Mayor Anderson spoke to the pandemic’s impact: “As disappointing as the pandemic was, one of the things that came out of that [was that] people in the cities decided they wanted to move to the counties and our county was a recipient of that. They wanted large tracts of land…there was a windfall. So, as we go down the road, we’ll try to do other things [to protect farmland], particularly work with you, Liz, and The Land Trust for Tennessee.”
Tennessee Commissioner of Agriculture Charlie Hatcher wrapped up the presentation asking the crowd to think about the future of our state. “Tennessee is the fourth worst state in the country for loss of high value [agricultural] and forestry lands,” he explained. “That’s kind of a wakeup call…we’re faced with rapid urbanization. How do we strike that balance?”
The Impact
As of last week, The Land Trust for Tennessee has protected 7,520.23 acres of land across 67 projects in Williamson County. The closing of the Kinnie-Moran conservation easement adds 138.37 acres, bringing the total to 7,658.6 protected acres across 68 projects. If you’d like to learn more about how a conservation easement could align with your goals, we’d love to speak with you. Give us a call at (615) 244-LAND to begin the conversation.
A sincere thank you to John Kinnie for his stewardship of such a special place.
who worked together on this project.