North Cumberlands Conservation Plan

The Heart of the Cumberlands

§           The North Cumberlands conservation plan represents approximately 123,854 acres valued at an estimated $148 million. (Please note these are preliminary numbers. Final determination of conservation priorities and appraisals will likely result in adjustments.)

§           The three tracts, as shown on the map, include the Emory River, Brimstone and Sundquist tracts.

§           The properties are located in Scott, Campbell, Anderson and Morgan Counties and stretch from Frozen Head State Natural Area to the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area.

§           The state’s investment includes an $82 million bond initiative. The budget the Governor has proposed to the legislature includes $11 million in recurring funds for the debt service on the bond issue for this purchase.

§           The state’s conservation partners in the project include The Nature Conservancy, which will invest approximately $11 million, and The Lyme Timber Company, a forestland investor that seeks properties with high conservation value and often works in partnership with non-profit conservation organizations and government agencies, which will invest approximately $54 million.

§           Highlights of the plan include:

–         Public access rights on all 124,000 acres.

–         All rights on approximately 8,000 acres at Emory River, including Love and Bird Mountains (adjacent to Frozen Head State Natural Area).

–         Timber rights with a 10-year timber leaseback agreement with The Lyme Timber Company on 75,000 acres of the Sundquist Wildlife Management Area.

–         Conservation easements governing sustainable forestry practices and public access on approximately 27,000 acres at Brimstone and 13,000 acres at Emory River.

§           Conservation easements present an opportunity to protect not only the properties themselves but also the economic benefits they generate for local communities as working forests. Landowners continue to pay property taxes on properties with conservation easements and the state will pay in-lieu of taxes on lands it holds in fee simple ownership.

§           This plan represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to protect majestic woodlands on the Northern Cumberland Plateau that include some of the most important forests, mountains, streams and wildlife habitat remaining in North America. (Source: The Nature Conservancy)

§           Over the long term, establishing this unbroken core of protected land has the potential to enhance life in Tennessee through increased tourism, protection of unique forms of wildlife and their habitats, and opportunities for public access and recreation.  

§           The “landscape scale” of this project will also help preserve the purity of streams and rivers and provide a natural corridor for wildlife such as songbirds, bats, elk and deer to move and migrate freely.

§           The Cumberland Plateau is widely considered one of the most biologically rich regions in the world. The plateau is home to countless unique species, particularly in its waterways and cave systems. (Source: The Nature Conservancy)

§           For information on the Tennessee Chapter of The Nature Conservancy: http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/tennessee/

§           For information on The Lyme Timber Company: http://www.lymetimber.com/