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Breaking: 130,000 acres of land saved in Tennessee!

nature.org — The Nature Conservancy has completed the largest conservation transaction in Tennessee since the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the 1930s... to protect nearly 130,000 acres of majestic hardwood forests, mountains and streams, now also open to the public for recreation.

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  • rodneyblmachine, on 11/15/2007, -16/+1The Nature Conservancy made a large transaction to save 130,000 acres of nature.
    • Seidoger, on 11/15/2007, -1/+6We know
    • gmiley, on 11/16/2007, -0/+6That must have taken some major research man. I just couldn't quite connect the dots until I read this comment. Thanks.
      • ennyjay, on 11/16/2007, -0/+0Same here. :). I hope he feels appreciated.
    • leobaby, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1That's an area roughly 14 miles x 14 miles.
  • Angelfangs, on 11/15/2007, -4/+18Nature Conservancy rules!
  • KentuckyGal, on 11/15/2007, -2/+1Good for them!
  • Winoria, on 11/15/2007, -2/+8Yaay for my native TN!
    • burkinaboy, on 11/15/2007, -2/+9FTA: this area of Tennessee is "widely considered one of the most biologically rich regions on Earth, rivaling the biodiversity of tropical rainforests." Gotta go visit now that the lands are open to the public!
      • ScottyMcBaggs, on 11/16/2007, -2/+1So will all the meth cooks and weed farmers!
    • p_o_b, on 11/16/2007, -0/+3Ditto Winoria!, there are some gorgeous areas in east Tennessee, especially this year.
  • gymjoyus, on 11/15/2007, -7/+7Yea for the Nature Conservancy!
    I just wish there were more National Parks being made now days since the trees seem to be "dropping like flies" because of all the development - both in commercial & residential. :(
  • xShaziex, on 11/15/2007, -2/+3Good one,keep up the good work.
  • petsheep, on 11/15/2007, -4/+5Good for Tennessee home of my heroes, the Volunteers, in the fight at the Alamo.
  • KnitWitch, on 11/15/2007, -3/+14Growing up in Northeast Tennessee, I saw so much nature lost to commercial and residential development in the 80's. This is a GREAT step in the right direction.
  • flangle, on 11/15/2007, -2/+5Big big news indeed, I lived in knoxville most of my adolescent life. Love the Smoky Mountains!! Lakes mountains and caves all within 30-45 minutes drive.
  • TheKrillr, on 11/15/2007, -8/+25How is this "Breaking"? Seriously. Breaking news typically refers to a high-profile event that is in progress. For example huge fires in downtown Seattle, or whatever. Something that a news agency is providing continuing minute-by-minute coverage of.
    • ngmcs8203, on 11/15/2007, -0/+3I guess "Amazing!", "NSFW" and "Top 10" were just as irrelevant?...
      • gmiley, on 11/16/2007, -0/+4Maybe it's time to introduce the new, albeit somewhat bland, tagline - "INTERESTING:"
    • majortom1981, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1The problem is with all these submit to digg links all around you will get a lot of front apge things like this. Digg is poorly implemented. IF you want real news dig is not the site to be on.
  • jthrashr, on 11/15/2007, -1/+4Yay trees!
  • Xerces, on 11/15/2007, -8/+3ok now the next tree we need to save is cannabis. ready go.
  • skyshock1, on 11/15/2007, -7/+6"now also open to the public for recreation"

    Well then it's not really 'saved' then is it?
    • toosalty, on 11/16/2007, -0/+6Of course it's still 'saved'. Hiking, fishing, and hunting all have a very low impact on the land. In fact, regulated hunting and fishing lead to healthier animal populations. Not to mention the fact that hunting and fishing license fees put millions of dollars into wildlife and forest management programs.
      Besides, if pristine land were unavailable to the public, how many children would develop a love of nature? Who would be left to fight for conservation if nobody was ever able to experience the outdoors?
      • Winoria, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1I have to agree. The absence of humans does not equate "pristine nature". Letting people enjoy the land makes it economically and culturally worth saving.
  • tomtom13, on 11/15/2007, -0/+3This is great. If we really want to preserve our environment and try fixing the mistakes we've made this is a wonderful start
  • jcaino, on 11/15/2007, -0/+3this is one of the best places in the region - the entire appalachin range is home to tons of deciduous trees - unfortunately, past conservation acts have been more harmful than helpful.

    here's hoping this goes better.
  • bradcrc, on 11/16/2007, -1/+3so the deal is that they buy these areas and then once the trees get big enough, the lumber companies come and cut them down?

    Seems like a better plan than unrestricted development I'd imagine. Anyone have a link to more extensive details about exactly how they "harvest" these forests? I'm curious as to what happens... exactly. The story here is blatant unapologetic press release, so there aren't many real details.
  • hobgobbler, on 11/16/2007, -0/+5ain't no place I'd rather be
  • Betrayer, on 11/16/2007, -6/+1what exactly was it saved from? .. when will the new roads be built for the campgrounds, the RV waste stations and and other Facilities will be nice so i can take my 4 wheeler up there and trash the place.
  • jordanlgta, on 11/16/2007, -1/+3I've lived in Tennessee all of my life and think that this is great news.
  • imightbewrong, on 11/16/2007, -0/+4What are you doing? digg is only for negative news stories
    • Betrayer, on 11/16/2007, -1/+1it is negative if your a fish or a hunted animal.

      stop the humans! save the fishys
  • CondoleezzaRice, on 11/16/2007, -3/+0Throw them all in Gitmo.
  • lajaw, on 11/16/2007, -0/+3I wonder when it'll be turned over to the U.N.?
  • loujay, on 11/16/2007, -3/+1I almost hit the roof when I saw this! I hit up the Smokys 4 times a year to do part of the AT and to hike throughout the park! I immediately called my backpacking buddy and read him the article. It reminded me of the time that I was on top of Charlie's Bunion during a thunderstorm. I sat myself right down, took in the view of the expansive abyss before me, and took a HUGE dump of (formerly) dehydrated potatoes courtesy of Mountain House! That was amazing! I look forward to similar new experiences in the lower altitudes of the plateau! Great Smoky Mountains rocks my world!
  • asspants, on 11/16/2007, -2/+1BREAKING
  • fullphaser, on 11/16/2007, -0/+3 I don't mean to derail how good a things this is for the smokies, but as I read the comments I had to laugh at the number of folks who were like "Oh yeah I've lived in Tennessee at one time or another", just funny to me that nearly all the commenter's lived in tennessee at one time. Also yes I current live in Tennessee (it must be a trap... hmmm)
    • loujay, on 11/16/2007, -0/+0Man! I live in Tennessee! It MUST be a trap. Just like Tennessee Waltz!
  • xili, on 11/16/2007, -0/+0Yea, now Tennesseans can have the same forest-fire lifestyle as the people living in California
  • troycott, on 11/16/2007, -4/+1Yeah right, like I'd go camping there. Not unless I wanted to 'squeal like a pig' for some hillbillies.
    • kawaiirobo, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1you really are ignorant aren't you.
  • josephblanx, on 11/16/2007, -0/+3This is good news, Tennessee is beautiful.

    I wish I wasn't in lovely Flint.
  • majortom1981, on 11/16/2007, -0/+2I wish I lived in a place like tennese. I live on Long Island and only have water ,beaches, and flat land. Can't even get lost because you will hit water .
  • obxjdt, on 11/16/2007, -2/+1Pretty cool they saved the forest, but it sounds like someone got screwed out of $300,000,000. It's not cool to use the power of the government to take from one, and give to another! Do you want the government taking the things that you work for and telling you what you can use it for, or giving it to someone else?
    Besides, it's just plain stupid. They can cut the new growth, but not the old??? So the forest can't renew itself...That's smart.....It's like telling a farmer he can only harvest 10% of his crop. That's right, Lumber companies are tree farmers. Without trees, they go out of business. It's in their best interest to replant for future harvesting.
    Like I said, I'm glad it was saved, but I think they should have been paid the fair market value of $300,000,000 not to harvest it, instead of the $53,000,000. The companies & share holders just got a Cyprus tree stuck up their ass. After all is said and done, isn't it worth $300,000,000 to protect that much land? Can't complain about pork spending if you don't want to spend the money on thing that have value....
  • arbituator, on 11/16/2007, -2/+1Breaking: The Dell Dude just got arrested for posession.
  • moock, on 11/16/2007, -0/+3I live on the Cumberland Plateau and this area is indeed very beautiful. The fall colors are amazing right now.

    This is great news.
  • Terrk, on 11/16/2007, -0/+2Oh man, I hope we can start some mad crazy Geo Caching, that would rule!

    This is freakin sweet.
  • mdc10s, on 11/16/2007, -4/+2Too bad they are a UN front company buying up all the land in the US under the guise of "enviromentalism". Then they will herd us all into compact cities and we wont be allowed in the UN biospheres. Check out the new # 1 documentary Endgame, it explains everything.
  • dfective, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1Now do something about those beetles or whatever they are ruining our trees. They demolish parks and camp grounds like nothing
  • xlar54, on 11/16/2007, -5/+2Im not sure I understand all the excitement about this. America is so vast with unused land. Instead of giving it to citizens for homesteading or building to create jobs, we "protect" it? When did land become more valuable than people?
  • madk, on 11/16/2007, -3/+1I say we built a nuclear power plant smack dab in the center of it.
    • kcfreels, on 11/16/2007, -0/+2There are already several reactors in the immediate area, with the closest at Watts Bar, where the are incidentally building a second reactor currently.
  • BryanUT, on 11/16/2007, -0/+0Good job. While 130,000 acres is not very large this is a big win.

    Within an hour of Salt Lake City is over 140,000 acres of open ATV land. The state has 10,000 miles of ATV trails. And the "shared resource" groups complain of being locked out. Cry me a river.

    In the words of Edward Abbey:

    Wilderness begins in the human mind.
    ~
    I come more and more to the conclusion that wilderness, in America or anywhere else, is the only thing left that is worth saving.
    ~
    If wilderness is outlawed, only outlaws can save wilderness.
    ~
    The idea of wilderness needs no defense. It only needs more defenders.
    ~
    Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit.
    ~
    The essence of true wilderness is big mammals that can eat you.
    ~
    We can have wilderness without freedom; we can have wilderness without human life at all, but we cannot have freedom without wilderness, we cannot have freedom without leagues of open space beyond the cities, where boys and girls, men and women, can live at least part of their lives under no control but their own desires and abilities, free from any and all direct administration by their fellow men.
    ~
    A journey into the wilderness is the freest, cheapest, most nonprivileged of pleasures. Anyone with two legs and the price of a pair of army surplus combat boots may enter.
    ~
    Mountains complement desert as desert complements city, as wilderness complements and completes civilization.
    ~
    But love of the wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only home we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need - if only we had eyes to see.
    ~
    We need wilderness because we are wild animals. Every man needs a place where he can go to go crazy in peace. Every Boy Scout deserves a forest to get lost, miserable, and starving in. Even the maddest murderer of the sweetest wife should get a chance for a run to the sanctuary of the hills. If only for the sport of it. For the terror, freedom, and delirium. Because we need brutality and raw adventure, because men and women first learned to love in, under, and all around trees, because we need for every pair of feet and legs about ten leagues of naked nature, crags to leap from, mountains to measure by, deserts to finally die in when the heart fails.
    ~
    A man could be a lover and defender of wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled surfaces. We need wilderness whether or not we ever set foot in it. We need a refuge even though we may never need to go there. I may never get there. We need the possibility of escape as surely as we need hope: without it the life of the cities would drive all men into crime or drugs or psychoanalysis.
    ~
    You do your needed work out of love, the love that dares not speak its name, the love of spareness, beauty, open space, clear skies, and flowing streams, grizzly bear and mountain lion, wolf pack and twelve-pack, of wilderness and wanderlust and primal human freedom and so forth.
  • BECoole, on 11/16/2007, -0/+2Until I get my own 300 or so acres, this is the next best thing.
    Congratulations Tennessee!
    • obxjdt, on 11/16/2007, -0/+2They'll take your 300 acres from you and call it a conservatory or wet lands!!!
      • BECoole, on 11/16/2007, -0/+3There is always that danger in this country since you really don't "own" the land, you just rent it.
        I think it's FU too.
  • hagbard72, on 11/16/2007, -0/+2How much was gained through eminent domain?
  • MisterNipples, on 11/16/2007, -0/+3This is pretty cool, but read that this is a "working" forest, partially paid for by loggers. That does mean the area will be logged. Not that that's a bad thing, I like wood. Just understand that this benefits various interests.
  • ennyjay, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1that just made my entire week. including the days that've already passed. :).
  • hmac, on 11/16/2007, -0/+2Yay Tennessee! I live in east Tennessee right now, and it's gorgeous.
  • kawaiirobo, on 11/16/2007, -0/+2Wow, this brightened my day, I too live in east Tennessee (surprised to see so many of you are from here), this truly is one of the most beautiful areas in the country.
  • pukedukem, on 11/16/2007, -4/+0It will be sold in less then ten years to the highest bidder. Sorry Folks
  • shoelace, on 11/16/2007, -0/+2Outstanding! In 2006, while taking a Geology 210 course at the University of Tennessee, the course professor had service projects as curriculum. I chose to go to the Cumberland Plateau in Soddy Daisy, TN to help "trailblaze" the new trail that crosses from Chattanooga to Crossville or Cookeville area in TN. A group of about 6 of us, lead by a man devoted to the Cumberland Trail help develop about 1.5 miles+ of the trail. I'm glad to see that that the US government had finally given presence to the conservation of this aesthetic area. w00t!
  • Bravesguy18, on 11/16/2007, -0/+2I went to school in Cookeville, TN. You are never more than 30 minutes from an awesome trail or park anywhere around there.
  • crescentfreshld, on 11/16/2007, -0/+3As a native Tennessean, I'm so proud of our governor!
  • wishninja, on 11/17/2007, -0/+2Good and not a penny of federal money used. See freedom and states rights can work to conserve the environment without the help of the feds! RP '08
  • SHTFmilitia, on 11/17/2007, -1/+0GREAT!!! I wish i could have about 50 acres, and if you are all about SHTF like me then visit my site http://www.SHTFmilitia.com
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