The governor’s annual land forum – held yesterday at Montgomery Bell State Park – focused on the purchase of 124-thousand acres of Cumberland Plateau timberlands. It was part of the governor’s budget proposal that was rolled out earlier this week.
It was an easy sell to conservationists who attended the forum. The total area stretches 100 miles north to south and 40 miles east to west near the Frozen Head State Park. The contiguous forest area is owned by just two timber companies.
Tennessee Nature Conservancy’s Gina Hancock says it’s getting harder and harder to find this much land that hasn’t been parceled out to multiple owners. Plus, she calls the area the ‘heart of the Cumberland Mountains.’
“It’s the habitat for the elk that have been reintroduced into Tennessee by TWRA. But you know, 20 percent of the world’s Serbian warbler population nests here. It’s just incredibly, globally unique area.”
The land is valued at nearly 150-million dollars, but Governor Bredesen has brought on The Nature Conservancy and Lyme Timber Company to share the financial burden. Still, the General Assembly must approve an 82-million dollar bond issue.
And yesterday Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey questioned the logic behind such a large purchase by the state. The East Tennessee Republican says the bond money could be better used to fund education projects.
These timberlands are not part of Bowater Incorporated’s 360-thousand acres that have been put up for sale in Tennessee. The state has already acquired roughly 16-thousand acres of that land which was considered ‘high priority.’
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