Bookmark this page to stay current on Tennessee wilderness news, or add the RSS feed to your news reader.
I am writing in support of Sen. Lamar Alexander's Tennessee Wilderness Act. As an aquatic biologist and trout fisherman, I value the clean waters of the Cherokee National Forest. Existing best forestry management practices help assure the survival of several federally endangered fish species, like Smoky madtom, Yellowfin madtom and Citico darter, along with the associated aquatic flora and fauna. Native brook trout populations are on the comeback.
In the early 1970s I was pretty naive about political matters and how things are accomplished in that realm. Having just gotten out of the Marine Corps, with much of my service at Camp Pendleton in southern California, I'd fallen in love with the wonderfully wild wilderness areas of California's national forests and parks.
As a lifelong Chattanooga resident, I have witnessed the Scenic City's dramatic transformation from an industrial town into a city whose cultural offerings and natural amenities are a regional and national draw for residents and tourists alike.
The combination of a tastefully and responsibly planned city and nearby natural areas for people to hike, climb, paddle, mountain bike and run is a powerful thing. And the investments made by the city, the Benwood and Lyndhurst foundations and others have made our built environment extraordinary.
I had many choices as to where to spend my golden years. My heart chose the Tennessee Cumberland Plateau adjacent an extensive wilderness greenway of Fall Creek Falls State Park for its beauty, diversity and serenity.
The planet's most biodiverse temperate forest is right here in eastern Tennessee's Cherokee National Forest. Biologists would agree that the salamander and fish diversity in this forest is unmatched anywhere on Earth. Nearly 20,000 acres in the Cherokee are being treated as "wilderness," requiring an act of Congress to protect forever. As a volunteer for this cause, I've interacted with thousands of Americans who have taken action through emails, postcards and calls to their U.S.
Richard Foster, Madisonville
I thank the News Sentinel for its editorial in support of the Tennessee Wilderness Act. It's good to see that someone is paying attention, even if the national government, whose job it is, isn't. That is the proper watchdog role of a vigorous press.
I found the Sunday, Dec. 9, Times editorial in support of the Wilderness Bill currently before the Senate both heartening and informative. The bill incorporates key portions of the Tennessee Wilderness Act of 2011, sponsored by Sen. Lamar Alexander and co-sponsored by Sen. Bob Corker of Chattanooga.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Congress is winding down its current session, but Tennessee Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker are hoping that a wilderness bill that's been delayed for nearly two years will be passed by year's end. The Tennessee Wilderness Act, which is part of the bill, seeks to expand five existing wilderness areas in the Cherokee National Forest and create the first new wilderness area in Tennessee in 25 years. It would establish more than 9000 acres of new wilderness area.
Jeff Hunter, Director of the Tennessee Wilderness Campaign, says Congress needs to act now to protect Tennessee's precious wild areas.
The Tennessee Wilderness Act, which would protect nearly 20,000 acres in Cherokee National Forest, is still pending in Congress.
Instead of being an example of a bipartisan commitment to protect deserving natural areas, it is becoming symbolic of dysfunction in Washington. It is not a controversial bill, and even a gridlocked, lame-duck Congress should find a way to pass it.
