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by Liane B. Russell Here we are - over one-third of a century old and going strong. How did we get started? What have we accomplished? What are we doing now? One of two stimuli that led to the formation of Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning, TCWP, was a TVA proposal for a dam that would inundate the wild and uniquely beautiful gorges of the Obed River system in the Cumberland Mountains. Another stimulus was a government proposal to fragment the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with yet another transmountain road. Citizens already poised to form a Save-the-Obed organization joined with those concerned about the Smokies to form TCWP in the summer of 1966 (incorporated Oct. 1966). An energetic membership soon grew around this highly motivated nucleus of people. The mortal threat to the Obed seemed almost insurmountable in those days, but TCWP's unearthing of pertinent facts, plus application of appropriate political pressures, managed to kill the project. Our subsequent efforts to obtain positive, permanent, protection for the Obed finally paid off when, 10 years later, the Obed with its major tributaries became a National Wild & Scenic River, the only one in Tennessee, and only one of three in the Southeast. In the meantime, too, the new trans-mountain road through the Smokies had been defeated. Not long after TCWP was formed around these two initial issues, several other harmful agency proposals and destructive land-use activities came to swell the number of campaigns undertaken by the group. The Corps of Engineers was determined to impound the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River behind what would be the highest dam east of the Mississippi, Devils Jumps Dam. TVA had proposals for one dam on the Little Tennessee and two on the Duck River. Stripmining was experiencing a major growth in extent and destructiveness owing to the availability of new equipment. TCWP took on these battles with a great deal of energy and persistence, several escalating into years of effort. While some of them eventually ended in defeat (the Tellico dam and one of the Duck River dams got built), TCWP chalked up several very major victories. Like the Obed, the Big South Fork was not only saved from the proposed dam, but permanently protected by federal legislation. Designation of the 125,000-acre Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area in 1974 counts among TCWP's greatest achievements. The proposed transmountain road through the Smokies was defeated. Stripmining was regulated first at the state and then at the federal level (other, newer, organizations eventually took over the main thrust of that battle). TCWP also partnered in successful efforts to designate wilderness areas in the Cherokee National Forest. It would take books to describe these efforts more fully. While all this was going on, TCWP was also busy developing needed state legislation and finding willing and able legislative sponsors. Three important Tennessee bills got passed: the Scenic Rivers Act in 1968, the Trails Act in 1971, and the Natural Areas Act in 1971. We soon learned that just passing a law was not enough; one had to remain vigilant to protect it against future weakening, and active in ensuring its implementation. Of the three state laws, the last named has had the most enduring benefit, and Tennessee presently has 58 designated state natural areas occupying almost 80,000 acres. On the local front, TCWP worked to protect the extensive Oak Ridge greenbelt areas. To build public knowledge of, and thereby public support for, the greenbelt, we developed the 8-mile-long North Ridge Trail, which was subsequently designated both a state and national recreation trail. Several smaller ecologically significant areas also gained protected status as a results of TCWP efforts. Many of the lands and waters TCWP undertook to protect still require attention, though some of the issues have changed. In the case of the Obed, for example, much of the land acquisition remains to be done, woefully inadequate operating funds need to be increased, protective management plans must be promulgated, and adverse impacts in the upstream watershed must be prevented. For the Big South Fork, we are currently involved in the development of the important National Park Service General Management Plan and the subsequent Roads and Trails Plan, which will determine how much of the park can be protected from overuse and adverse use. Another federal agency requiring our attention is TVA. No longer a major dam builder, the agency has become a force for natural-resource protection through its non-power program and watershed-based approach, but the very survival of TVA is threatened. There are numerous battles to be fought on the state level, particularly in connection with protection of state parks and of buffer zones around them, including land acquisition and prohibitions against stripmining. A major new area of TCWP activity is to support the passage of legislation and other measures to protect our native deciduous forests against the recent influx of large timber companies that have already begun to clearcut significant acreages. From the beginning -- and honed over years of operation -- TCWP's mode of operation has involved the development of information sources, consultation of experts, and evaluation of data. We inform our members via the up-to-date TCWP Newsletter that includes concrete action suggestions. We network extensively with other organizations, both on issues where we take the lead (e.g., we created the Big South Fork Preservation Coalition and the Friends of the Obed Network) and on issues where we play a supporting role (e.g., stripmining, the Cherokee National Forest, Smokies' air quality, and Oak Ridge federal reservation lands). When necessary, we participate in law suits. And, very important, we develop and maintain contacts with legislators and administrators. Our members are provided with an annually updated Political Guide (how to contact key players) so they can effectively utilize the "What You Can Do" information in Newsletters and in Special Alerts. We also publish pre-election information on the candidates' environmental record and/or their platform; and TCWP is a member of the Tennessee Conservation Voters, the lobbying arm of Tennessee's environmental movement. For decades TCWP's work was accomplished entirely by volunteers and, somewhat more recently, by a quarter-time executive director. Two years ago, in a major effort to reenergize the organization, we raised enough money to support a staff of 1-1/2 (two people), who share the job of Membership and Development Director and part-time Executive Director. They have done much to reinstitute active committees that work not only on our numerous issues but also on organizing outings, meetings with programs, social activities, fund raisers, and service functions (e.g., trail maintenance in five areas for which we have assumed responsibility). TCWP has a clear mission - to achieve and perpetuate protection of natural lands and waters -- and possesses some special strengths. We have accomplished a great deal in the first 33+ years of our existence, but the task is never ending. We hope you will join us!
Contact us at 481-0286. Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning
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