America’s Wilderness Act- 60 Years of Conservation
2024 marks the 60th anniversary of America’s Wilderness Act. This milestone is not just a time for reflection on conservation achievements, but also an opportunity to recognize the untapped potential these protected wilderness areas hold for local communities fortunate enough to be situated near them.
The 1964 Wilderness Act, with its foresight in preserving ecologically significant habitats, has over the years become a beacon for local economies. Beyond safeguarding sensitive landscapes, these wilderness areas offer a unique and highly marketable asset to communities eager to embrace adventure tourism.
The landmark legislation, signed by President Lyndon Johnson in September 1964, established the National Wilderness Preservation System and provided a legal definition of wilderness in the United States. According to the Act, wilderness is an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, and man himself is a visitor who does not remain. It further defines wilderness as an area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed to preserve its natural conditions. These areas are recognized for their outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation, and for their ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value.
In short, the Wilderness Act created a way for the federal government to protect some of its most precious and pristine public wildlands for future generations.
Throughout 2024, the TRV Stewardship Council’s geotourism web portal, ExploreTRV.com, will spotlight breathtaking wilderness areas within the Tennessee River basin watershed. Across the region there are more than 25 designated federal wilderness tracts, ranging from one of the smallest in the country to one of the largest such areas in the Eastern United States. Adventure seekers and geo-travelers are increasingly drawn to destinations that prioritize nature protection and cultural authenticity. Communities and local service and lodging providers in Southern Appalachia, with its wealth of protected wilderness areas, are poised for sustainable economic growth as the appeal of seeking genuine encounters with the wild continues to gain popularity among both American and international vacationers.
As we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, the TRV Stewardship Council invites local community leaders, organizations, and citizens to recognize the immense value that these protected wilderness areas provide. By embracing and promoting these landscapes, communities have the opportunity to better position themselves as destinations for adventure tourism, fostering economic growth while preserving key aspects of what makes their regions exciting and unique.
Robert Trent Jones- A Legacy of Golf Landscape Architecture
Land use and design have become critical in this era of climate change and land pressures. When once design was more about building challenging courses without regard to water use or run-off, today’s golf course architects have become immersed in conservation and preservation of these properties.
A trailblazer for golf course design, Robert Trent Jones was a British- American architect who designed over 500 courses in 45 countries. He was known for his innovative design style, which combined natural landscapes with challenging golf holes. He had a significant impact on the development of modern golf course design, and his courses are considered some of the best in the world.
However, Jones’ early courses were criticized for their lack of environmental concern. Many of them required large amounts of earth-moving and significant changes to the natural landscape, leading to the loss of wildlife habitat and other environmental impacts. In response to these concerns, Jones began to incorporate more conservation-minded practices into his designs.
Jones started to use more natural materials, such as native grasses, and worked to preserve natural habitats and protect wildlife. He also began to design courses with fewer earth-moving operations, opting instead to work with the natural contours of the land. This approach helped to minimize the impact of his courses on the environment, while still maintaining the challenging and exciting golf experience that he was known for.
Since Jones incorporated this style, it has become very popular among modern course designers as the more natural style has replaced the aging tree-lined old country club design common in the early 1900’s. As a golfer who has played hundreds of historic country club designs as well as the more modern “take what you get” from the landscape design I believe the natural design is a more enjoyable experience as it gives you a greater ability to connect with the natural earth. However, these courses tend to be more challenging as there are more places to lose your ball when there are thick native grasses, as well as bluffs and cliffs to deflect your ball.
In addition to his design work, Jones was also a strong advocate for conservation and environmental responsibility in the golf industry. He encouraged other architects to follow his lead and incorporate environmentally-friendly practices into their courses. His influence has been felt throughout the industry, and many courses today are designed with conservation in mind. Both of his sons- Robert Trent Jones Jr and Rees Jones who advocate for conservation practices for golf course design.
Overall, Robert Trent Jones was a visionary in the world of golf course design, and his path towards making his courses more conservation-minded had a lasting impact on the industry. By combining his passion for golf with his commitment to environmental responsibility, he helped to shape the future of golf course design and set a standard for sustainability in the industry.
Love of River Life Prompts Substantial Donation to Hancock Station
Captain Bob Cherry bestows $500,000 on Murray State University’s Kentucky Lake research facility
A leading conservation advocacy and environmental research institute in Southwestern Kentucky is commemorating its 50th anniversary this year, and a local man with deep ties to the region is helping celebrate with a substantial gift.
The Hancock Biological Station on the banks of Kentucky Lake in Calloway County has for five decades provided a year-round base of operations for studying the lower Tennessee River’s water quality and aquatic habitats.
For Captain Bob Cherry, a retired salvage vessel operator who was born and raised in Paducah and graduated from Murray State University – with which the Hancock Station is affiliated – the work and research performed at the facility are of such significance and importance that he decided to help fund it to the tune of half a million dollars.
Even though he’s “been around the world twice,” and worked in more countries than he can easily count, the rivers of the Tennessee Valley and waters surrounding the Land Between the Lakes are still his favorite place on the planet.
“I can tell you anything you want to know about the Tennessee River,” said Cherry, 73, who in 2020 piloted a pontoon boat expedition with two of his buddies along all 650-plus navigable miles of the great waterway in order to help promote and showcase the river’s vast and affordable recreation potential.
Cherry said he’s especially fond of Kentucky and Barkley lakes, noting that together they constitute the largest body of water between the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico.
“To me, that is pretty stunning – but that’s how big they are,” he said. “And I have been all over them.”
Cherry believes sharing some of his personal wealth with the Hancock Station – which is dedicated to monitoring and improving the region’s water-dependent ecosystems – will help share river health appreciation and habitat-protection knowledge with future generations.
“I have grown up around here, and improving water purity is important to me,” said Cherry.
The research facility grounds at the Hancock Biological Station cover more than 70 acres of woodlands surrounded by vast tracts of publicly owned forests and grasslands. HBS offers opportunities for graduate-level university students and scientists to study all facets of river health, including the environmental impacts of wetland restoration, agriculture, strip mining, petrochemical processing, shipping, and electricity generation.
Hancock also serves to educate kids about conservation by offering outreach programs and providing an exciting field trip destination for youth groups and classroom outings.
One of the most notable functions of the station is the nearly 35 years of precise lake-condition monitoring that constitutes “one of the longest continuous water-quality data sets for a reservoir in the country,” said Michael Flinn, who has served as director of HBS since 2019.
“What we collect is pretty standard — that’s not necessarily what is special about it,” said Flinn. “What’s special is that we have collected it for so long. That’s been a powerful tool for us to evaluate things like the effects of invasive species or climate change, or harmful algal blooms and things like that.”
Cherry’s $500,000 donation will be used to purchase new equipment like boats and vehicles, as well as defray maintenance and day-to-day upkeep costs at the facility, in addition to funding a perpetual endowment.
“This is going to be tremendous for us,” said Flinn. “It is very hard to come up with money like that from scratch. So this is an amazing gift.”
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