Accomplishments
Here is what our small 700-member organization has accomplished for our very own community since our founding in 1985:
- We provide
members monthly hiking
and canoe trips along the Wolf. Check out
the events section for
upcoming events.
- Since our
Headwaters Campaign in 1995, for every $1000 our
members donated, historically, we have received more than $10,000 in
partnerships and grants, multiplying your
precious donations more than ten times.
-
We
have protected more than 17,000 acres of 42,000
acres within the 100-year flood plain within
Tennessee - forever. We’re nearly half way
there!
- In 1995 we
raised $4.2 million from donors and the TN State
Government to rescue and create the
Ghost River
State Natural Area near LaGrange, Tennessee.
Including the Wolf River Wildlife Management
Area, it now has more than 7,000 acres. We also
partnered with the TN Nature Conservancy in
creating William B. Clark State Natural Area
near Rossville. Our efforts also led to the
creation of the 720-acre Lucius Burch State
Natural Area in Shelby Farms in 1988.
- We have
inspired Germantown, Collierville and Memphis to
create Greenways along the Wolf
River to connect
and benefit our diverse neighborhoods. The Wolf
River
Greenway will connect Downtown’s Miss. River
Greenway trail to all three cities. Memphis Park
Services announced in 2005 completed plans for
its 22-mile Greenway section along the Wolf
River. One day it will be possible to walk, run,
bike or roller blade from Downtown’s Mud Island
36 miles to Collierville-Arlington Rd. in
Collierville, following a smooth path along a
forested, shaded, protected Wolf River - while
rarely, if ever, crossing the street.
- With our
assistance, the Corps of Engineers started in
2004 a $12.8 million project that will
literally save
the Wolf River. Headcutting at
Collierville is moving upstream towards the
Headwaters. Channelizing
the urban Wolf in the 1960’s caused the river to
headcut and drop, while also draining thousands
of acres of adjacent wetlands and affecting our
aquifer recharge zones. The project will also
create a new 2,138-acre eight-mile long Greenway
Park in the heart of Collierville, one of the
fastest growing cities in the state. (For
comparison, Shelby Farms totals 4500 acres; our
new 2,138-acre river park protects from
development every acre on both sides of the Wolf
within the 100 year floodplain between Houston
Levee and Collierville-Arlington.)
When you join and support our organization, you work
to protect land for our very own community –
forever. What a great legacy to leave for succeeding
generations! So think globally, but act locally!
[ All contents copyright WRC, 1996-2006. Site maintained by Sherry Weakley. Comments? Email education@wolfriver.org
Problems with the site? Email wrc@wolfriver.org. ]