40th Anniversary Spotlight: Charles Askew - Founder, Advocate, and Greenway Visionary

It would be hard to overstate the contributions that Charles Askew has made to the Wolf River Conservancy.  In the early 1980’s, it was Charles, the former president of the Memphis Board of Realtors and a paddling enthusiast, who called the first meeting of influential citizens to discuss the future of the Wolf River and its wetlands. The Board of Realtors provided the meeting space, and from the very engaged discussion that followed there emerged the goal to form the Wolf River Conservancy.  

In 1983, the Memphis Board of Realtors, led by Charles, sponsored a Wolf River Day at Shelby Farms Park to raise awareness of the Wolf River as a valuable resource with great potential. They also continued to provide a meeting space and willing volunteers for the Conservancy, then in its infancy, with Charles serving on the Board of Directors.  After the Conservancy was officially incorporated as a 501©3 non-profit in 1985, Charles and his fellow realtors stepped up to raise the first money for the new organization – by appearing in the “Realtor’s Revue,” a theater production held at Hutchison. They raised $10,000, allowing the Conservancy to get to work.

By 1986, Charles was in charge of the Wolf River Conservancy Greenbelt Development Committee, which submitted a resolution to Shelby County for the establishment of a Wolf River greenbelt, then envisioned as a 400-600 ft. wide corridor along the length of the Wolf River through Shelby County to the Fayette County line, creating a buffer of green 150-200 ft. wide along each bank.  Charles was elected to serve as the Conservancy’s treasurer in 1990, while also chairing the Greenway Development Committee.  While doing this, he worked to halt construction of two harmful billboard projects near the river, having determined that there were permit violations.

Charles served as the Wolf River Conservancy President of the Board in 1992 and 1993, and in that time oversaw real progress on what was still called the Wolf River Greenbelt, finally securing recognition from city and county government officials that there was value in a linear recreation and wildlife corridor through Shelby County. In his President’s Column in the Feb. 1992 newsletter, Charles outlined 11 goals in his vision for the Greenbelt to which included WRC’s goal to develop a master plan for a 22-mile greenbelt; acquire the right to preserve and use more land along Wolf River, outright ownership not deemed essential; and maintain and improve access to boat ramps. By May of 1992, he had secured a commitment from the Memphis mayor and pledges to fund a Greenbelt Inventory of habitat, property ownership, and more. He met with the Memphis Parks Commission in 1993 to discuss plans for the greenbelt – a linear park through the city - and was instrumental in the formation of a partnership between the Conservancy, Chickasaw Basin Authority and The Nature Conservancy to fund a study of the Wolf River watershed.

During this time, Charles was also leading the effort to acquire the funds and expertise needed to address the terrible erosion along the section of the Wolf River between Houston Levee and Collierville Arlington Road – a result of headcutting (the river channel was scouring down, increasing bank erosion, and widening the channel going upstream from Grays Creek).  He launched the campaign which eventually led to the $6 million Wolf River Restoration project completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2007, a project which saved the Middle Wolf and its wetland habitat.

It was Charles who provided the key connection to the Beasley family when they were contemplating the sale of the Beasley Plantation – which included the beloved Ghost River section of the Wolf River.  Without this connection, the story of the Ghost River Rescue and its ultimate designation as a State Natural Area might never have happened.

In 1996, Charles was back to serving as a Conservancy board member, attending a Tennessee Greenways Conference in January with other Conservancy representatives. It was around this time that the Wolf River “greenbelt” began to be called a “greenway” instead. That fall, the Conservancy was given a Greenway Award by the National Greenways Foundation in Virginia, which recognized the potential for one of the finest greenway systems in the country.  Charles, of course, was there.  Not long after, he then helped leverage the first $100,000 dollars from the city of Memphis to be spent on design and engineering of the Wolf River Greenway.  

Those of us who care about the Wolf River owe Charles Askew a deep debt of gratitude for his initiative and his influence, for calling that first meeting of concerned citizens which was the genesis of the Wolf River Conservancy, and for everything he took on after that.  His ability to transform a vision for the future into action and accomplishment helped to get us where we are today: an accredited land trust with 20,000+ protected acres and counting; the headcutting problem on the river between Houston Levee and Collierville Arlington Rd. under control thanks to a major restoration project; and a Wolf River Greenway which is well on its way to completion with 14 miles of trail open to the public. We thank you, Charles Askew, for your commitment to our community and to our river, and for your countless contributions to our shared mission to protect and preserve the Wolf River watershed as a sustainable natural resource.

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