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ENVIRONMENT

Huge Fayette County property sought for water conservation efforts

Tom Charlier
USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

MOSCOW, Tenn. -- Far from the point where the last road gave out, John R. Wilson and Hunt Treadwell are "bushwacking," as they call it, careening down steep ravines and over thorny shrubs in an all-terrain buggy as they tour an unspoiled 810-acre tract of land less than 45 minutes from East Memphis.

Along the way, they pass towering oak, gum and beech trees rising next to spring-fed streams. Elsewhere, uplands planted in native grasses give way to expansive marshes and ponds where ducks take flight. Sinuous channels of the North Fork of the Wolf River wind through low-lying forestland.

"You can't replicate this," says Wilson, who works for Treadwell in a company marketing the North Fork Plantation, as the land is known, for an asking price of just under $2.6 million.

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Located north of Moscow, in Fayette County, this tract is one of about 20 statewide targeted for protection through a proposed Water Conservation Fund sought by a coalition of 56 conservation and civic groups from across Tennessee. The coalition, Forever Green Tennessee, is calling on state legislators to approve a budget amendment providing $25 million to conserve forested corridors for cleaner water, as well as $5 million to preserve farmland and $5 million for historic preservation.

Lawmakers are expected to vote on House Amendment 152 and Senate Amendment 81 by Wednesday. The budget released by Gov. Bill Haslam this past week did not contain the funding.

The proposed water fund would, over the next 30 years, support the purchase and protection of 1.2 million acres of critically important land from the southwestern corner of the state to Greene County, in upper East Tennessee, that buffers streams and aquifers. These forested corridors naturally filter water and store floodwater, ultimately saving taxpayers the cost of treating drinking water and building levees and pumps to control flooding, said Kathleen Williams, who is heading the coalition.

It's no coincidence, Williams said, that while Tennessee's field and forests have been lost to development at rates of up to 80,000 acres a year, the quality of water in the state's streams and rivers has deteriorated. About half the 27,000 miles of waterways tested in the state do not meet meet designated uses for fishing, swimming and other activity.

Williams finds it particularly discouraging that large tracts of forest continue to be divided into smaller properties.

"As we fragment our landscape, it's going to get worse," she said.

April 26, 2017 - John Wilson, with Harvesters Land Co., a company marketing the land, walks on a bridge over the of North Fork of the Wolf River that is on the North Fork Plantation, as the land is known, that is being sold with an asking price of just under $2.6 million.

That's what makes the North Fork Plantation in Fayette County so attractive to the coalition. It's unusual to have such a large piece of property intact and on the market so close to Memphis, said Treadwell, owner and broker of Harvesters Land Co. Most other large tracts have been divided into smaller parcels.

"They're being split up by developers into hobby farms," Treadwell said. "These tracts, every day they're becoming more rare."

The North Fork Plantation also is strategically located. Immediately to its east lies the Ames Plantation, an 18,400-acre facility run by a private foundation. Containing 12,000 acres of forest, Ames is home to the National Field Trial Championship for All-Age Bird Dogs and functions as a partner in agricultural research for the University of Tennessee. On the south, the property encompasses the North Fork of the Wolf, whose corridor is important for the recharge of the Memphis Sand aquifer, the source of drinking water throughout the Memphis area.

April 26, 2017 - Hunt Treadwell identifies trees near a small stream that runs on the unspoiled 810-acre tract of land less than 45 minutes from East Memphis. Located north of Moscow, in Fayette County, the tract of land is one of about 20 statewide targeted for protection through a proposed Water Conservation Fund sought by a coalition of 56 conservation and civic groups from across Tennessee.ÊThe coalition, Forever Green Tennessee, is calling on state legislators to approve a budget amendment providingÊ$25 million to conserve forested corridors for cleaner water.

For this and other properties, the state money would create something of a revolving fund for the purchase and protection of sensitive acreage. Upon acquiring the property, officials would place a conservation easement on it, restricting development.

"They could use the land for whatever, as long as it didn't pollute the water," Williams said.

Such an easement would reduce the resale value by about 30 percent, meaning that after purchasing the North Fork Plantation for nearly $2.6 million, the state could resell it for about $1.8 million, according to the coalition. That money would be returned to a state trust fund to be used again under a buy-protect-sell policy, Williams said.

Williams noted that Haslam's budget includes new gas-tax revenues and money from the general fund to pay for road projects.

"We invest this money in roads, but we can't protect our water," she said.

April 26, 2017 - John Wilson, with Harvesters Land Co., a company marketing the land, looks over a satellite map of the land before showing off the property.

Reach Tom Charlier at thomas.charlier@commercialappeal.com or 901-529-2572 and on Twitter at @thomasrcharlier.