Bluebell Island Tour

The annual tour of Bluebell Island will be 10 a.m., Saturday, March 26. This event is sponsored by South Cumberland Regional Land Trust (SCRLT). 

Located on the Elk River, the island is regionally famous for its plethora of wildflowers, especially Virginia Bluebells. Meet at 10 a.m. at the gated entrance to the Tyson Foods parking lot on TN-50/US 64 W, just south of exit 127 off I-24 near the bridge over the Elk River, about 2 miles west of I-24. Instructions and a map are available at <scrlt.org>. 

Rain may cancel this event if the river is too high to cross over.

The Land Trust has a new Facebook page with more information at <https://www.facebook.com/SouthCumberlandRegionalLandTrust/>.

South Cumberland Land Trust to Add 95 Acres

The board of the South Cumberland Regional Land Trust (SCRLT) announced at its annual meeting on Sept. 14 that a gift of 95 acres of contiguous conserved land will be donated to the Trust later this year. The property, known as the Ravens Den Sanctuary, has been protected since 2007 by a conservation easement held by the Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation.

In 1993, the current landowners began purchasing the property with the intention of forming a land trust to protect it. 

“Over the past 20 years, we have developed a relationship with the SCRLT and Jumpoff Community Land Trust and decided that this would be an excellent partnership” said Kathleen O’Donohue, one of the six land-owners. 

“With the help of the Jumpoff Community Land Trust and another land trust community, we have created a lease that will allow us to live on the property and protect it for generations to come,” she said.

The landowner donors are Barbara Parks, Carol Graham, Kathleen O’Donohue, Nancy Finley, Rose Norman and Susan Gorrell.

For more information about the land trusts, go to <http://www.scrlt.org/> and <http://www.tenngreen.org/website/>.