<BillNo> <Sponsor>
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 226
By McNally
SJR0226
005110
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A RESOLUTION to honor and commend Foothills Land
Conservancy on the occasion of its fortieth
anniversary.
WHEREAS, it is fitting that we specially recognize those estimable organizations that are
dedicated to improving the quality of life of the people of Tennessee; and
WHEREAS, one such organization is Foothills Land Conservancy, a regional land trust
dedicated to protecting, preserving, and enhancing the lands and environment of the Southern
Appalachian region, while also promoting the character of the land for the benefit of the general
public; and
WHEREAS, celebrating its fortieth year of service as a regional land trust in 2025,
Foothills Land Conservancy (FLC), through the tremendous investment and leadership of
William "Bill"’ Clabough and the efforts of FLC's board of directors and staff, has assisted in the
land preservation of more than 200,000 acres, including 500 conservation projects in
Tennessee and the six surrounding states of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina,
South Carolina, and Virginia; and
WHEREAS, FLC was chartered in 1985 and granted tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(3)
corporation; soon afterward, in 1987, former Governor Lamar Alexander joined and publicly
endorsed the organization; and
WHEREAS, FLC assists landowners desiring to permanently preserve their property in
its natural state, or as a working farm, primarily through the utilization of a legally binding
conservation easement agreement; and
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WHEREAS, within the State of Tennessee, FLC's land conservation projects now span
fifty-two counties that include over 250 landowner partnerships and in excess of 100,000 acres
preserved; and
WHEREAS, FLC assisted in the permanent conservation of Blount County's beloved
Camp Montvale, seven Tennessee Century Farms, Jarvis Park in Blount County, an additional
1,000 acres of land transferred to the Mount Roosevelt State Wildlife Management Area in
Roane County, and 649 acres of land in Polk County, which was transferred to the Tennessee
Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA); and
WHEREAS, the conservancy's board and staff worked to create a permanent foundation
for planned gifts that includes land acquisition and stewardship programs, the Land
Preservation Fund, and other conservation-related projects; and
WHEREAS, FLC worked with the TWRA and Ducks Unlimited to purchase the Kyker
Bottoms Wildlife Refuge, a 524-acre wetland in Blount County, in 1998; managed by TWRA and
open to the public, the refuge includes fields, forests, wetlands, and thickets and is managed
primarily for waterfowl, shorebirds, and diverse nongame, especially songbirds; and
WHEREAS, in 2001, FLC, in collaboration with the TWRA and the Conservation Fund,
assisted in the conservation of 2,500 acres at the Yuchi Wildlife Management Area at Smith
Bend on Chickamauga Lake; located on the Chickamauga Reservoir near Chattanooga, Yuchi
is owned and managed by the TWRA and includes wetlands, uplands, and riparian habitat, one
of a string of nearby refuges and natural areas providing feeding/resting habitat for migrating
waterfowl and sandhill cranes; and
WHEREAS, FLC's founding member, Gail Harris, placed a conservation easement
agreement on her 300-acre working farm with FLC in 2009; the land, purchased by the
grandfather of Gail Harris's late husband, Jim Harris, dates back to the late 1800s and originally
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covered 1,000 acres. The property now includes woodlands, a spring fed pond, and a former
dairy barn; and
WHEREAS, in 2016, Ms. Harris made the decision to transfer the property to the
conservancy, which is now the site of FLC's headquarters, while roughly two-thirds of the Harris
Farm continues to be leased for the production of corn, hay, soy beans, and cattle; and
WHEREAS, FLC amicably acquired the Southeast Regional Land Conservancy, which
was based in Asheville, North Carolina, in 2023; this collaboration between two regional land
trusts provided FLC with 140 additional conservation partnerships totaling more than 35,000
preserved acres; and
WHEREAS, the leadership, board, and staff of FLC work diligently to protect, preserve,
and enhance the lands and environment of the Southern Appalachian region, and they are most
worthy of our approbation; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING, that we honor and commend Foothills Land
Conservancy on the occasion of its fortieth anniversary and extend our best wishes for much
continued success.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that an appropriate copy of this resolution be prepared
for presentation with this final clause omitted from such copy and upon proper request made to
the appropriate clerk, the language appearing immediately following the State seal appear
without House or Senate designation.