Preserving the Cradle of Southern Appalachia

As stewards of the Cradle of Southern Appalachia, we know the people of this region to be proud of their homeland. Proud of the view from Lookout Mountain, the native trout in the Hiwassee River, the morning light in the Sequatchie Valley.

As our region experiences a greater influx of people and the resulting footprints of growth and development, the people of this region must coordinate to prioritize and protect those natural treasures that they hold most dear.

In 2008, the arrival of an auto-manufacturing plant brought a welcome economic boost to the tri-state during a period of national recession. With it came a ripple effect of residential and commercial development that threatened to forever alter the beloved hills, valleys, and rivers in the Cradle of Southern Appalachia.

The population of the tri-state region is expected to increase by nearly a half a million people by 2055. If unchecked, landscapes that have been taken for granted as wild and open spaces will be cleared, subdivided, and developed to accommodate more people. These stresses will compound as the climate changes and species must adapt in response.

In this region and across the globe, humans are at a critical juncture. In 2019, the United Nations released an alarming report that 1 million species face extinction in a matter of decades due to human activity. It is time for a concerted effort to protect our environment for the future.

In our neck of the woods, we have both the opportunity and responsibility to protect this distinctive place while we still can. To that end, Thrive and its partners seek to accelerate the pace of conservation to at least match the pace of development.

The heritage of this ancient landscape is complex. Those of us who live here today occupy only a single chapter of its history. We acknowledge the indigenous people who originated here, and recognize and celebrate their continued connection to the region’s land, water, and culture. We pay our respects to them, and look to inclusively protect this natural and cultural community.

It is our time to step up for the land that nurtures us. Join us in this unprecedented, unified effort to conserve our natural treasures for future generations.

Thrive’s Natural Treasures Alliance is a collective of conservation, outdoor recreation, and land management groups dedicated to long-term landscape preservation across the Cradle of Southern Appalachia.

Today, approximately 15% of our region is protected. The Alliance has set an ambitious goal to at least double the amount of protected land in the tri-state region by 2055.

That’s approximately 1,000,000 acres of additional land. The following map illustrates the unified effort to preserve the natural landscape of the tri-state region. It identifies areas of high-quality habitat that enhance the natural resilience of the region, and outlines a collaborative strategy to protect them and our quality of life for future generations.

The partners in Thrive's Natural Treasures Alliance have agreed to strive toward the following collaborative conservation milestones over the next several decades.

The following map is designed to promote collaboration across sectors, including conservation and the business community, so that all may play a role in the preservation of the region’s natural legacy.

Thrive’s partners at UTC’s IGTLab created the Conservation Priority model below to identify areas that, if protected, would promote biodiversity and enhance natural resilience to climate change, as well as provide communities with public open spaces for people to connect with the outdoors.

The data is:

➔ Accepted in the scientific and conservation communities

➔ Readily available and easy to access

➔ Simple to update as new data become available

➔ Easy to understand, use, and distribute for internal planning, public outreach, and fundraising

• As we inspire responsible growth, Thrive builds relationships and connections to tactically escalate the pace of conservation in the Cradle of Southern Appalachia.
•  Share the benefits of landscape conservation for local economies and community health.
• Attract national funding by leveraging the power of partnerships to protect our natural places.
• Measure and monitor conservation progress through science and data.
• Invite non-conservationists to the table, because everyone has a role in the future of this place.
• Help communities plan for growth in a way that celebrates their natural assets.