Department of Environment & Conservation
Robert Martineau, Commissioner

This year end brings anticipation for the start of a new decade and my appreciation for the recent release of “beautiful Tennessee: Parks and Preservation” by WNPT-Nashville Public Television. “Parks and Preservation” is the third installment of the beautiful Tennessee series with a focus on the cultural and historical assets of our state parks and federal military battlefield sites. This outstanding production highlights the unique ways our state’s parks offer a look back at early Tennessee history and reveal our incredible natural diversity through both inspiration and recreation. It explores the majesty of Tennessee's parks, from sacred sites revered by ancient cultures at Dunbar Cave and Pinson Mounds to battlefields sanctified by those who fell fighting for their beliefs at Shiloh and Stones River. It bridges the New Deal-era Civilian Conservation Corps that built the first Tennessee State Parks to more recent park additions on the Cumberland Plateau.

I was pleased State Parks’ managers, rangers and interpretive specialists were featured prominently in this episode. Beginning with the moving words of State Parks Naturalist emeritus Mack Prichard and current State Parks Naturalist Randy Hedgepath, we tour park sites such as Old Stone Fort, Fort Loudoun, South Cumberland and the Justin P. Wilson Cumberland Trail through the eyes and voices of our parks staff. These insights were complemented by the powerful expressions of volunteer Parks Friends like Mary Priestly and Ron Castle, supportive private land owners like Denny Haldeman and enthusiastic students building the Cumberland Trail on Alternative Spring Break. Each of these described the world-class places we are blessed to call home right here in Tennessee. One young Cumberland Trail builder even shared a practical insight that is sometimes lost among our expansive natural splendor, “It’s great the state acquired this place, so it will stay the way it’s meant to be for future generations.”

Over the past few years, it has been my privilege to work with Governor Phil Bredesen and a host of state and local government leaders, private companies and non-governmental organizations as we have partnered to create extraordinary conservation benefits on a landscape scale. Facing many challenges of preservation in the new millennium, our recent state-led efforts have conserved the equivalent of the Great Smoky Mountains for current and future Tennesseans.

While much has been accomplished by working together, many opportunities and threats still remain in front of us. As Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation executive director Kathleen Williams often notes, “it is up to this generation to ensure we have a forever green Tennessee.” Thanks for everything you do to keep us moving toward this worthy goal, and Happy New Year from The Tennessee Conservationist.

Jim Fyke Commissioner