The Elk Valley Forestry Association serves Southern Middle Tennessee with a single, unwavering mission: Engage forest owners in south-central Tennessee and enable them to maintain healthy and woodland and water to protect the region’s wildlife and natural resources. 

“The goal is to protect the Duck and Elk River watersheds,” said Alex Richman, a forester with the program and the initiative’s coordinator, after introducing a group of new members to the program.

“We just want to help protect, and anything we can do — to have more buffer areas and keep cattle out of creeks — it helps the watershed.”

Under the Elk & Duck River Watershed Forest and Buffer Initiative, the association serves the major to the southern portion of Middle Tennessee representing 13 counties that share the watershed.

“We try to help private land owners mandate their land for water quality and timber management,” Richman said. “We offer forester visits in the 13 counties that we are working in and we are also doing cost-share projects with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture for people who want to plant buffers. We can get them money to help pay for that.”

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Pollutants increased by 60% in Tennessee’s waterways in the past 10 years

The association continues its work at a pivotal moment in the state’s ecological history as the state’s water quality begins to decrease dramatically.

As the region continues to see a wave of new growth and development as the Nashville Metropolitan Area expands further into the mid-state, the organization’s mission is all the more important as the association works to protect the Elk and Duck Rivers.

Both the Duck and Elk are considered two of the highest aquatic conservation priorities in Tennessee and the Southeast. The water systems are home to a high number of aquatic species, many of which are “species of concern” in Tennessee and the nation.

It is widely believed that Duck River has more species of fish per mile than any other river in North America. After all, it’s the sole water source for 250,000 people in Middle Tennessee.

“We all need clean water to drink and it is really important for all the aquatic invertebrates to have clean water or we lose that rich bio diversity in our creeks and rivers,” Richman said.

Following the 2020 biennial report reviewing the water quality of Tennessee’s, 55.4% of the waterways sampled were too polluted to support the basic functions of an ecosystem. A decade earlier, the same review process showed 32% of the waters tested were impaired by pollutants showing a decade of loosening restrictions on construction and animal feeding operations. 

E.coli, a bacteria is tied to human and animal waste is the most common pollutant found in the state’s waterways and the significant progression over the last decade indicates that the region will likely continue to be exposed to harmful pollutants.

The most recent found that 28 of Maury County’s waterways are impaired by pollution.

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It determined that 48 of Williamson County’s waterways have been impacted by pollution, as well as 15 in Marshall County, 17 in Lawrence County and 10 in Giles County. The study found one case in Dickson County.

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A path of prevention and protection

The ongoing project continues the Tennessee Forestry Association’s 50-year legacy of working with state and national government agencies to promote a better understanding and appreciation of the forests of Tennessee through a diversity of public relations, government and educational programs.

A representative of the state association, Richman said the statewide organization is supporting the regional effort though a grant offered by the National Fish & Wildlife foundation.

Richman said much of the organization’s work surrounds the state’s farming industry and the negative impacts farming and cattle raising have on the quality of the region’s water sources.

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Agriculture is widely considered the leading source of contamination in rivers and lakes across the county. Contamination occurred when farmers apply pesticides and fertilizers to their fields to help grow and produce crops, but the those  chemicals are then washed into waterways in rain showers as storm runoff. 

“There is a lot sediment in the water and you have a lot of cattle that are close to creeks and you have a lot of run off from the cattle when it rains and there is no stabilized soil,” Richman said. “That is why we encourage local property owners to plant trees along creek banks to stabilize the soil. That is our main focus.”

An over abidance of sediment will degrade the quality of a water system, making it cloudy, blocking sunlight and preventing animals from seeing food and making it difficult for species to la eggs and hiding from predators.

It can also smother fish eggs and clog fish gills.  

Richman encourages the public to learn more and for local property owners to seek assistance at www.tnforestry.com.

Reach Mike Christen at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @MikeChristenCDH and on Instagram at @michaelmarco. Please consider supporting his work and that of other Daily Herald journalists by subscribing to the publication.

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