The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

Obed River © Byron Jorjorian

Healthy land. Clean water. These basic necessities of life — provided by nature — are at risk due to population growth, development and pollution. 

The United States loses 3 million acres each year to development alone! But now you can help save Tennessee's great outdoors — for you and future generations.

You can support legislation now before the U.S. Senate that guarantees permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund — the U.S. government’s key program for acquiring conservation lands.

The legislation, titled S. 2747, provides for permanent annual funding of $900 million to protect America’s land and water.

See below to find out the best way you can support this critical legislation for Tennessee's people and nature. And learn more about how the Fund has helped nature and people in Tennessee — and how it could help more with full funding.

Contact Your Senators:
Call Their Office or Send a Letter or Email

Senator Lamar Alexander
455 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-4944
Email Senator Alexander

Senator Bob Corker
185 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3344
Email Senator Corker

Use these talking points:

• The Land and Water Conservation Fund needs full and permanent funding because it benefits nature and people in Tennessee.
• Legislation introduced by Senators Baucus and Bingaman (S. 2747) is now pending before the U.S. Senate that would ensure this funding.
• I urge Senator Alexander/Corker to support S. 2747 and ensure the Fund keeps benefiting our state.

How the Fund Benefits Tennessee

How does the Fund work? It balances the loss of one natural resource — offshore oil and gas — by using a small portion of the drilling fees to protect important land and water elsewhere. 

The program is authorized to receive up to $900 million a year. But despite an increase in energy production, funding for land and water protection has always fallen far short of that mark — diverted elsewhere by Congress.

Why is full funding so important?

• In Tennessee, the Land and Water Conservation Fund has provided $62 million over the past four decades to protect our natural areas, including the Obed Wild and Scenic River. the Lower Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge and the Cherokee National Forest.
• The fund also helps protect working farms and ranches, neighborhood parks and land around rivers, lakes and oceans.
• And the fund benefits people — through ensuring clean water supplies, supporting jobs, reducing the cost of firefighting, and protecting the great outdoors for wildlife and recreation.

Your support will help us save the nation’s most important natural areas for future generations.