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The Nature Conservancy Applauds Bush Administration's Support for Tennessee's Walls of Jericho Forest Legacy Project  in FY 2006 Budget

Nashville, TN—8 February 2005— The Nature Conservancy today applauded President Bush’s request for $80 million in funding for the Forest Legacy Program for Fiscal Year 2006, including $1.4 million that will go toward the Walls of Jericho. This Tennessee project is ranked the second most important Forest Legacy project in the nation.

The Walls of Jericho is 21,453 acres of rivers, forested uplands and caves spreading across the Alabama and Tennessee state line. The actual "Walls of Jericho" is a large, bowl-shaped amphitheater that shoots water out of holes and cracks in the canyon wall during times of high flow. The history behind the site and the unspoiled natural beauty is known to provide a mystical feel for visitors.

"We are pleased that despite tight budgetary constraints this year the President has requested this funding," said Scott Davis, director of The Nature Conservancy’s Tennessee chapter. "The Walls of Jericho is home to some of Tennessee’s most critical habitat. This funding will help ensure that this precious landscape will continue to thrive and provide numerous benefits to our local communities."

The Nature Conservancy bought the land from Stevenson Land Company. The Alabama Division of State Lands through the Forever Wild program intends to buy from the Conservancy the 12,510 acres of land in its state. The Nature Conservancy will hold the 8,943 acres in Franklin County, Tennessee and the Tennessee Chapter will continue fundraising for the site.

Along with applauding the Bush administration for including funding for including the Walls of Jericho in his budget, Davis also commended U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis, Rep. Zach Wamp, U.S. Sen. Bill Frist and Sen. Lamar Alexander for their longtime support of the project.

In FY 2005, the Walls of Jericho project received $3.5 million that will allow The Nature Conservancy to transfer 6,287 acres into state ownership.

The Forest Legacy Program is a partnership between the United States Forest Service (USFS), state governments and private landowners that identifies and protects ecologically important forest habitat which is threatened by possible development or unsustainable practices. Program objectives are met through land acquisition or the use of conservation easements, which protect working forests while meeting important conservation goals.

Since its first appropriations in Fiscal Year 1992, the Forest Legacy Program has conserved over one million acres across 29 states and territories. This program has also provided excellent leverage of the forest conservation federal investment by protecting over $384 million of land value with a Federal investment of $198 million.

The Bush Administration’s Forest Legacy Program budget is part of the larger Fiscal Year 2006 funding bill for the Department of the Interior and the USFS.

Since 1970, public and private partners have been working to protect the "Walls of Jericho" in the Southern Cumberland Plateau. Once part of Texas oil baron Harry Lee Carter’s 60,000-acre property, the site was open for public access. When Carter died in 1977, the land was divided and officially closed to public visitors.

Not only does the purchase restore public access to the site, it protects the headwaters of the Paint Rock River. In addition, the protected acreage links other large intact forestlands within the Jackson Mountain landscape for a total of more than 50,000 acres. Nearby protected sites include Carter Caves State Natural Area, Franklin State Forest, The Nature Conservancy’s David Carter Tract and the Skyline Wildlife Management Area.

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The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit us on the Web at nature.org.