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Key Projects in the Clinch Valley
 Coal Mining and the Aquatic Environment |
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 Conservation Forestry |
 Clinch News |
The Clinch, Powell and Holston rivers run nearly parallel courses through the remote mountains and valleys of southwestern Virginia and northeastern Tennessee. These last free-flowing tributaries of the Tennessee River system harbor the nation’s highest concentrations of globally rare and imperiled fish and freshwater mussels.
For two decades, The Nature Conservancy has worked with the people of the Clinch Valley to protect the region’s special lands, waters and wildlife from incompatible practices related to agriculture, development, timber harvesting and energy development.
Community Conservation
Since establishing our Clinch Valley Program in 1990, the Conservancy has worked with local communities to promote sustainable economic and recreational opportunities that are consistent with protecting the region’s lands, waters and way of life.
The Conservancy has helped protect more than 35,000 acres of critical natural habitat in the Clinch Valley. In the Clinch River alone, we’ve protected seven key shoals that collectively represent one of the world’s most diverse assemblages of freshwater mussels.
We also work with local farmers and other rural landowners to safeguard streams, rivers and caves from water pollution. In Hancock County, Tennessee, for example, more than 120 landowners have worked with the Conservancy to implement agricultural best management practices such as fencing their cattle away from streams.
To help maintain healthy forests that protect water quality for people, fish and mussels, we launched the Conservation Forestry Program in 2002 and now manage some 22,000 acres to model sustainable forestry practices.
Innovative Science
From conservation planning to field research to habitat protection and restoration, science guides the work of the Clinch Valley Program. At our Cleveland Island Preserve on the Clinch River, for example, the Conservancy is working with partners to test the most effective methods for augmenting rare mussel populations.
Through diverse partnerships, the Conservancy also is fostering scientific inquiry on coal mining and other land uses, seeking to increase our understanding of historic and current impacts to streams and other resources.
The Energy Intersection
The Clinch Valley’s rare river animals and habitats overlap with valuable energy resources, including significant natural gas reserves and an estimated 250 million tons of coal. This convergence led the Conservancy to develop strategies to reduce impacts from coal mining, natural gas wells and other energy development.
In 2007, the Conservancy co-hosted a symposium, “Coal Mining and the Aquatic Environment,” to bring together mining regulators, industry representatives, researchers and conservationists to assess the impact of coal mining’s legacy and future trends on water quality and rare species.
The symposium led to the launch of the Clinch-Powell Clean Rivers Initiative in 2008. Initiative members come from state and federal agencies, private business interests, academia, and non-profit conservation organizations — all focused on improving water quality and river health.
The Conservancy also is working with mining regulators to update the Clinch Valley’s inventory of abandoned mine lands and to rank priorities for restoration. At Flint Gap in Russell County, we partnered with the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy and with Virginia Tech to rejuvenate compacted soils, replant native trees and capture carbon emissions.
The Nature Conservancy is a non-profit, tax-exempt charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations are tax-deductible.
Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Byron Jorjorian (Pinnacle Natural Area Preserve, Clinch Valley); Video © TNC (Searching for mussels in the Clinch River); Photo © Daniel White/TNC (Researcher measures a mussel during Clinch River survey); Photo © Daniel White/TNC (Pair of endangered shiny pigtoes); Photo © Byron Jorjorian (Clinch Valley landscape); Photo © Byron Jorjorian (Trees at the Pinnacle Natural Area Preserve); Photo © Byron Jorjorian (Clinch Valley sunset).
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