By Logan Langlois
NASHVILLE, TN — Water conservation organization the Cumberland River Compact has announced its Working Lands Program, an effort that will concentrate on mine land reforestation throughout the Cumberland River in Kentucky and Tennessee. The first phase of the project is set to begin in early 2024 with the planting of 35,000 trees, after which The Compact said they will be filling a gap in “small” land reforestation. The reforestation will consist of anywhere from 50-100 acres at a time and is desperately needed in areas around the Cumberland River that have previously been mined for coal.
“Basically, we’re restoring the ecosystem,” Working Lands Program Manager Caroline Hutchins said. “We’re taking land that for all intents and purposes is not much better than a parking lot and turning it into a vibrant ecosystem.”
Hutchins said the lands being restored are extremely flat on the bottom of a steep drop-off, much like someone cut squares on the side of the mountains.
“At first glance, if you don’t know what you’re looking at you might not realize that it’s not supporting much of an ecosystem,” Hutchins said. “Because it’s green and it’s beautiful, you’re just up there in the mountains. But if you really start looking at it, all of the plants are invasive.”
Hutchins said that invasive species populate much of the ground when the environment would truly benefit from native vegetation. Hutchins said the situation is not helped by how compacted the ground is in these areas, as the tightness makes it difficult for vegetation to blossom and self-sustaining environments to establish themselves.
“You’ll see occasional native trees like you’ll see a little oak tree,” Hutchins said. “But it’s two feet tall and it’s like 20 years old, and a 20-year-old oak tree is supposed to be really big and mighty.”
Hutchins said Cumberland River Compact will be responsible for ripping out the overly compacted land and invasive species from the flat areas, replacing them instead with native species and loosely packed soil which roots can grow through. Hutchins said this work being done now is especially important, as, without this kind of help, the environment would have an especially long and difficult time building an ecosystem naturally if it ever did.
“The way it is now it’s kind of in a state of suspended advancement,” Hutchins said. “Ecologically nothing is happening there.”
Cumberland River Compact Communications and Development Director Meagan Hall said the restoration has been done in tandem with the local communities living near the lands themselves. Hall said The Compact has been approaching each new land as students and eager to work with locals.
“We’re trying to get all kinds of people on board, which is what Water Conservation Initiative is, and that doesn’t just include us just descending upon an area of the basin and just saying ‘this is the way it needs to be,’” Hall said. “Our approach is definitely a community-building kind of approach.”
Hall said that announcing the Working Lands Program has been very exciting for The Compact, as Working Lands is a new kind of effort The Compact is expanding into. Hutchins said the effort is being done with The Nature Conservancy through The Compact’s executive director, with The Conservancy sending their land managers to help survey the land and plan the effort.
“Tennessee is one of the most biodiverse places in the world,” Hall said. “The more that we can do to help restore these habitats … the better.”
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