In springtime, wildflowers carpet the ground and water trickles down stream beds. In the fall, chestnuts drop from the canopy as yellow leaves flutter to the forest floor like rain showers. There are rugged bluffs, hidden bat-filled caves and an awe-inspiring waterfall that plunges into a valley in the middle of thousands of acres of Tennessee timberland. Roger Tuuk and Rebecca Shafer Tuuk often get lost here.
They are the type of couple who strap kayaks to the roof of their powder blue minivan, throw a pair of bikes in the back and drive off to the nearest lake with their pop-up camper in tow. Years ago, Tuuk, 67, was an accountant and Shafer Tuuk, 66, a teacher. Now, they are wilderness warriors — and much of the thousands of acres they roam are actually their own.
Toting peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, apples and V8, they wander for hours across their 3,120 acres of forest in White County, Tenn., staring up at the towering timbers. The land is special to their family and to Tennessee. And now, it is protected in a way no other private land in the state has ever been before.
Originally purchased in the 1950s by the family lumber business, the expanse of dense hardwood will continue to stand pristine thanks to a Nature Conservancy program called Working Woodlands. The program helps landowners gain income from their property through sustainable timber harvesting and sale of carbon credits, while ensuring their forest remains preserved, healthy and productive for future generations.
The Tuuks enrolled in the Working Woodlands program in 2016, becoming the first in Tennessee to participate in the national program. The Nature Conservancy is now working with other landowners across the state to grow the reach. The family has provided the conservancy with what is called a working forest conservation easement that prevents development, agricultural conversion or unsustainable forestry practices.
From The Tennessean: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/environment/2017/11/03/how-unique-conseworking-woodlands-protects-incredible-waterfall-fulfills-vision-106-year-old-botanis/663655001/