Tennessee Announces New State Forest

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture, Division of Forestry (TDF) has announced that 5,477 acres in Fayette County will become the state’s 16th state forest, which will be named Wolf River State Forest.

“This property holds great historical, cultural, and archeological significance, as well as long-term forest research plots, and exceptional hardwood forestland,” State Forester Heather Slayton says. “Under our management, we will keep this forest as a forest, conserve and steward its extensive natural and cultural resources, facilitate the continuation of research and conservation education at the site, and support the local wood products industry.”

The land, which is located along the Wolf River, is a portion of the historical Ames Plantation, a property located about 60 miles east of Memphis. It was established by Hobart Ames, a wealthy industrialist, in the early 1900s. After he passed, his wife created the Hobart Ames Foundation to benefit the University of Tennessee’s (UT) scientific research programs and the National Championship for Bird Dogs.

The portion of Ames Plantation that will become Wolf River State Forest includes one of the finest examples of bottomland hardwood forests in the state, including white oak stands that provide significant aid to white oak restoration and sustainability efforts. TDF will also conserve more than 30 miles of streams and riparian habitat and 1,560 acres of wetlands, helping to ensure water quality for Memphis drinking water, fisheries, and others downstream.

In addition to the natural resources on the forest, the tract contains 45 state-registered historical sites. Rhodes College and the Hobart Ames Foundation have invested in expanding historical knowledge of slavery at Ames, identifying more than 800 enslaved people who lived and worked on the property and documenting their cemeteries and remnants of dwellings. Rhodes College, UT, and the Hobart Ames Foundation will continue to collaborate with those descendants to identify enslaved ancestors.

Finally, the new state forest will provide new public access for passive outdoor recreation activities in the area like hunting, wildlife viewing, hiking and fishing.

Funding for the purchase was made possible with grant funds from the FS Forest Legacy Program (FLP), supported by Tennessee’s federal Congressional delegation. Matching funds were provided from TWRA’s Wetlands Funds, the Tennessee Heritage Conservation Trust Fund, The Conservation Fund, and the seller. FLP is a working forest conservation program administered by the FS in partnership with TDF to protect privately-owned forest lands from conversion to non-forest uses through conservation easements or land purchases. With the acquisition of the Wolf River State Forest, the area conserved under the Tennessee FLP is close to 60,000 acres.

Many individuals and groups worked together to make this enterprise possible including a variety of state and federal officials, The University of Tennessee, Packaging Corp. of America and logging contractor Wade Norris Logging, LLC.