The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is potentially a few months away from purchasing about 7,500 acres of land along the Hatchie River for conservation and outdoor recreation.
The property spans Haywood, Hardeman, and Madison counties in West Tennessee and includes ecologically valuable wetlands marked as a priority for conservation.
“This acquisition will secure the protection of sensitive wetlands and unique wildlife habitat while adding a large amount of huntable land, according to information presented to the State Building Commissions’ executive subcommittee.
While this property is a longstanding area of interest for wildlife conservation and outdoor recreation plans from years past, its acquisition would also secure protection of key wetlands following the April passage of a bill that rolled back regulations for about 80 percent of the Tennessee wetlands no longer shielded by federal law. It’s not clear if this property includes wetlands that would otherwise be at risk.
While many tributaries of the Mississippi River have been altered to flow in a straighter “channel,” the Hatchie River is the longest free-flowing tributary of the Lower Mississippi and has the largest remaining floodplain in the state, according to TWRA Public Relations Director Emily Buck.
The pending purchase would add to more than 30,000 acres of protected state and federal public lands along the scenic Hatchie River, the only river in West Tennessee that was not channelized — engineered to be straighter, deeper or wider — in the mid-1900s. Instead, the Hatchie follows its natural meandering course, providing multiple types of habitat for the more than 100 species of fish and 35 mussel species that call the river home.
The Hatchie River’s forests also support more than 250 species of birds, white-tailed deer, river otters, beavers, and the Eastern box turtle, among others.
TWRA plans to purchase the land from Hatchie River Hardwoods LLC, with help from two nonprofits: The Conservation Fund and The Nature Conservancy. The Conservation Fund will get the property under contract, and TWRA will ultimately acquire and manage the land, according to government documents.
The plot will become a new Wildlife Management Area, a space that conserves wildlife habitat while providing public access opportunities. It will be one of the largest bottomland hardwood forests (think river swamps) with a single owner in Tennessee.
TWRA will pay $450,000 toward the undisclosed “fair market value” price, with the Tennessee Heritage Conservation Fund covering the bulk of the cost, Buck said in a statement to Tennessee Lookout. The Wetlands Acquisition Fund will also be used. The land last sold in 2021 for around $27.5 million, state records show.
The Tennessee commissioner of agriculture and TWRA executive director have already approved the tract for purchase, and the State Building Commission’s Executive Subcommittee also granted its approval in late August.
Buck surmises that TWRA will close on the property in November.
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