FreeLists / tn-bird / [tn-bird] TWRA - cerulean warbler habitat

["Fraley, Nancy D." <ndfraley5@xxxxxxx>]

I apologize for the lengthy thread, however this seems to be an issues this
list serve would be interested in.  Best to start at the bottom and work up.
-----Original Message-----
From: Liane Russell [mailto:lbr@xxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, March 06, 2002 4:08 PM
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Subject: 80,000 acres in jeopardy


URGENT -- Please act on this yourself, and distribute promptly and widely to
sympathetic Anderson County people 



As you may have read in the News Sentinel, American International Properties
Inc., is working hard to outbid TWRA in their attempt to purchase about
80,000 acres between Frozen Head and Roal Blue from International Paper.
American International Properties Inc., has promised to develop the area,
while TWRA would preserve it as wildlife habitat for elk and Cerulean
Warbler. Various local sources have already made incendiary remarks about
people being more important than birds, etc. 



The Anderson County Commission is meeting about this issue on Monday, March
11, 6 p.m., in the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton, 3rd-floor
courtroom. It is very important for Anderson County residents to be there
and speak on behalf of the TWRA acquisition -- even a few words. Please do
all you can!!! 

Lee 
Note new Area Code (865) 
Liane B. Russell 
Life Sciences Division 
Oak Ridge National Laboratory 
P.O. Box 2009, MS 8077 
Oak Ridge, TN 37831-8077 
ph (865) 574-0860 
FAX (865) 574-1283 
RussellLB@xxxxxxxx 

-----Original Message-----
From: Lisa.Huff@xxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:Lisa.Huff@xxxxxxxxxxx]
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Subject: Re: TWRA - cerulean warbler habitat


And, now, for the really BAD news...
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/business/article/0,1406,KNS_376_1008636,00.html


Developers vying with TWRA for timberland
Knox firm tops bid offered by state
By Bob Fowler, Anderson County editor
CLINTON - A Knoxville development firm wants to buy 80,000 acres of forest
in Anderson and three other counties that the Tennessee Wildlife Resources
Agency is eyeing for a wildlife management area. 
George Frankenberg, president of American International Properties Inc.,
said Thursday he has offered to pay "considerably more" than the state's bid
on the woodland. The amount of the state's bid is unknown, but the land is
valued at $10 million. 
The property owned by International Paper Co. includes more than 33,000
acres in Campbell County, 22,000 acres in Anderson County and smaller tracts
in Morgan and Scott counties. 
"We just don't want to see that land gone forever when the state can't take
care of what it's got and is shutting down state parks," said Frankenberg. 
TWRA is seeking legislative approval of an exception allowing Wetlands
Acquisition Fund money to help pay for the land. The fund would also be used
to make annual in-lieu-of-tax payments to the affected counties. 
"A pitiful amount of in-lieu-of-tax money doesn't do anything for these
counties," said Frankenberg. "We think the taxpayers are being taken for a
ride." 
Frankenberg said he represents several firms interested in the property for
both residential and industrial development. He said he has signed a
confidentiality agreement with International Paper that prevents him from
elaborating on those plans. 
Rick Ouellette, a spokesman for International Paper, confirmed that 80,000
acres are for sale but added, "I can't discuss the details. That would
jeopardize the potential deal." 
TWRA says it wants to buy the land to create a wildlife management area that
would preserve the nesting grounds of the cerulean warbler, a songbird whose
population is in decline. 
The forest acquisition would also aid in TWRA's effort to reintroduce elk in
its adjoining Royal Blue Wildlife Management area, said TWRA Executive
Director Gary Myers. 
"TWRA is wanting us to give up our future so they can have elk hunts, and
they're trying to get bird lovers on their side," said Scott Phillips, owner
of New River General Store in Anderson County's New River community. 
Phillips said if the land in New River were sold to private developers, it
would "give this community an opportunity to grow." 
Phillips said when coal mining was a booming business in the 1930s in the
mountains around New River, some 3,000 people lived in the area. Now, he
said, it's home to "a little over 300." 
"This community is dying," Phillips said. Having private developers own the
property "would put land for sale in the valley so people can live here
again." 
The issue is expected to be discussed during a March 11 meeting of an
Anderson County Commission committee. Myers said a TWRA representative will
attend, while Phillips and Frankenberg say they also plan to be there. 
Bob Fowler may be reached at 865-481-3625 or bfowler@xxxxxxxx 
 Copyright 2002 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. 
Click for permission to reprint


March 1, 2002


>>> "Fraley, Nancy D." <ndfraley5@xxxxxxx> 03/04/02 04:50PM >>>

FYI
CERULEAN HABITAT BOOST: The Tennessee state legislature is considering
a bill to purchase 75,000 acres of hardwood forest from International
Paper Co. in order to establish a wildlife management area for the
cerulean warbler says the Knoxville News-Sentinel 2/28. Although not
listed, the warbler has been "experiencing a fairly significant
decrease for the last 30 years" and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources
Agency says the land "may be the most important place for breeding
cerulean warblers in the U.S." The wildlife management area would also
benefit many other species including golden-winged warblers, wood
thrushes, scarlet tanagers and American redstarts.
KnoxNews
 
To print this page, select File then Print from your browser
URL:
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/politics/article/0,1406,KNS_356_1006842,00.html

Paper company land eyed by wildlife outfit
TWRA cites decline in songbird numbers
By Bob Fowler, Anderson County editor
CLINTON - The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency wants to buy 75,000 acres
of hardwood forest in Anderson and three other counties to create a wildlife
management area for a songbird whose population has plummeted in recent
decades. 
Legislation passed the House Conservation and Environment Committee
Wednesday that would allow TWRA to use state wetland acquisition funds to
buy the property from International Paper Co. 
The territory is a remote, mountainous woodland between Frozen Head State
Park in Morgan County and TWRA's Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area in
Campbell and Scott counties. 
International Paper owns more than 33,000 acres in three large tracts in
Campbell County, a 22,000-acre chunk of Anderson County in the New River
area and smaller tracts in Scott and Morgan counties. 
The forest is the home of the cerulean warbler, a small songbird that nests
in hardwood forests in Eastern North America and winters in South America. 
The International Paper property "may be the most important place for
breeding cerulean warblers in the United States," said TWRA Executive
Director Gary Myers. 
Myers said that since the property adjoins TWRA's 50,000-acre Royal Blue
area, obtaining it would also be beneficial to the agency's ongoing elk
restoration effort there. 
"It's really important that the timber resource there be retained," Myers
said. "What we would like to see is sustainable forestry practiced in that
area." 
While the cerulean warbler is not officially listed as endangered, "there is
a great deal of concern about the species because its population has been
experiencing a fairly significant decrease for the last 30 years or so,"
said TVA environmental scientist Charles Nicholson. 
"This is one of many species of birds that would benefit from management of
this land," said Nicholson, who has studied the cerulean warbler. He said
golden-winged warblers, wood thrushes, scarlet tanagers and American
redstarts also thrive in the forests there. 
Myers said the wetland acquisition fund, derived from real estate transfer
taxes, is used by the state to buy and preserve wetlands. 
"People across the state pay that tax, but most wetlands are in West
Tennessee," Myers said. The pending legislation asks lawmakers to grant an
exception that would allow the purchase of the upland forests, he said. 
The tract is valued at $10 million, officials told the House committee. 
Most of the money to buy the land would come from private conservation
groups and the federal government, officials said. TWRA plans to use $3
million to $5 million from its Wetlands Acquisition Fund for its share of
the cost. 
If wetland acquisition money is used to buy the land, it could also be used
to make annual in-lieu-of-tax payments to the affected counties, Myers said.
"We've recognized early on that things would go well if we're able to pay
the taxes," he said. 
Concerns voiced in Anderson County over the possible removal of the
International Paper land - valued at nearly $3.4 million with an annual tax
bill of $27,878 - from the tax rolls are expected to be addressed during the
March 11 meeting of the county commission's operations committee. Myers said
a TWRA representative will attend that session. 
Bob Fowler may be reached at 865-481-3625 or bfowler@xxxxxxxxx 
February 28, 2002 
Copyright 2002, KnoxNews. All Rights Reserved. 
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