Chattanooga is welcoming biologists and environmental leaders from around the Southeast this week to collaborate in protecting and improving the aquatic biodiversity of the Tennessee River Basin.
More than 100 conservation professionals are scheduled to attend the Tennessee River Basin Biodiversity Network meeting at the Tennessee Aquarium.
They will address the challenges – and solutions – found in managing one of North America’s most biologically diverse river systems, one that includes numerous threatened and endangered species.
“We all bring different perspectives to the meeting,” U.S. Forest Service aquatic biologist Jim Herrig said. “And with the diversity we have in the Southeast, it’s just so important that we see all the different viewpoints.”
The river basin stretches across seven states, covering more than 40,000 miles and serving as a home to more than 230 types of fish, at least 74 species of crayfish and a large smattering of turtle and salamander species.