In mid-April, surrounded by spring wildflowers and the annual St. Andrews “Trails and Trilliums” plant sale, supporters of the South Cumberland Plateau region will talk about how to protect it from mining, logging and overdevelopment while still encouraging growth.
“Plateau 2020: Envisioning the Future” is the topic of the fifth annual Cumberland Wild, a yearly event focusing on preserving the plateau as a springboard for economic development, said Mary Priestley, president of Friends of South Cumberland State Park.
“We’re hoping for growth like everybody else,” Mrs. Priestley said. “But we want it to be sustainable growth.”
The Cumberland Wild panel discussion will begin at 1 p.m. CDT on April 17. Five experts “with various points of view” are scheduled to speak, she said.
The panelists include:
* Steve Walsh with the Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation
* Zeb Turrentine with the Alliance for the Cumberlands
* Jon Evans with the Sewanee Landscape Analysis Lab
* Phil Johnson with the Friends of South Cumberland
* A representative of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.
Dr. Evans, a biology professor who directs the landscape analysis lab at Sewanee: The University of the South, said he will present an overview of the lab’s work to identify the plateau’s most critical areas, places where conservation is most important.
He said he also hopes the lab’s work will promote communication among those working to conserve and develop the plateau.
IF YOU GOWhat: “Plateau 2020: Envisioning the Future,” Cumberland Wild roundtable discussionWhen: 1 p.m. CDT April 17Where: McCrory Hall, St. Andrews-Sewanee School campus, Monteagle MountainInformation: http://trails.sasweb.org/schedule.htmSource: Friends of South Cumberland State Park
“So much of what happens in the conservation world is that groups divide up,” he said. When that happens, critical information and help sometimes can be overlooked, he added.
“The thing that’s important to realize here is that you can have your cake and eat it, too,” he said. “Growth and conservation are not mutually exclusive at all. It just requires some planning and mutual understanding. And talking.”
This year, Cumberland Wild and its panel discussion are included as part of the seventh “perennial” Trails and Trilliums weekend event. It includes a native plant sale, gardening and wildflower workshops and speakers, a garden tour, guided walks and hikes in Shakerag Hollow and other plateau trails.
Mrs. Priestley, who also is the director of the Sewanee Herbarium, said her hopes for the panel discussion are high.
“We want to look at see what we’d like the plateau to look like in 10 years,” she said.
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