Organizers are hoping a little magic will raise the last of $8.1 million needed to preserve 6,200 acres in and around the Fiery Gizzard – the heart of the South Cumberland Plateau.
Half Moon Mountain Magic, a fundraising festival, is set from 5 to 9 p.m. CDT Friday at the DuBose Conference Center pavilion in Monteagle, Tenn. It is organized by the Friends of South Cumberland State Recreation Area and hopes to raise the last $620,000 needed to protect the area.
With its 17-mile, one-way trail, Fiery Gizzard offers what Jeanie Nelson, director of the Land Trust for Tennessee, calls “one of the most intact, biologically diverse, natural landscapes remaining in the eastern United States.”
Many people don’t know that, even though the trail is open to the public and managed by the state of Tennessee as part of the South Cumberland State Recreation Area, “half of the trail itself and the majority of the views are currently under private ownership,” she said.
The trust is trying to buy land owned by a timber investment firm that is required to sell the property.