Chestnut Mountain

5,686 acres on the Cumberland Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee were donated to The Nature Conservancy to protect and improve the resiliency and carbon sequestration rates of the forest, protect the local drinking water supply and vast animal and plant biodiversity as well as provide a platform for education and research.

In the Southeast region of the US, shortleaf pine forests such as this one, have declined by more than 50 percent in the past 30 years. Forest management practices include restoring woodlands and savannahs in which native shortleaf pine is the dominant or co-dominant canopy species in selected areas and protecting native hemlock forests from the hemlock woolly adelgid pest.

The project will sequester approximately 480,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide over the first 20-year crediting period.

At the time of the project start date in 2018, most forest owners in the project region were motivated to harvest and sell as much timber as possible with little investment.  Many might eventually sell the land for development, and few were committed to long-term forest management or conservation. This project changes that and excludes even-aged tree management regimes that involve clear-cutting.

The Appalachian forest is a part of the world’s longest expanse of hardwood forested plateau and scientific publications highlight this property as an important climate corridor and connector for wildlife and plants. Its strategic conservation serves to further consolidate a mosaic of protected areas in the Cumberland Plateau totaling 60,000 acres.

The land also has historic features such as homestead gravesites as well as protects and enhances a biologically significant habitat for a range of threatened and endangered plant and animal species. The Chestnut Mountain forest contains many valuable ecological, educational, open space, cultural, and scenic resource conservation values.

The planet by protecting and saving the forest. The local community that benefits from cleaner water and air.

The property is just spectacular…thousands of acres of Cumberland Plateau forests, a 100-acre lake, caves and streams, all capped by Chestnut Mountain itself—the highest peak in the county at 2,000 feet. The Nature Conservancy is a valued landowner in our county with Chestnut Mountain protecting the community’s drinking water supply, protecting our valuable forests and wildlife, and providing additional recreation and education opportunities for the people in our community and beyond. -Denny Wayne Robinson, County Executive, White County Tennessee

The conservation value, pressures of development, and value of the hardwood timber stands within the area made this a high priority area for The Nature Conservancy (TNC).  Forest restoration has been tailored to suit different kinds of trees and habitats for the benefit of the animals and plants on the mountain and maximize carbon sequestration.

Not only are there restrictions in place to ensure the longevity of the project, but the commitment by the TNC to restoration also suggests the forest will be healthier, more resilient to climate change and in place for a long time