GROUNDWORK FOR APRIL 2018
TREE PLANTING EVENT!
ONE OF TWO EVENTS THIS YEAR!

Copper Basin in Ducktown, TN

TREE PLANTING EVENT SCHEDULED FOR
TUESDAY, APRIL 17th

(Rain Date is Thursday, April 19th)

Future Forest!!

More than 30,000 hardwood trees (including American Chestnuts)
will be planted on this site this year using the
Forest Reclamation Approach!


Ecology class at Copper Basin High School

NASA once reported that satellite photos could detect two man-made objects from space. One was the Great Wall of China and the other was the scars from mining and processing in the Copper Basin in Polk County, TN. Since the 1970s, reclamation efforts have been underway by many stakeholders to restore the Basin. The latest evolution has been the incorporation of the Forestry Reclamation Approach as has been successfully demonstrated in coal-mine reclamation.
 

The Coal Creek Watershed Foundation was asked to organize the planting of blight-resistant American chestnut hybrids at two of those FRA sites. Yesterday, Barry Thacker and I were joined by our friend Dave Turner from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation in a presentation to Ginger Montgomery’s ecology class at Copper Basin High School in preparation for an Arbor Day planting event scheduled for April. We also visited the planting sites with our tour guide Nathan Haynes of Copperhill Industries.

 

Our engineering office of Schnabel Engineering has been a subcontractor to Barge Waggoner Sumner and Cannon on the Copperhill Superfund Alternative Approach portion of the restoration work for nearly 20 years, so we are thrilled to now be involved with the introduction of blight-resistant American chestnut hybrids, which Dave Turner predicts will be “a legacy gift with great returns for the Copper Basin.”


BEFORE PICTURE -- Copper Basin circa 1960s

 


Current view of site
 

This circa 1920 photo shows the old Union Church (upper right)
in Isabella, which was built shortly after the Civil War.
Above the front door is a "spirit hole," intended
to let the good spirits in and the bad spirits out.

TDEC's Dave Turner, Carol Moore, Barry Thacker
& Science teacher Ginger Montgomery

Teacher Ginger Montgomery and one of her Ecology students
claim Welsh surnames.  Welsh mined in this area.

A stop by the very interesting Copper Basin Museum.

Large historic copper wall art in the offices of Copperhill Industries

Historic office equipment

Aerial view of site -- with TDEC's Dave Turner

Nathan Haynes of Copperhill Industries with
Dave Turner and Barry Thacker

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CELEBRATING OUR 21st YEAR!!