Posted on 02/28/2002 5:29:20 PM PST by gg188
Paper company land eyed by wildlife outfit
TWRA cites decline in songbird numbers
By Bob Fowler, Anderson County editor
CLINTON - The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency wants to buy 75,000 acres of hardwood forest in Anderson and three other counties to create a wildlife management area for a songbird whose population has plummeted in recent decades. Legislation passed the House Conservation and Environment Committee Wednesday that would allow TWRA to use state wetland acquisition funds to buy the property from International Paper Co.
The territory is a remote, mountainous woodland between Frozen Head State Park in Morgan County and TWRA's Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area in Campbell and Scott counties.
International Paper owns more than 33,000 acres in three large tracts in Campbell County, a 22,000-acre chunk of Anderson County in the New River area and smaller tracts in Scott and Morgan counties.
The forest is the home of the cerulean warbler, a small songbird that nests in hardwood forests in Eastern North America and winters in South America.
The International Paper property "may be the most important place for breeding cerulean warblers in the United States," said TWRA Executive Director Gary Myers.
Myers said that since the property adjoins TWRA's 50,000-acre Royal Blue area, obtaining it would also be beneficial to the agency's ongoing elk restoration effort there.
"It's really important that the timber resource there be retained," Myers said. "What we would like to see is sustainable forestry practiced in that area."
While the cerulean warbler is not officially listed as endangered, "there is a great deal of concern about the species because its population has been experiencing a fairly significant decrease for the last 30 years or so," said TVA environmental scientist Charles Nicholson.
"This is one of many species of birds that would benefit from management of this land," said Nicholson, who has studied the cerulean warbler. He said golden-winged warblers, wood thrushes, scarlet tanagers and American redstarts also thrive in the forests there.
Myers said the wetland acquisition fund, derived from real estate transfer taxes, is used by the state to buy and preserve wetlands.
"People across the state pay that tax, but most wetlands are in West Tennessee," Myers said. The pending legislation asks lawmakers to grant an exception that would allow the purchase of the upland forests, he said.
The tract is valued at $10 million, officials told the House committee.
Most of the money to buy the land would come from private conservation groups and the federal government, officials said. TWRA plans to use $3 million to $5 million from its Wetlands Acquisition Fund for its share of the cost.
If wetland acquisition money is used to buy the land, it could also be used to make annual in-lieu-of-tax payments to the affected counties, Myers said. "We've recognized early on that things would go well if we're able to pay the taxes," he said.
Concerns voiced in Anderson County over the possible removal of the International Paper land - valued at nearly $3.4 million with an annual tax bill of $27,878 - from the tax rolls are expected to be addressed during the March 11 meeting of the county commission's operations committee. Myers said a TWRA representative will attend that session.
Bob Fowler may be reached at 865-481-3625 or bfowler@infi.net.
February 28, 2002
Copyright 2002, KnoxNews. All Rights Reserved.
The feds gave money to the University of Texas to study the situation and, as it turned out, the black-capped verio and the golden-cheeked warbler were NOT decreasing in numbers nor was growth and development the villain.
The study found that unseasonably harsh winters had led to a migration of blue jays, the bullies of the bird world. They take over nests and chase away any birds they see as competition. The verios and warblers simply hid out in deeper pockets of the forest until the jays headed back north. The do-gooders who pretend to count the populations of birds didn't know this because, of course, they can't be bothered to look deep in the forests for nests.
After that report came out, environazis started looking for other species to support massive land grabs and limited growth such as the Barton Creek salamander and a "rare" cave beetle that halted construction of a shopping mall for over a decade.
My Granny bought her first house in the city for $13,000 bucks. It is now valued at over $250,000. Hmmmm, how many acres does the Goobermint own now?
Darlin', as long as its on-key, you can have as much land as you need...
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