12/23/24
NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry (TDF) is proud to announce that 5,477 acres in Fayette County will become the state’s 16th state forest. The property, which will be named Wolf River State Forest, will open to visitors in 2025.
“We are thrilled to add Wolf River State Forest to our state forest system and are grateful for the support and partnerships that made this acquisition possible,” State Forester Heather Slayton said. “This property holds great historical, cultural, and archeological significance, as well as long-term forest research plots, and exceptional hardwood forestland. Under our management, we will keep this forest as a forest, conserve and steward its extensive natural and cultural resources, facilitate the continuation of research and conservation education at the site, and support the local wood products industry.”
TDF is currently surveying the property, installing signage, and preparing to welcome the public to the new state forest early next year with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
The land, which is located along the Wolf River, is a portion of the historical Ames Plantation, a property located about 60 miles east of Memphis. It was established by Hobart Ames, a wealthy industrialist, in the early 1900s. After he passed, his wife created the Hobart Ames Foundation to benefit the University of Tennessee’s (UT) scientific research programs and the National Championship for Bird Dogs.
The portion of Ames Plantation that will become Wolf River State Forest includes one of the finest examples of bottomland hardwood forests in the state, including white oak stands that provide significant aid to white oak restoration and sustainability efforts. TDF will also conserve more than 30 miles of streams and riparian habitat and 1,560 acres of wetlands in the new state forest, helping to ensure water quality for Memphis drinking water, fisheries, and others downstream.
In addition to the natural resources on the forest, the tract contains 45 state-registered historical sites. Rhodes College and the Hobart Ames Foundation have invested in expanding historical knowledge of slavery at Ames, identifying more than 800 enslaved people who lived and worked on the property and documenting their cemeteries and remnants of dwellings. Rhodes College, UT, and the Hobart Ames Foundation will continue to collaborate with those descendants to identify enslaved ancestors.
Finally, the new state forest will provide new public access for passive outdoor recreation activities in the area like hunting, wildlife viewing, hiking, and fishing.
TDF advanced this project in partnership with The Conservation Fund, a nonprofit organization that works to protect natural land, cultural sites, recreation areas, and working forests and farms across the United States. The Conservation Fund has partnered with TDF and numerous other state agencies over the years to protect more than 300,000 acres of Tennessee’s land and water.
“We are pleased we were able to facilitate the acquisition of the Ames property and work with the state to permanently protect it,” The Conservation Fund’s Tennessee State Director Zachary Lesch-Huie said. “The property has tremendous environmental, economic, scientific, and cultural value. Protecting it as a state forest will ensure it keeps delivering that value for the people of West Tennessee.”
Funding for the purchase was made possible with grant funds from the USDA Forest Service Forest Legacy Program (FLP), supported by Tennessee’s federal Congressional delegation. Matching funds were provided from TWRA’s Wetlands Funds, the Tennessee Heritage Conservation Trust Fund, The Conservation Fund, and the seller. FLP is a working forest conservation program administered by the USDA Forest Service in partnership with TDF to protect privately-owned forest lands from conversion to non-forest uses through conservation easements or land purchases. With the acquisition of the Wolf River State Forest, the area conserved under the Tennessee FLP is close to 60,000 acres.
Many individuals and groups worked together to make this enterprise possible including:
The Hobart Ames Foundation
The Conservation Fund
U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn
U.S. Rep. David Kustoff
Tennessee Heritage Conservation Trust Fund
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation
The Tennessee Forestry Association
The University of Tennessee
State Sen. Page B. Walley, District 26
State Sen. Becky Massey, District 6
State Rep. Ron M. Gant, District 94
State Rep. Johnny W. Shaw, District 80
State Rep. Greg Vital, District 29
State Rep. Chris Todd, District 73
Mayor Paul A. Young, City of Memphis
Mayor Rhea Taylor, Fayette County, Tenn.
Mayor Todd Pulse, Hardeman County, Tenn.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy
The Nature Conservancy, Tennessee Chapter
Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation
Tennessee Wildlife Federation
Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever
Wolf River Conservancy
Packaging Corporation of America
Wade Norris Logging, LLC
For more on how the Forest Service works with states to conserve forests through the Forest Legacy Program, visit www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/private-land/forest-legacy.
Learn more about Tennessee State Forests on TDA’s website at www.tn.gov/agriculture/forests/state-forests.html and TDF’s role at www.tn.gov/agriculture/forests.html.
