A large tract of land in southeastern Kentucky has long been important to local residents.
“People know the land is not theirs but have a unique attachment to it,” said John Grace, Bell County resident and tourism director. “It’s been a place people here have enjoyed for generations. They shot their first deer up there, caught their first fish out of one of the ponds or the streams. I used to grouse hunt there back in the day with my grandfather.”
More recently, a global nonprofit has realized the importance of that land on a larger scale. The Cumberland Forest Project, purchased in 2018, spreads across multiple rural counties in the border regions of Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. At 253,000 acres — the equivalent of Badlands National Park or ten Disneyworlds — it stands as the largest land deal in The Nature Conservancy’s history.
National, regional, and local in scope, the Cumberland Forest Project is an experiment by The Nature Conservancy to conserve large swaths of land. Its environmental goals include furthering climate adaptation and rehabilitating tens of thousands of acres. Impact investors purchased the land, with the intention of proving that conservation can be profitable. And local communities are at the forefront — especially important in a place with a long and painful history of extraction of resources, wealth, and control.
“I grew up in Knox County, Kentucky, and this project shines a positive light on Eastern Kentucky,” said Chris Garland, Appalachian Director at The Nature Conservancy. “It’s one of the greatest places in the world, and we should work to preserve it.”
The Nature Conservancy’s Lauren Gawthorp and Chris Garland. (Photo by Kim Kobersmith)
Climate Action Across the Globe
The Nature Conservancy, founded in 1951, took a hard look at its mission a couple of years back. The nonprofit had long been known for purchasing and protecting “the last great places,” pockets of pristine and intact ecosystems. In the face of climate change and diminishing biodiversity, that no longer seemed like enough.
Using climate modeling, scientists for the nonprofit identified four priority areas with global importance for weathering future changes: the Amazon rainforest, Kenya, Borneo, and the Appalachians. It might surprise readers that the only identified ecosystem in the Americas is the Appalachian Mountains, which is dotted with population centers and heavily impacted by centuries of logging, mining, and other impacts. But the range is also a hot spot for biodiversity, hosts a variety of unique habitats along its 2,000-mile span, and serves as a major hemispheric migratory corridor for multiple species of birds. Another important metric is the Appalachian region has abundant opportunities for “habitat connectivity,” or the ability to connect wildlife habitats while minimizing human-made barriers such as roads, walls, farms, and other developments.
Using climate change predictions and the climatic needs of almost 3,000 creatures, researchers created this map of movement routes for adaptation by birds, mammals and amphibians. The Appalachians, and the Cumberland Forest Project land in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, are crucial in this migration. (Illustration courtesy of The Nature Conservancy)
Conserving the properties encompassed by the Cumberland Forest Project would not be a priority of the former Nature Conservancy or the national or state park systems. This is working rural land that’s been farmed, logged, and mined. The entrance road is flanked by a tipple and other old mining infrastructure. Access is via former haul roads.
“Nowadays, it is hard to find land that’s not impacted by people,” explained Garland. “To reach our 2030 climate and biodiversity goals, we have to be ambitious in the pace and scale of our work. We are trying meaningful solutions like conserving 250,000 acres in central Appalachia.”
Climate Action on the Ground In Kentucky
I visited the project area to talk to local leaders and see it for myself. The five-mile-long road into the Ataya tract is rocky, narrow and rough. The truck bounced along, passing an off-road vehicle heading the other direction with only inches between us. Garland drove slowly to accommodate his passengers, both of whom are prone to motion sickness.
Evidence of life was all around. Recently planted tree seedlings marched in rows. Crickets chirped from the grass. Elk hoofprints in the rocky soil proved their otherwise elusive presence. Two wild turkeys scurried across the road ahead. At the furthest point into the landscape, we stopped at an overlook to see the town of Middlesboro below, cradled within mountains that rolled on to the horizon.
Evidence of elk is abundant – though actual elk can be harder to find. They have adapted to life in the forest. (Photo by Kim Kobersmith)
The Cumberland Forest Project strategy for the massive holding is to not just preserve it, but improve it, and much work has been done. The compacted soils of reclaimed mine sites are known for harboring invasive species, so, to tackle thickets of invasives such as autumn olive, bush honeysuckle and tree of heaven, the conservancy and its partners apply targeted aerial herbicides and carry out prescribed burns. The ground looks barren after loosening and decompaction, but Garland said organic matter has already built up on a site in Tennessee completed just seven years ago.
The Nature Conservancy also works with partner Green Forests Work to plant native, fire-hardy species such as oak and hickory on the newly bared soil. That way, prescribed burns can continue to keep invasives in check while not harming established young trees. Over the last two years, 3,500 acres have been improved with prescribed burns.
A new oak seedling turns its autumn colors. (Photo courtesy of The Nature Conservancy)
The large scale of the project translates to a “better, not pristine” mindset. Unwanted trees and shrubs still grow on treated land. The goal is to preserve plenty of room for the desired plants and trees to flourish, not recreating a perfect native ecosystem.
“We have done a lot of work over the last three years, but it might not look like much,” said Merle Hacker, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources liaison to the Cumberland Forest Project. “It’s a process that will take time, but I am starting to see the habitat shift.”
Conservation in Perpetuity
To keep the land providing habitat connectivity and climate adaptation benefits into the future, the majority of the Cumberland Forest Project will be targeted for permanent conservation and recreation easements. In 2024, the conservancy sold easement rights to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources on the entire 54,000 acres in the state, with the help of the Kentucky General Assembly and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. It was the largest such land deal ever for Kentucky, and Hacker explained its significance for the commonwealth.
“Kentucky Fish and Wildlife owns very little land,” he said. “We have agreements with the U.S Forest Service, the [Army] Corps of Engineers, and large landowners like mining groups,” Hacker said. “We could lose management rights and access to those at any time. The conservation easement is unique. Because it is permanent, we can manage it like we own it, and it ensures all of our constituents have places to go and enjoy.”
With The Nature Conservancy owning the land and Kentucky’s state agency having the easement, they manage the land cooperatively. The priority for the state is managing habitat for elk, an important game species in the region. A now extinct subspecies of woodland elk roamed those hills until the late 1800s. In 1995, Kentucky initiated a program to reintroduce elk from the western U.S. to 16 counties in Eastern Kentucky, including Bell.
The program was wildly successful. The Kentucky herd is now the largest in the eastern United States, numbering over 10,000 animals. The herds have taken to the more open spaces of reclaimed mine sites, including parts of the Cumberland Forest Project, which provides one of the largest areas for public hunting. With help from partners such as the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the National Wild Turkey Federation, hundreds of acres are being converted into an open savannah with oak and hickory trees dotting the landscape. And while habitat efforts have focused on elk, they’ve been proven to benefit salamanders, black bears, deer, and grassland songbirds as well.
Another agreement with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency secured that state’s adjoining 45,000 acres. Meanwhile, the conservancy and the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources are working towards an easement on a portion of the 153,000-acre Highland section in southeast Virginia.
The Importance of Being a Good Neighbor
How the Cumberland Forest Project can benefit nearby communities has been top of mind for project leaders from its inception. In Kentucky, the neighboring counties are all identified as economically distressed or at-risk by the Appalachian Regional Commission. The Nature Conservancy has gone out of its way to connect with elected officials to gauge local reactions to ideas and to respect local perspectives.
Middlesboro mayor Boone Bowling and Bell County Tourism Director John Grace have both seen positive community impacts from the CFP. (Photo by Kim Kobersmith)
“[The Nature Conservancy] is cognizant of being good neighbors,” said Grace. “The importance of open lines of communication can’t be overstated.”
More than 34,000 acres of the project area is within Bell County, wrapped around Middlesboro on three sides. With the conservation easements, residents are guaranteed access to recreation opportunities such as hunting, hiking, UTV riding, bird watching, and boating. They also gain an important asset for expanding an outdoor tourism economy. Bell is the only county in Kentucky with both a national and state park (Cumberland Gap National Historic Park and Pine Mountain State Resort Park). Middlesboro is in the process of becoming a state-certified Trail Town, highlighting its sporting features.
“One of the first things that we mention for Bell County tourism is the amount of outdoor recreation we have,” Grace said. “We’ve got more public hunting and fishing land than anywhere in the state, and that’s in large part because of the Cumberland Forest Project. It’s a giant piece of property, especially by East Coast standards.”
The tract offers a diversity of recreation, but is currently limited by insufficient access. Grace envisions the land with segmented entry points to accommodate different, nonconflicting uses: hunting areas, motorized and nonmotorized trails, small lakes for kayaking and fishing. He has a partner in the Kentucky wildlife and fish agency. With the permanent easements in place, Hacker said improving access is now a high priority, both for opening up recreation areas and for reaching more remote areas for habitat management.
“With ease of access, the Cumberland Forest Project could be the biggest tourism asset in Eastern Kentucky,” Grace said. “It could be absolutely huge for the area.”
Community Benefits
The Nature Conservancy also created a special Cumberland Forest Community Fund to provide grants to nearby communities. All royalties collected from mining activities on project lands go into the fund.
In Kentucky, partner Mountain Association uses grant funds to install solar projects on public buildings. Middlesboro, with a population of about 9,000, received a solar grant for the town community center — the 10,000 square foot building and adjacent public pool serve as a town hub, the go-to spot for birthday parties, sports banquets, and Thanksgiving meals.
A solar installation on the roof of the Middlesboro Community Center, funded by the Cumberland Forest Project Community Fund, provides most of the center’s electricity needs. (Photo by Mike Wilkinson / The Nature Conservancy)
According to Boone Bowling, Middlesboro mayor, the solar system generates enough energy to provide almost 100% of the center’s electricity needs. The city reinvested the savings from electricity costs into a complete renovation, including the installation of an indoor basketball court. The improvements have prompted increased usage.
“Every dollar counts in a small community,” Bowling said. “Now we’re looking at other avenues of how we can continue to diversify that building, to offer places for indoor concerts. It all started with The Nature Conservancy coming in with the grant to say, ‘Hey, how can we really look at this building in a different way that we’ve not been able to?’”
Impact Investment
One of the most innovative, and provocative, aspects of the Cumberland Forest Projects is its reliance on impact investors. To conserve that much acreage across such a wide, multi-state area, The Nature Conservancy enticed investors to provide $130 million to purchase the properties. Then it had to prove that conservation could be profitable.
The first strategies were selling credits on the carbon market and certifying the timber by the Forest Stewardship Council to generate a higher return. Next, hunters contributed to get permits through the Kentucky elk-hunting draw. The sale of permanent conservation easements generated more income. The project continues to develop several solar farms on former mine sites within the boundaries of the project.
But the largest anticipated payout would occur when The Nature Conservancy sells the property. It always planned for short-term stewardship, with a 10-to-12-year ownership window. That could close as soon as 2028. While any new owners will be constrained by the easements, the hope is to find buyers who will fully embrace and further the work The Nature Conservancy and its partners began.
“We consider the scale of this project a huge win,” said Garland. “We’ve learned a lot about managing this large a tract of land and have developed some strong partnerships. It’s worked to this point, but the biggest test of the model is yet to come.”
The post Cumberland Forest Project Does Global Conservation in Rural Appalachia appeared first on The Daily Yonder.
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