Background:

The Clearfork Valley is nestled between the Pine and Cumberland Mountains, and consists of 12 unincorporated towns. It straddles two states, Tennessee and Kentucky, and four counties, Whitley, Bell, Claiborne and Campbell.  The Clearfork River runs through the valley, fed by creeks including Laurel Fork, Buffalo, Straight Creek, and Tackett Creek. Woodland Community Land Trust is located in Tennessee at the edge of Claiborne and Campbell Counties, in an area known as Roses Creek, near Eagan.  

In the first half of the 20^th century the land and coal companies bought up much of the land and deep mining was prevalent.   Approximately 30,000 people lived in coal camps throughout the Clearfork Valley.  By the 1950’s most of the mining had transitioned to strip mining, and most of the coal mining jobs were lost.  Many people left the area to find work elsewhere.  Some of these people or their children returned years later. Currently the coal and land companies own approximately 80% of the land of the Clearfork Valley, which is home to approximately 5,000 people.

650 households in the valley receive water from the Clearfork Utility District, but some households rely on springs and wells.  Drought, metals, sulfur compounds and sometimes bacteria threaten people’s private water supplies.  However, we do not currently know the extent of these threats.  The creeks have elevated E. Coli counts, high sedimentation, and high levels of metals.  There is Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) in the area, and we are beginning to document the extent of this problem.  

The Woodland Community Land Trust was formed in 1977 by citizens in response to the abuses of corporate land ownership and corporate industrial investments.  As a rural community land trust, it prohibits speculation and absentee practices and preserves the long-term affordability of housing.  Our mission is to acquire a land base that will allow for diversified housing options, sustainable income production opportunities, social and educational services, and a cohesive community development effort.  The land trust continues to own the land while conveying the long-term use of the land to individuals.  It offers 99-year leases to one-acre home sites that can be transferred to leaseholders’ heirs if they commit to use the land in a socially and environmentally responsible way.  By retaining the land through community involvement, residents have more power to defend and preserve the land collectively through community involvement, while insuring the right of future generations.

 

Goals and Accomplishments:

The three-year OSM/Vista program works to expand capacity of Woodland through grant writing, volunteer recruiting, and publicity, eventually allowing Woodland to hire full time staff to administer the land management, water monitoring, and economic development programs.  The OSM/Vistas help community members to vision and implement a water monitoring program, as well as projects that revitalize the local economy.  The OSM/Vista project allows Woodland to create programs that strengthen the connection between the land it holds and the watershed that the land is located in.  The Vistas have also worked with local students to create volunteer opportunities for their peers, including a clean up of a favorite swimming spot, and two Martin Luther King Jr. Service Days.  They have also worked with a volunteer map maker to map the watershed data collected in order to better determine the appropriate next steps. 

In 2009, Woodland received a Recovery-funded VISTA position to work on community and economic development.  Projects include supporting the Clearfork Seasonal Market as it hosts regular summer markets and bi-annual craft fairs, doing research to support a sawmill business, and creating a booklet celebrating the local quilting heritage.

 

Partners and Contributors:

·         Appalachia–Science in the Public Interest (ASPI)

·         Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team

·         Clearfork Community Institute (CCI)

·         Clearfork Water Utility

·            Cumberland River Compact

·         OSM Clean Streams Program

·          Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation

·         Upper Cumberland Watershed Watch

·         Webb School of Knoxville