Chattanooga Pulse

As our mountain landscape becomes dotted with signs of growing population and development, our remaining natural heirlooms become more precious. Organizations such as the Trust for Public Land (TPL), which operates in all 50 states, are spreading knowledge and resources to keep land from being developed. Conservation easements ensure for farmers, historians, and naturalists that the places they love the most will be preserved. It is comforting to know the places that have been so important to local history will be waiting so the story of the land can be passed along to future generations.

Stringer’s Ridge forms part of the Chattanooga landscape. The four hilltops rising over Hill City in North Chattanooga are visible from downtown, North Market Street, the riverfront, as well as Cherokee Boulevard. The Ridge site has kept its historical integrity and looks much as it did when Captain William Stringer bought it for a penny an acre in the mid-1800’s. The paths traveled by Union soldiers advancing on the city still remain. The Stringer Ridge Tunnel, finished in 1911 after toil against red clay and rotten limestone, still stands as a pathway through the valley.

The Stringer Ridge property is a 92-acre site of undeveloped land. The Trust for Public Land acquired 37 acres in 2008. TPL hopes to put the remaining 55 in a conservation easement and have the area serve as a public park. However, the total cost for the project, to put conservation in a financial perspective, amounts to $2.5 million. Two local foundations pledged $900,000, and the city allotted $150,000 for 2008 and an additional $350,000 for 2009. This still leaves the plan without the amount of funding it will need. Public support is one of the brightest hopes for this cause.

The Terminal Brewhouse, a local Chattanooga brewery, is home to fans of Stringer’s Ridge. The brewery has crafted a beer called “Old Baldy ESB” in honor of the smallest knob of the four hills on the Ridge. The Brewhouse is known for its green conscience: They take pride in their low-energy hand-dryers, waterless urinals, dual-flush toilets, rain cistern, reclaimed wood floors and tabletops, organic wine and liquor menu, and involvement in a grain exchange program with local farmers. Another distinctive feature of the brewery is its walkable green roof, the only one in Chattanooga.

To do their part for the preservation of the beloved local landmark, the folks at Terminal Brewhouse are donating 20 percent of September sales of “Old Baldy ESB” to the Stringer’s Ridge campaign. The beer is described on the Brewhouse web site as “designed to refresh and stimulate both your taste buds and your desire to preserve the beauty and natural uses of Stringer’s Ridge,” which is credited as “one of the most beautiful and approachable ridgelines in our fair city.”

Rick Wood is director of Chattanooga’s TPL office. He encourages people to provide support in the form of donations to TPL. In addition to acquiring all 92 acres of the land and putting it in a conservation easement, TPL, in partnership with the City, plans to have a public planning process to decide the future of Stringer’s Ridge. TPL is still striving to raise the funds to ensure that this piece of mountain forest will not be converted into a new condominium complex, but remain a center of learning and outdoor recreation. However, if the Trust can’t raise enough money, 10 acres of the land may have to be sold in order to finance the property.

Other organizations are doing their part for Stringer’s Ridge. The Chattanooga chapter of the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association (SORBA), as well as the Rock/Creek Chronicle, has agreed to match donations for the Ridge up to $5,000. A community clean up took place on August 29, with another one scheduled later in the fall. In the meantime, make a donation to the Trust for Public Land, or, at the very least, head down to the Terminal Brewhouse for an “Old Baldy.” Who can argue with that?

Victoria Hurst is a proud resident of the Appalachian Mountains. She has recently graduated from Warren Wilson College with a B.A. in English: Creative Writing.