History and Strategies

The Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation is a statewide 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving Tennessee’s natural treasures. We were established in 1997 as the result of a merger between the Tennessee State Parks Foundation and the Tennessee Greenways Program of The Conservation Fund. 

Our funding is based solely on individual contributions and grants.  We are a lean organization and we work hard to multiply and stretch donor dollars as far as possible to protect lands, build trails, and help others with conservation projects.

We believe the identification, preservation, and protection of the most ecologically-rich, historically-significant, and incredibly beautiful places in Tennessee is vital to protecting wildlife, improving water and air quality, providing close-to-home recreation opportunities, and creating sustainable communities and regions.

Millikan’s Overlook, at Fall Creek Falls State Park – 420 acres were for sale in the middle of this vista. The Foundation’s first land protection project forged a partnership with Tennessee State Parks and The Conservation Fund to protect this view and the 420 acres that split the park. Your gift will help us continue our work.

Photo by Byron Jorjorian

Our vision is to create a network of parks, greenways, and wildlife areas across Tennessee that promotes quality of life and links people to their natural and cultural heritage. The Foundation has three strategies to accomplish this vision.  We:

• Conserve Tennessee Treasures;
• Create greenway Corridor Connections; and
• Foster initiatives by others through Conservation Education

Tennessee Treasures. Tennessee Treasures are wonderful, beautiful places that are so special that they need to be protected for public enjoyment, in perpetuity. We work to identify and protect the most beautiful, the most ecologically rich, the most historically significant places remaining in Tennessee. Privately-held waterfalls have been identified as a focus of our work.  We strive also to acquire necessary in-holdings and boundary properties important for existing parks.  We fundraise to buy Tennessee Treasures, teach others to conserve land, accept land/easement donations and through our Emergency Land Bank, make loans available to other private or public organizations for conserving beauty spots.

Corridor Connections. Conserving key greenway corridors will protect the garden that is Tennessee. Greenways protect wildlife migration corridors, protect the water quality of our streams from the poisons of run-off, provide close-to-home recreation, protect our state’s scenery, and provide us all with a prettier, nicer place to live. We coordinate large landscape-scale greenway projects with multiple partners to preserve world-class corridors such as the Mississippi River Corridor along the length of Tennessee’s Western “coast.” Increased tourism in the 650,000-acre corridor will make funding this ambitious project possible. We also award State Park Connections, privately-funded small matching grants, which foster connections, literally on-the-ground, between communities and their nearby state park or natural area. We have awarded to over 151 entities throughout the state to fund trail or greenway projects.

Conservation Education. We will educate and empower others on land conservation and stewardship options. This is an effective and efficient conservation strategy that stimulates initiatives by others and promotes positive change at the local level. In addition, our lean staff conducts hikes and tours, dedication ceremonies, and public speaking engagements to expand and foster conservation initiatives.

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