When Brad Collett gave his landscape architecture students a project to redesign the Tennessee River Valley, he had no idea they would come up with an idea that could change the area’s relationship with one of its essential natural resources.
Nearly six years later, what began as a classroom project in 2016 has blossomed into a dynamic vision for a trail system that could inject more than $104 million into Tennessee and surrounding state economies. .
The goal: to transform the Tennessee River and the public lands that connect to it into the next great trail system in North America.
Tennessee RiverLine, an emergent trail system following 652 miles of the Tennessee River, reframes the natural resource as a tourism hub and reconnects communities to the water in their backyards.
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“This student recognized that to build a community of care around the Tennessee River, we needed to show people what it was and how precious it is and that it is something we need to embrace and experience” , Collett, Tenn. The director of RiverLine and associate professor at UT, told Knox News.
What is the Tennessee River Line?
The initiative, led by a collaborative team from UT and the Tennessee Valley Authority, could spur new economic opportunities by providing fleets of paddlers to communities and helping them get people on and near the water.
Investments from the UT Institute of Agriculture, UT Extension, UT Knoxville, TVA, and grants from federal, state, and local partners could bring about 808,000 new paddlers to states that touch the river, according to University researchers. of Tennessee in Knoxville and the University of Alabama.
Currently, only about 284,550 paddlers across Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee visit the Tennessee River each year.
More paddlers exploring the river means more people visiting and spending money in nearby communities. The RiverLine could bring 2,000 new jobs and $104 million to the economies of the four states, researchers from UT and Alabama said.
This breaks down into:
- $64 million for Tennessee
- $28.6 million for Alabama
- $10.4 million for Kentucky
- $734,490 for Mississippi
The Tennessee River could be a great park
Instead of thinking of the river as an entity in its own right, Collett wants to think of the natural resource, the land that surrounds it, and the communities that support it, like a great river park of 1.2 million acres.
Unlike greenways or trails which must work with or circumvent private land, no one owns the river and it can be used as a way to move freely through the area.
“Our waterways provide great connectivity in our communities, which if we can reconceptualize them as part of this open space system, then we have a really good level of connectivity,” Collett said.
To help with this connectivity, communities along the river can apply for the Tennessee RiverTown program. The program helps cities and counties reframe their relationship with the river, raise awareness of what the river has to offer, and connect their community to others along the RiverLine.
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One of the barriers to aquatic recreation is the cost to consumers and cities. Equipment such as canoes, kayaks and paddle boards can be expensive. But the RiverTown program provides fleets of paddlers to communities to help them organize recreational events and get people out on the water.
“It’s important on many levels. First, it shows communities that ‘Hey, this is a resource that’s available to us,'” Collett said. “But it also raises awareness of the overall vision of RiverLine and helps create a constituency around the river through this programming.”
Which cities participate in the Tennessee River project?
So far, more than 20 communities have signed up for the RiverTowns program. Knoxville is one such community.
Much more needs to be done to ensure that the 2.4 million people connected to the Tennessee River can use all it has to offer, including the estimated $24 million in annual health savings. through exercise by paddling along the river.
“The pandemic has taught us how important landscape is to our physical health, our mental health, our spiritual health, right?” Collet said. “What if this river was unlocked as part of our public space system? Would that be great? What additional benefit would that bring?”
Researchers from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and the University of Alabama have made suggestions for realizing the economic and health benefits:
- Provide infrastructure and river access facilities
- Plan for regular, long-term maintenance
- Actively address barriers to participation
- Organize programs and events and promote them on multiple platforms
- Highlighting stories about the river community
- Collaborate with local community organizations and public land managers
- Promote Tennessee RiverLine events alongside existing recreation
- Create a central organization to ensure the success of the RiverLine
Current RiverTowns on the Tennessee RiverLine
- Knoxville, TN
- Roane County, Tennessee
- Spring Town, Tennessee
- Meigs County, Tennessee
- Chattanooga, TN
- Loudon County, Tennessee
- South of Pittsburgh, Tennessee
- Bridgeport, Alabama
- Jackson County, Alabama
- Gunterville, Alabama
- Huntsville, Alabama
- Decatur, Alabama
- The Shoals area, Alabama
- Hardin County, Tennessee
- Clifton, TN
- Perry County, Tennessee
- Benton County, Tennessee
- Stewart County, Tennessee
- Town of Calvert, Kentucky
- Paducah, Ky.
Becca Wright (she) covers the University of Tennessee and statewide higher education for Knox News. She can be reached at becca.wright@knoxnews.com or 865-466-3731. You can follow her on Twitter @beccamariewrong. Our newsroom is dedicated to the public good, and you can support that by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
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