KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Around three acres of land, or about two and a half football fields, will be dedicated to enhancing South Knoxville's outdoor scene.
The conservation effort will focus on preservation by featuring more trails throughout South Knoxville's urban wilderness. The location is made up of more than 50 miles of trails and green space, with this addition only enhancing that.
The goal is to create new trails and connections within almost 50 miles of existing hiking and biking trails in Knoxville's Urban Wilderness system.
The Appalachian Mountain Bike Club is under contract to purchase the land, with the $35,000 project developing the land into neighborhood connector trails.
"This could have been sold off and developed in various ways," said Mathew Kellog, from AMBC. "And this is not going to allow that to happen. This will be saved as greenspace forever."
The land conservation initiative will give neighbors the chance to ditch their cars and rely on another mode of transportation.
"They'll be able to step out their front door and head out to a trailhead with a little bit more convenience," Kellog said.
Conservation in this area of South Knoxville will add:
- Public spaces
- Maintain tree canopy
- Increase green space buffer
- Connect more neighborhoods to the city's urban wilderness trails
"The neighborhood connections are a critically important part of that. It's close to a lot of folks," said Wes Soward, the Urban Wilderness Coordinator with the City of Knoxville.
In this development, homes along Prospect Road will soon link to the Lost Chromosome Trail.
"Having this resource directly. Part of it is within our city limits. is a wonderful, wonderful thing for the residents," according to Soward.
