West Meade Conservancy Gathering
The News
April 21, 2011

Supporters of The West Meade Conservancy (WMC) met recently near the Circle on Jocelyn Hollow Road. One of the purposes was to remind everyone of the WMC’s mission, defined on the group’s website as “Conserving the unique natural and cultural resources of West Meade, Nashville including an 800-acre contiguous mature forest, spring-fed creeks, and a diverse community of plants and animals.” According to neighbor Colleen Whitver, “The entire community benefits from the enhanced quality of life derived from conservation.”

Another neighbor, Sharon Charney, pointed out the mission’s wider importance: “The urban forest in West Meade is an important link in the ecological corridor that swings from Beaman Park all the way toRadnor Lake. The plants andanimals in Nashville’s belovedparks may rely on this connectivity for survival.”That curving corridor is the subject of the WMC’s book Noah and the Arc, created to help raise funds for the organization’s collections of conservation easements. The book can be purchased from the WMC’s website:www.westmeadeconservancy.org and is also available in the gift shops of Cheekwood Botanical

Gardens and Belle Meade Plantation. The easements will be maintained by The Land Trust for Tennessee. Easement owners do not give up ownership of their land and continue to maintain their lots as private proper-ties. The only restriction is avoiding the building of new permanent structures in the area chosen for an easement. At the gathering, people bought copies of Noah and the Arc, chose names for some of the Box turtles featured on the “Plants and Animals” link on the WMC’s website, signed up to help with the WMC’s exhibit at the Earth Day Celebration in Centennial Park on April 23,and brought in Homeowner Registration Forms to join the60+ properties already in line for easements. Fundraising Chair Cindy Smythe said, “There is a way for everyone to be involved in the West Meade Conservancy.”For more information, con-tact Smythe at 356-9419 orsmythed@comcast.net; Nancy Smith at 354-5980 or nancyc-smith@comcast.net; or AlysVenableat356-2423oralys_venable@comcast.net.