Meeting: Julie Petcu, and Lynn and David Barton.

Meeting: Nancy and Collins Smith, and Maureen Mowry.

Meeting: Greg and Stephanie Sephel, and Althea Jenkins.

The "First Group of the West Meade Conservancy (WMC) held its second meeting recently at the home of Anne Williams.

"First Group" members are among the 60+ West Meade households that have chosen to keep parts of their properties in a natural state through a system of conservation easements.

A conservation easement does not take ownership away from a property owner but simply restricts development on a designated part of a property.

Approved by The Land Trust for Tennessee as the WMC's pilot group, "First Group" neighbors met to discuss recommendatioons for the easement's boundary line and the provisions they want to add to or clarify in an easement document

Most of the participating properties contain a portion of the Jocelyn Branch of Richland Creek, as well as a piece of the wooded hillside that is one of West Meade's oldest natural areas.

"First Group's" Lynn Barton said, "We are all here because of the woods and the creek."

Completing the conservation easement for this group will be a significant step toward realizing the WMC's mission: the protection of wooded areas, wildlife habitat, the watershed, and sections of historic wall in West Meade, Nashville.

The WMC's focus area serves as an important piece of Nashville's unique Ecological Arc, and "West Meade's wooded hillsides" were generally agreed upon in recent West Nasvhille Community Character meetings as "something to preserve."

Through a fund administered by The Land Trust, the WMC has recently begun a campaign to meet the costs of "First Group" and prepare for future easement.

For more information about the WMC's goals and progress and how to supprot it, visit www.WestMeadeConservancy.org or contact Alys Venable (alys_venable@comcast.net; 356-2423), Anne Williams (lightweightart@gmail.com; 352-0412), or Jane Bibring (jane@bibring.net; 356-0977).