The Middle Nolichucky Watershed Alliance met Thursday and agreed to hold an “open house” in April to gather ideas from the public on the best ways to utilize a 147-acre tract of land that was donated to the Cherokee National Forest in 2003.

Dana Ball, president of the Alliance, said the purpose of the “open house” was to “get a feel of the interest that’s out there” from the community for the best way to utilize the Dillard tract as an educational tool.

The “open house” will be held on the Upper Paint Creek property on April 22.

The tract was added to the Cherokee National Forest in May 2003 thanks to a donation by Peter S. Dillard, a Greeneville native. The land along Upper Paint Creek was donated by Dillard in honor of his parents, Mary Alice Dillard, of Greeneville, and the late Edwin S. Dillard.

The Alliance will “invite teachers, anyone in the community, to get feedback from them, and see the interest level from them,” Ball said of the planned one-day event.

The Alliance is composed of those interested in protecting and improving water quality in Greene County streams and in the Nolichucky River.

Those present at Thursday’s meeting also discussed, and then rejected, the idea of hosting an “outdoor classroom” led by area school teachers on the Dillard tract for one day in the spring or summer.

“We decided not to jump into it due to timing with other educational programs,” Ball said.

Ball said other potential problems in holding such an event included liability issues, the prohibitive time and distance involved for students and teachers to travel round trip to the site in a single day, and finding the right qualified people to lead the event.

Brocato Speaks

The Alliance also heard a short presentation by Sam Brocato, a representative of Partners of the Cherokee National Forest (PCNF), on development of the Dillard tract.

“Our mission is to assist the National Forest,” Brocato said of PCNF.

Part of the PCNF’s mission statement says the nonprofit organization seeks “to protect, conserve and enhance the natural resources and features, the ecological systems, and the cultural/historical heritage of the Cherokee National Forest.”

Brocato, of Cleveland, Tenn., is a retired U.S. Forest Service ranger who is a consultant to and a spokesman for PCNF.

He said the volunteer organization is independent of the Cherokee National Forest, but works to support it and advocate for it, as well as to provide support for multiple-use forest management projects.

Educational Placemats

Alliance President Ball also passed around a sample paper “placemat” with aquatic themes, made by a Tennessee Valley Authority designer, that combines educational puzzles and other games for students.

The “placemats” have been distributed to fifth-grade teachers at Mosheim, Camp Creek, McDonald, and Glenwood elementary schools to hand out to their students, Ball said.

Ball also said some “family style” restaurants in Greene County may get copies of the “placemats” for their young customers to work on.

Workshops Discussed

The Alliance also discussed holding four Community Growth Readiness workshops for elected officials and others.

“The Town of Greeneville is very interested in having those workshops put on,” Ball said.
Ball said an “economic and development specialist” at the TVA would inform Alliance members in March or April as to the planned content of the workshops.

“We’re just in the beginning organizational stages” of planning the workshops, Ball said.

Alliance meetings are held the third Thursday of every month at 8 a.m. in the Greene County Soil Conservation District office, at 214 N. College St. in Greeneville.

“Anyone interested in water quality or protecting rivers and streams that feed into the middle part of the Nolichucky River” adjacent to the Cherokee National Forest is encouraged to attend, Ball said.