It had been one of the coldest winters in anyone’s memory. On January 21, 1985, the temperature dropped to a record -24 degrees F. In March of that year, when Jennie Gerard arrived from San Francisco, the magnolias had lost their dark green leaves and looked scorched, cedars were broken and drooping, and the landscape was scraped and brown. Jennie was vice-president of the Trust for Public Land (TPL) and had come to Blount County to talk about setting up a land trust. About 60 people met in the old Maryville Municipal Building to hear Jennie explain what a land trust was to a partly skeptical crowd. While there were many supporters, there were also people who were determined to oppose anything that sounded like land use controls. Jennie was a beautiful woman, who, in spite of hobbling on a broken foot, won over the crowd in part by referring to “flaky San Francisco.” She expertly diffused fears of a government take-over of Blount County land.

This first meeting was sponsored by Alternatives for Blount County (ABC), a non-profit group which had formed in the 70s to advocate for growth management in the county. ABC had coalesced against a proposal to build a theme park in Townsend, a huge project called “Smokyworld”, planned by the same folks who came up with Disney World in Orlando. I remember sitting at my kitchen table reading about this proposed monstrosity in the Maryville-Alcoa Daily Times and thinking “this is not going to happen without a fight.” Smokyworld was finally defeated through public opposition, lack of financing, and a negative EPA assessment of the efficacy of putting a sewer through the Little River Gorge. Those involved in the opposition to the theme park decided to stay together in order to advocate for land use controls. ABC was organized as a non-profit educational organization. After several years of failing to move the County Commission and Planning Commission, and with the zeitgeist still against zoning or growth management of any kind, ABC began to look for other avenues of saving the county from indiscriminate development. Bob Allen, a Blount County native and ABC Board member, left to go to work for the southeast division of the Trust for Public Land. On one of his trips back home he suggested the formation of a land trust and with the arrival of Jennie in Blount County in March 1985, history was made.

Over the next several months, TPL provided invaluable assistance in the formation of a Blount County land trust. A workshop was held at Wesley Woods, with TPL paying the expenses. Marty Black was recruited to write the Articles of Incorporation and the Bylaws. Carol Nickle was the first secretary. In October of 1985, the Foothills Land Conservancy was officially recognized. Also, that October, I, as first president, attended the first annual meeting of the Land Trust Exchange (now called the Land Trust Alliance), in Washington, D.C. It was the first of five such conferences I attended in my role as Board President. At one of those conferences, I met Randy Brown who was attending in his role as Executive Director of a land trust in Chattanooga.

During the FLC’s first year, letters were sent to all members of the Chamber of Commerce, explaining our existence and purpose and asking for membership. One person who responded was Harold Lambert, President of Vulcan Materials. He owned 25 acres in the Briarcliff subdivision and was anxious to unload the property because nearby residents had conflicting views of what should be done with the land. Mr. Lambert didn’t want to ruffle feathers, so he donated the land to the FLC with the stipulation that we should not sell it for at least 4 years, so that he could get his tax deduction. The FLC grabbed the chance, applied for property tax exemption and had several meetings with local residents over the next four years. Jim Rugh, a resident of Sevier County, became president. Then Rick Everett, a local surveyor and “green” land developer, took over the leadership of the FLC. It was during his tenure that the FLC was able to divide the Lambert property into 5 tracts and sell each tract for $25,000. It was Rick’s skill in negotiating this sale that enabled the FLC to have an endowment and advertise for an Executive Director. Randy Brown applied and was hired.

Randy was an expert in raising funds. Under his leadership, millions of dollars were raised to purchase large tracts of undeveloped land around the Smokies and elsewhere.  He organized huge gatherings of FLC members and friends and enlisted the support of people like Lamar Alexander. It was with Randy’s leadership that the FLC came to be known and respected in the greater community as a powerful conservation organization, leading the way in preserving dwindling areas of fragile beauty, wilderness and farmland.

For the past twenty years, the FLC has been under the capable and expert leadership of Bill Clabough. Through his efforts and the support of the Board of Directors, the FLC is now protecting more than 200,000 acres of land in 48 Tennessee counties and 6 surrounding states!

I am so proud of what the Foothills Land Conservancy has accomplished over the years, somewhat astonished at its success (who knew?) and very grateful to the many, many people who have worked to further its mission. Here’s to the future!