River Talks

Tucked in North Nashville on the campus of Tennessee State University sits one of the largest and most intact urban wetlands in Middle Tennessee. Referred to as the TSU wetland, this area drains a significant portion of North Nashville and filters harmful pollutants and sediments before the water enters the nearby Cumberland River. The wetland is a thriving ecosystem, providing a habitat for numerous aquatic frogs, turtles, and snakes, hunting grounds for bald eagles and blue herons, and a stopover for migrating neotropical birds. Nearby Tennessee State University students conduct research at the wetland and professors take their students outside for life-changing experiential education. Despite the many benefits of the TSU wetland for our community and environment, pressure to develop this remaining green space looms. 

Today on River Talks, we are joined by Tennessee State University faculty Dr. Tom Byl and Dr. Bill Sutton to share about the wetland and why it is crucial to ensure it remains intact. Dr. Bill Sutton is an Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology at Tennessee State University in the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Dr. Sutton also runs the Wildlife Ecology Lab at TSU. Dr. Tom Byl is a Research Scientist with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and has been stationed at Tennessee State University for 27 years. Through a special partnership between TSU and the USGS, Dr. Byl serves as a professor conducting research and teaching students at the University.

All across Nashville neighborhoods, new trees are popping up. As Spring approaches buds, flowers, and blossoms are visible on these new trees. Over 30,000 of these trees are thanks to partners of the Root Nashville campaign, led by the Cumberland River Compact. Root Nashville is a public-private partnership led by the Cumberland River Compact and Metro Nashville. We were able to reach this big planting milestone thanks to many partners, neighborhoods, and organizations across the city - and some very special Neighborhood Planting Captains.

In this episode of River Talks, we hear from Meg Morgan, Root Nashville Campaign Manager at the Cumberland River Compact, and two recent Neighborhood Planting Captains: Tranyce Parmer and Danylo Lazarenko. Tranyce and Danylo were both part of a cohort of Planting Captains supported by an Arbor Day Foundation environmental justice grant. Today we get to hear from both of these amazing Planting Captains about their experiences and how you can get involved!

The implementation and growth of regenerative agriculture practices that heal the land and feed people rely on getting the land into the hands of people willing to implement these practices. Yet too often, land access is a barrier for many small and mid-sized farmers, and especially difficult for Black, Indigenous, and Farmers of Color. The issue of land access has only gotten more urgent as close to 4 million acres of land are about to change hands and land prices have skyrocketed. To address land access and to build and sustain the regenerative agriculture movement, it will take a radical reimagining and shift of thinking.

In today's River Talk, we sit down with Kristina Villa the Communications Director and Agrarian Commons Relationship and Strategy Specialist with Agrarian Trust. In our conversation, we discuss land access and how the Agrarian Commons model is pushing forward a new model of land ownership. Agrarian Trust is addressing the realities of farmland owner demographics, wealth disparities, farm viability, and all who are excluded and marginalized from land and food by holding farmland in community-centered commons and providing long-term, equitable land access for next generation farmers and ranchers.

Find more information on our blog: https://cumberlandrivercompact.org/2023/02/16/agrarian-commons-regenerative-agriculture/

The Appalachian Mountains serve many roles: important habitat for incredible biodiversity, inspiration for artists, and a destination for tourists. But many lands in Appalachia have also been working lands, driving economic prosperity in the region through industries like forestry and mining. For many decades, coal miners in Appalachia contributed greatly to the American workforce and to the industrial might of our country. But today, fewer and fewer jobs remain, and thousands of acres of surface-mined land sit barren or have been converted to gravelly grassland. Through a specific reforestation process known as the Forestry Reclamation Approach, formerly mined sites can be improved. After reforestation, these sites have higher biodiversity, can help to naturally clean and filter rainwater entering into nearby streams, and provide long-term economic benefits to surrounding communities. The future of Appalachian ecosystems and communities lies in our ability to reckon with these legacies of the past.

In this River Talk, you will hear from Cliff Drouet, a Forester with the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative, about the legacy of the coal industry in this region and what the future holds.

Join the Cumberland River Compact as we hear from Dr. Learotha Williams from Tennessee State University about the story of Hill’s Island.

Learn more about Hill's Island: https://cumberlandrivercompact.org/explore/hills-island/

Hill’s Island–a space originally occupied by Native Americans—bears the name of one of the most revered slave traders in the antebellum South. Although largely inaccessible to the general public, is an area of the city that has an odd and mildly frenzied history. It became home to an enslaved African whose appearance frightened one of Nashville’s founding families and also served as a Lazaretto or quarantine station for enslaved Blacks who had recently arrived in Middle Tennessee. As an antebellum historical site, it sits in the Cumberland as a monument to Nashville’s first “Big Business.”

A century later it would become a recreational space for the city’s well-to-do population, leased out as a space that could host summer camps, and under the auspices of the Seven Day Adventist Church, its history would be closely associated with education and religion in the Athens of the South. This period in its history marks Nashville’s transition into a major Southern city.

Today Hill’s island sits in the Cumberland as one of the few pristine, undeveloped sites in the city. There is still much to learn about its antebellum past and the lives of Native Americans and enslaved Blacks who lived there, its role as a recreational space, and its overall role in the history of the Music City. As we consider its history in the 21st century Nashville, we grapple with how to reanimate and share these histories with new audiences.

This project is funded in part by a grant from Humanities Tennessee, an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Additional Acknowledgments: Jasmine Spears of Tennessee State University, Tennessee State Museum staff of Jeff Sellers and Miranda Fraley, Aaron Deter-Wolf of the Tennessee Division of Archaeology, Steve Haruch and Andrea Tudhope of WPLN, and Andrew Ostrowski of Pontoon Saloon (who helps bring us out the island!)

Previous episode about Hill's Island: https://cumberlandrivercompact.org/2021/06/16/tenngreen-land-conservancy-gifts-hills-island-to-cumberland-river-compact/

Learn more about Dodd Galbreath and the resources mentioned in the podcast on our blog: https://cumberlandrivercompact.org/2022/10/24/dodd-galbreath-tennessee/

You would be hard-pressed to find someone who has had as much influence over Tennessee's environment and its people as Dodd Galbreath. Dodd has dedicated his life to building an inclusive, transparent, and influential environmental movement in our state. He spent decades in public service before turning his efforts towards training the sustainability workforce by developing Lipscomb University's Institute for Sustainable Practices.  In 2020, Dodd Galbreath was the recipient of the Robert Sparks Walker Lifetime Achievement Award from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

In this River Talk, Dodd shares about his roles in local and state government, his mindset behind creating the Institute for Sustainable Practice, the role of creation care in the environmental movement, and how (and why!) we should all find our space in protecting Tennessee's environment.

Check our blog for full resources mentioned in this episode: https://cumberlandrivercompact.org/2022/09/21/pfas-tennessee/

You may never have heard of PFAS, but this emerging contaminant is getting more and more attention. Although it's considered "emerging", it's actually a chemical pollutant that has been around for decades, and remains in the environment as a "forever chemical". Research now links PFAS to many health issues and the public discourse around PFAS is increasing. Policies for PFAS regulation are becoming increasingly prevalent at the state level, while the federal government is developing its own framework for action.

In this River Talk, we are joined by Erin Kanzig who is the River Programs Policy and Research Associate at River Network and based in Detroit, Michigan. River Network is a national nonprofit that empowers and unites people and communities to protect and restore rivers and other waters that sustain all life. In this conversation, Erin helps us navigate the current PFAS landscape including regulations, health advisories, and federal funding.

Across the United States, 11 million acres of farmland have been lost from 2001 to 2016. In Tennessee, we lost around 650,000 acres with an additional 1 million acres of land projected to be converted by 2040. Much of the loss comes from the conversion of land to subdivisions and large-lot housing development. Beyond just agriculture, farmlands can provide economic, cultural, and social benefits to our communities. And when stewarded well, farmland can provide environmental benefits. Farmland loss particularly impacts our small and mid-sized farms and farmers. These threats to our farmlands can impact us all.

In today's River Talk, we are joined by Brooks Lamb, Program Associate and Specialist Assistant to the President at American Farmland Trust. Brooks shares about the current threats to America's farmland and what that means for us right here in Tennessee. We talk about the impacts on small and mid-sized farmers, and how connecting new farmers to land and to sustainable agricultural best practices can be a win-win.

Learn more about the resources mentioned in this episode on our blog: https://cumberlandrivercompact.org/2022/08/23/farmland-under-threat-with-brooks-lamb-american-farmland-trust/

The Summer of 2022 is already the second hottest summer in Nashville on record. And it's not over yet. Urban areas like Nashville experience a phenomenon known as the Urban Heat Island Effect, which means temperatures are higher in the city than in surrounding rural areas. Vulnerable residents, such as children and the elderly, are at risk for heat illness when temperatures rise. Hot days aren't just a nuisance. They're dangerous. While it’s not always talked about, there are more heat-related deaths in the United States than deaths from floods, tornadoes, lightning, hurricanes, and blizzards combined. The hottest parts of the city are areas that lack trees and green spaces, which naturally cool us down.

Nashville is one of 14 cities in the US participating in an urban heat mapping campaign this summer. Community scientists from across Nashville will have the opportunity to participate in the campaign to map hot spots across the city by driving pre-determined routes with sensors attached to their cars. The data will show the warmest and coolest spots in our city to help inform heat mitigation efforts by city public health and environmental officials, nonprofits, urban planners, urban foresters, and researchers.

Today's guests:

More information available on our blog: https://cumberlandrivercompact.org/2022/07/26/urban-heat-nashville/

Now more than ever, farmers are challenged with keeping valuable topsoil on fields, fostering soil that can retain water during periods of drought, and bringing back life to our soils so that they can provide for us long into the future. Healthy soils filter pollutants, store carbon, and infiltrate water, keeping our rivers and streams cleaner and healthier. The continual implementation of soil health practices is part of regenerative agriculture (sometimes referred to as RegenAg) that promotes farming in balance with what nature already does well.

The regenerative agriculture movement is not necessarily new and follows many practices that Indigenous communities have used for centuries. Common regenerative techniques that are part of the current movement include cover cropping, where crops are planted in the soil after a cash crop is harvested instead of leaving the soil bare, and no-till, which leaves the soil in place rather than plowing. These practices help maintain living roots in the soil, increase water infiltration, and improve future growth in those soils.

In this episode of River Talks, we are joined by two leading soil health entrepreneurs and innovators, Mitchell Hora and Jeremiah Durbin. Together, they share how we can scale-up the implementation of regenerative agriculture by going on the offense, using big data and technology, and leaning into a future of farming that helps companies, consumers, and growers meet both their environmental and profit goals.

https://cumberlandrivercompact.org/2022/06/20/regenerative-sustainable-agriculture-tennessee/

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else. To speak with a certified listener, call 1-800-273-8255. The Crisis Text Line is a texting service for emotional crisis support. Text HELLO to 741741. It is free, available 24/7, and confidential.