Page 29 - Mapping the Nation: Taking Climate Action

"The geography in the region is really unique, and the variation in landscape and topography drives the biodiversity," said Charlie Mix, director of GIS technology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Maintaining a healthy balance between conservation and growth is an ingrained local ethic in Chattanooga, perhaps best exemplified by the large auto assembly plant that Volkswagen announced in 2008 and opened in 2011. It occupies one corner of a 6,000-acre plot, with nearly half of the remaining land dedicated to a public nature park. Learning to Thrive Volkswagen's arrival intensified the conversation around economic development and protection of natural assets, spurring the creation of Thrive Regional Partnership (Thrive), a nonprofit organization that inspires responsible growth in the tristate region. Thrive unites various partners such as government officials, private-sector leaders, and academics across northeast Alabama, northwest Georgia, and southeast Tennessee to ensure that as the region grows in population and industry, community and natural character are preserved. "In an initial regional planning initiative that began in 2008, we learned that the tristate was projected to grow by half a million people by 2055," said Rhett Bentley, strategic communications director for Thrive. "People move to this area not only for economic opportunity but for access to beautiful natural spaces and scenery. Leaders from across the region created Thrive to balance development with the natural treasures and nature-based lifestyle of the region." Rather than consider just the city of Chattanooga or its extended metro area, Thrive employs what could be called a "micro-megaregional" approach. Its mission covers a 16-county area (including 7 in Georgia and Alabama) that Thrive calls the Cradle of Southern Appalachia. The Natural Treasures Alliance, one of Thrive's ongoing coalitions, advocates for long-term policies that address landscape conservation and preservation. Around 14 percent of the Cradle's land is currently protected. The project aims to double that number by 2055, aligned with the global 30 by 30 movement. That amounts to one million acres of new land set aside for conservation. In a region with a population of a million people, where outdoor recreation is a staple of local economies, this is no easy task. "Outdoor recreation brings in hundreds of millions of dollars annually through tourism and consumer spending according to the Outdoor Industry Association," Mix said. "It's arguably one of the most important parts of the regional economy." The aquatic biodiversity alone makes the Cradle ecologically unique. A major goal of the Alliance is to get 50 percent of the streams currently considered imperiled removed from the federal government's list of endangered waterways. "Freshwater mussels are considered one of the most imperiled fauna groups on the continent and Tennessee A tranquil waterfall near Chattanooga illustrates the restorative appeal of the area. 28 to Climate Action A Geographic Approach