Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Stringer's Ridge

Yesterday I got an email asking for help preserving Stringer's Ridge in Chattanooga. This site on Moccasin Bend is where Eli Lilly's battery bombarded Chattanooga at the start of the Chickamauga campaign.

The Trust for Public Land is trying to preserve 92 acres on the ridge. The cost is $2.5 million and they are now just $180,000 away from the goal. But they need to hit that by January 9th. If they fail to reach it in time they can sell some of the land (5-10 acres) to a residential developer to cover the shortfall.

Eventually this land would likely become part of the National Park Service. The NPS has recently bought other land on Moccasin Bend and while the Stringer's Ridge parcel is not next to it the two pieces would be a nice addition to the sort of Chattanooga in the war.

Amazingly this parcel has not yet been developed, although from searching the Chattanooga papers online it is not from lack of trying. Many developers have proposed projects but the community has been able to derail each effort. Now we might take this target off the market forever.

To see the map of the parcel and the link to donate click here.

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