Conservation, The Nature Conservancy

New Program Expands Conservancy's Cave Protection Work

Tennessee Chapter is first to use federal grant exclusively for caves

Nashville, TN — March 12, 2007 — Tennessee property owners will soon have new incentives to protect caves and their creatures.

To keep Tennessee’s caves healthy, The Nature Conservancy has begun a two-year federally funded Landowner Incentive Program (LIP) administered by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA). Through LIP, Conservancy stewards provide guidance and financial help so landowners can safeguard caves and their surrounding habitats. Although LIP programs have been used extensively by The Nature Conservancy to protect rivers, this is the first instance of any state chapter in the Conservancy using a LIP grant exclusively for protection of caves and their creatures.

NPR Radio Expedition:  Exploring Tennessee's Caves for New Species

The Nature Conservancy: Tennessee Caves Initiative

Listen to this NPR Radio Expedition as Cory Holliday of The Nature Conservancy and NPR correspondent David Kestenbaum join biologist Dr. Jerry Lewis underground outside Nashville as caves are inventoried and explored for new and threatened species.