Over 90 local community leaders, regional and state tourism managers and Geotourism site nominees met at the East Tennessee History Center on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011, to launch the East Tennessee River Valley online Geotourism MapGuide with National Geographic Maps. The atmosphere was electric. The landmark project has taken two years to plan and execute and is a historically significant asset for everyone who visits or lives in the Valley. The new interactive online MapGuide highlights a region “Where Rivers and Mountains Meet,” from the Smoky Mountains through Knoxville and south to Chattanooga and north Georgia. The MapGuide is designed to showcase to national and international audiences the natural, cultural and historic attractions that define the East Tennessee River Valley region. It is one of only 11 Online Geotourism MapGuides produced by National Geographic worldwide to date.

The Environmental Protection Agency awarded the City of Athens, Tennessee a grant to restore a wetland and produce a video on water quality and rain gardens. It was written by Athens Public Works and it stars Bill Landry from the Tennessee Heartland Television Series. The well-produced video showcases the affects of land use change on watersheds in a very user-friendly, understandable manner. It showcases activities that local homeowners and communities can do to manage stormwater. The city's goal is to have the video viewed by 1,000 people in 10 days in an effort to encourage others to build rain gardens and use smarter growth practices. Please send the link to your friends and post links from your websites if available. Go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9MZUs2FGs8

CALL for WORKSHOPS, SYMPOSIUM SESSIONS,
PAPERS and POSTERS

The River Management Society and RiverLink invite you to participate in the 2012 North American River Management Symposium program as a presenter, session organizer, poster session participant or special workshop coordinator. Visit http://www.river-management.org/ for more information and to submit your proposal abstract(s). We are seeking proposals that fit within one or more of the six major tracks.

World Resources Institute and their partners have prepared an online survey to help private and public agencies design economic incentive programs to assist family woodland owners in conserving and sustainably managing their woodlands. The survey takes only 20 minutes or less to fill out, and all answers are kept strictly confidential. Please take the survey before September 30 and help us gather information critical to the future of southern forests. Thank you in advance for your participation!  http://southernforestsurvey1.org/r/survey.html.

Staff at the University of Georgia River Basin Center and the Southeast Watershed Forum are collaborating on a study of green building practices in five southeastern states. Over 60 communities have been initially researched in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and North and South Carolina. Additional work is being done to collect data and to determine which communities should be used as case studies. The project is a cooperative program with the Southeast Smart Growth Network, a consortium of organizations and agencies interested in sharing regional case studies and training approaches to encourage watershed-friendly development practices in southeastern communities. A report will be developed later this fall and a webinar on the project will be scheduled for early December. Stay tuned . . .

Gatlinburg Department of Tourism and Convention Center is the newest partner in the East Tennessee River Valley Geotourism online MapGuide project. The MapGuide is now represented by state and federal agencies, nonprofit organizations and major regional communities, with Gatlinburg representing the Smoky Mountains area. We are pleased to have another partner in this exciting project with National Geographic.

August 8 is the deadline for Tennesseans to nominate their favorite place, event, trail, park, restaurant, or scenic or historical area for inclusion in the East Tennessee River Valley online MapGuide being developed with National Geographic. Go to www.EastTNGeotourism.org and tell us what's special in your community. To date, nearly 350 nominations have been made to the region extending from the Smoky Mountains through Knoxville, Chattanooga and north Georgia. Don’t miss your opportunity to help the world discover this region's unique history, culture, art, music and natural resources!

The Sierra Nevada Brewing Company is partnering with the Southeast Watershed Forum on their Wild Rivers program this summer. From August 1 to September 10, the company will donate a portion of sales from every 12-pack of Sierra Nevada beer or Pale Ale sold in the region to the Southeast Forum's work on river and watershed protection.

The “Wild Rivers” partnership, which will be visible at retailers across the nation, aims to raise awareness and increase stewardship of rivers that sustain our communities and ecosystems. Since the program’s start in 2009, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. has donated more than $170,000 to help its partners preserve vital waterways across the country.  This year the company is partnering with five regional organizations across the country to keep waterways clean, clear and wild. Besides The Southeast Watershed Forum, the 2011 Wild Rivers campaign will support Western Rivers Conservancy, Ohio River Foundation, Delaware Riverkeeper and The River Project.

"The Southeast Watershed Forum is excited to partner on the Wild Rivers program," said Forum Executive Director, Christine Olsenius. "The Southeast includes some of the greatest freshwater biodiversity found anywhere in the world and our rivers and their habitat are in immediate need of protection and restoration."

This is a great opportunity to enjoy the summer with a cool brew that will support southeastern rivers! Please drink responsibly, but if you have a choice, choose the brew for Wild Rivers - Sierra Nevada beer!!

A new report has just been released by the Southeast Watershed Forum and Tennessee Valley Authority on the process and results of the quality growth workshop series conducted in Wilson County and the cities of Lebanon and Mount Juliet, Tennessee last year. Over 50 community planners, stormwater managers and community leaders assessed their community plans and development ordinances and built consensus for priority strategies and projects to promote quality growth. To view the final report, go to: WilsonReport.pdf.

Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield; Jim Brown, Tennessee River Gorge Trust; National Geographic representative James Dion; Jane Fowler, Southeast Watershed Forum.

National Geographic and the Southeast Watershed Forum unveiled the “East Tennessee River Valley” Geotourism MapGuide with a press reception in Chattanooga, Tennessee on Friday, June 23. The MapGuide will feature the region in one of only 15 such projects in the world. Beginning now through August 8, 2011, the public is encouraged to go online to www.EastTNGeotourism.org and nominate destinations and events that include historic sites, parks, museums, restaurants, scenic byways, trails and wildlife areas that make the greater Chattanooga corridor to Knoxville and the Smoky Mountains such a great place to live, work, and play, as well as a world-class tourist destination. City officials helped announce the new website with a press reception at Outdoor Chattanooga, the first city-owned building with U.S. Green Building Council designation for environmentally friendly design. Mayor Ron Littlefield made the “first nomination” spotlighting the Walnut Street Bridge and Chattanooga’s renaissance by reconnecting with its river. National Geographic representative Jim Dion also made remarks, mentioning he shares with cities across the world the story of revitalization that has taken place in the East Tennessee River Valley area.

Currently, there are 140 nominations for the MapGuide. We are hoping for 1000 – or at least several hundred! Portal editors are waiting to check the nominations for completeness and quality. The Geotourism Stewardship Council will make the final selection of sites to be included in August – and the MapGuide will go public in the fall. Project partners to date include the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Tennessee Departments of Tourist Development and Transportation, the Chattanooga Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Knoxville Tourism and Sports Corporation, and the World Wildlife Fund’s Southeastern Rivers and Streams program. Additional project partners are needed. For more information contact Christine Olsenius at co@southeastwaterforum.org or Jane Fowler at jf@southeastwaterforum.org

See National Geographic Features East Tennessee
, posted June 20, 2011, Tennessee River Chattanoogan.com