40th Anniversary Spotlight: The Founding of the Wolf River Conservancy

In the1980’s, the urban Wolf River was just beginning to recover from decades of abuse and pollution that occurred prior to the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972.  The wild upper reaches of the river, on the other hand, were known only to a handful of paddlers, mostly members of the Bluff City Canoe Club, who understood then what a treasure it was.  They also ventured down the urban river and found it to be something of a wild oasis in the heart of the city, lined with forests full of wildlife and worthy of protection in spite of the degradation it had suffered and ongoing problems with trash and erosion.

A group of citizens interested in protecting and restoring the Wolf River began to organize in 1981, led by Charles M. Cooley, an environmental engineer. The group eventually attracted the attention of the Memphis Board of Realtors who saw in the Wolf River a potential natural asset to the city which could one day be restored and protected to benefit both the environment and the citizens of the community.  In the early days, the organization had no official name, but was usually called the Wolf River Greenbelt Committee.  As the group moved forward, its members came to agree on the Wolf River Conservancy.

With the signing of its charter and certification by the Tennessee Secretary of State, the Wolf River Conservancy was established as a non-profit land trust on April 8, 1985.  The very first newsletter, entitled River Currents, was released soon after, printed on yellow copy paper.  There was no mission statement included in that first newsletter, but its lead article, written by Board President Charles Cooley, includes the following :  “…the Conservancy and far-sighted elected officials will work together to make a ‘greenbelt’ of the Wolf River’s banks and a portion of its floodplain.  We will need everybody’s help. With your help the Conservancy can reach the goal of protecting a potentially superb natural resource for a million people, the Wolf River’s…100 miles from its headwaters in North Mississippi to its mouth above Mud Island.”

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