March 2024: A Message from Our Director

Dear Friend of the Conservancy,

At the heart of our mission to preserve and protect land in the Wolf River watershed is our desire to connect people to the value and wonder of the environment around them. To that end the Wolf River Conservancy brought together hundreds of volunteers across multiple events this past month.  

Our 19^th Annual Tree Planting at New Chicago Park saw 1000 native tree saplings planted in just 90 minutes. Residents from the New Chicago neighborhood helped volunteers from across Memphis make generational improvements to their park. Over the next few years a section of the Wolf River Greenway will be completed through this area and join the trees as a reminder that beautiful green spaces should be enjoyed by all.  

Our World Water Day cleanup at the North Mud Island Trailhead of the Wolf River Greenway, a highly trafficked area of our community, was also very successful. 73 large trash bags full of litter and dozens of tires were removed from the banks of the Wolf.  In total, we estimate that volunteers cleaned up an incredible 2,000 lbs of trash!

We are so proud of these volunteer efforts and thankful for the support shown by our partners including  our Wolf River Restoration Series presenting sponsor, Brother International Corporation, our Tree Planting event day sponsor, International Paper, and our World Water Day event day sponsor, Sylvamo.  

This month also marks the addition of a new team member here at the Wolf River Conservancy. Wes Hopper is joining us as our new Outreach Manager. Wes is a well-known environmental leader in our community and is joining us most recently from the City of Germantown where he served as the Director of Natural Resources. Wes will be leading our volunteer, outreach, and community service programming. His full bio can be found below in this newsletter!  

Thank you for your continued interest in and support of the Wolf River Conservancy.  

Erik Houston
Executive Director  
Wolf River Conservancy