Mixed Broadleaf Forests of the Western Tennessee Plains

ACR 956

13K

Acres Conserved

12 Landowner Partners

Location

Western Tennessee

Methodology

IFM 2.1

Standard

ACR

Protecting the Most Biologically Diverse River Systems in North America

The Mixed Broadleaf Forests of the Western Tennessee Plains to the Highland Rim project is an aggregate approach to Improved Forest Management. This project spans two ecologically distinct landscapes within a single Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified project: Mississippi Alluvial Valley bottomland hardwood in Arkansas and Missouri, and Tennessee Highland Rim upland hardwood — an unusual geographic and ecological range for a group certificate.

Each site within this project is enrolled in a sustainable forestry certification program. The sustainably managed bottomland and upland hardwood forests in the mid-South support recreational hunting and provide general wildlife habitat and ecosystem co-benefits.

Conservation Highlights

The Tennessee Highland Rim properties include large, intact upland hardwood forest on steep, dissected terrain with slopes up to 70%, characteristic of ground that has historically been less accessible to intensive management.
Certified protection of habitat for three federally listed or proposed-listed freshwater mussel species — the Fluted Kidneyshell, the Slabside Pearlymussel, and the Salamander Mussel. This protection includes a 5.79-acre no-harvest riparian corridor along the Duck River, one of North America’s most biodiverse river systems.
All 12 management sites are actively managed working forests under FSC Group Certification, demonstrating that sustainable forestry and biodiversity protection are compatible on private land.