History
Despite the wealth of rivers, creeks and lakes in Tennessee, access to them can be difficult for the paddler. In June of 2005, while discussing the issue with Mack Pritchard, the State Naturalist, he suggested bringing the issue to TSRA. The board of TSRA was interested in the concept and requested we do some preliminary exploration and get back to them. For a number of months Mack Pritchard, Patty Shultz, Ann and Marshall Spencer, brainstormed on the issues involved. We developed a mission statement and outlined a plan of action. Marshall presented our work to the board and they unanimously voted to officially create the Access Committee in March of 2006. From there we were off and running.
The Access Committee of TSRA has been working with the goal of getting paddling access points about every 5 miles along Tennessee's paddle-able streams. We have started with the Harpeth and are partnering with the Harpeth River Watershed Association and the Harpeth River State Park to establish the Harpeth Blueway.
We have completed access sites at Hidden Lake and Hwy 100 (both HRSP sites) and at the Williamson County Rec center in Franklin on the Harpeth. We are also working on an access at the Gossett Track site of the HRSP.
We're learning with the Harpeth and hope to eventually take what we learn statewide. We are also working with TDOT and TWRA for statewide access.
Locally in Nashville we have a number of places where we could use funding and cooperation to open up more access points to use the great water resources of Tennessee. The Harpeth, the Cumberland, and the Stones rivers and as well as Mill creek and Whites creek all have potential to be more user friendly to Nashville residents and visitors.
On the Stones River we are working with the CORP of Engineers on a proposal for 2 sites between the Percy Priest Dam and the Cumberland River.
We have also been involved with The Tennessee Blueway Summit, which had representatives from Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Memphis, as well as the National Park Service and the SE Watershed Forum.
Our access committee has representatives from the Duck, Harpeth, Stones River Watersheds Associations. In addition we have representatives from TWRA, TDOT, and TDEC.
Active Committee Members
Our active members include Sherry Beard, Randle Branch, Michael Cain, Dennis Crumby, Frank Fiss, Randy Hedgepath, Jane Logan, Steve Logan, Mack Pritchard, Richard Quin, Bob Richards, Patty Shultz, Ann Spencer, Marshall Spencer.
Grants
In December of 2007, we got our first grant from the Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation (TPGF). This was matched by a grant from TWRA. Under the direction of Jane Logan and Patty Shultz as grant writers and Steve Logan as contractor and planner we built an access site on the Harpeth River at the Hidden Lake site of the Harpeth River State Park.
In August of 2007 we received an $8,000 grant from REI to improve three access sites. In November and December we did major improvement at the Franklin Recreation Complex along the Harpeth River. Thirty five volunteers turned out to help with this project masterminded by Steve Logan and carpenter Tom Brenner. This represented a total of 383 volunteer hours. A lot of sites are simple but this one required extensive bank stabilization.
To date, we have had grants from TPGF, TWRA, REI, State Legislators, and a Community Enhancement Grant.
News Flash
TSRA just received a grant from the Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation to make an access point on the Harpeth, which will soon be located just downstream of the Soccer Fields in Bellevue. The new access point will facilitate 2 great runs: one from Hwy 100 HRSP to Bellevue (about 5 miles) and another one from Bellevue to the Newsom's Mill HRSP site (also 5 miles). The access site will be the property of the Nashville Metro Parks and Recreation Department. The Nashville Metro Parks and Recreation Department will also provide some funds for the completion of the project.
