FRIENDS OF WEARS VALLEY P.O. Box 1625
Pigeon Forge, TN 37868
Press Release
Contact: John A. Meyers
Phone: (865) 300-8055 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
4 P.M. EDT, January 25, 2008

Friends of Wears Valley receives Grant from the Cave Conservancy Foundation

Wears Valley, TN. January 25, 2008

The Friends of Wears Valley (FOWV) is the recipient of a grant from the Cave Conservancy Foundation of Richmond, Virginia. The grant will fund an initiative led by the FOWV to increase public awareness and address water quality issues related to recent growth and development adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The major focus of the project is the protection and restoration of sensitive landscapes, community drinking water supplies, and Cove Creek, which is already on the state 303(D) impaired waters list.

The new project will facilitate a grassroots approach to hazard assessment and planning through education, monitoring, and partnerships. Activities are intended to support the emerging countywide discussion about sustainable development, environmental quality and aesthetic values. During 2008 and 2009, FOWV hopes to co-sponsor several workshops for teachers, local officials, developers, realtors and concerned citizens about groundwater, surface water and resource protection. The major objective is to establish an ongoing water quality monitoring program involving local grade school students. Both phases of the project will begin this spring with a preliminary investigation of hydrology and land use in Wears Valley.

The FOWV is a non-profit organization formed to promote the long-term protection of natural resources and cultural heritage in the area. FOWV supports the concept of better growth management as a means of sustaining a balance between tourism and nature, and seeks to forge strong partnerships in this effort.

The Friends of Wears Valley can be reached at: 865-300-8055, Link... [1] or P.O. Box 1625
Pigeon Forge, TN 37868