From Keith Kirkland, executive director of Wolf River Conservancy:
The Wolf River Conservancy’s wish for Memphis in 2007 is that our community will come together at our 6:00 p.m., Feburary 8, Greening Greater Memphis Event at the Memphis Botanic Garden to demonstrate grassroots support towards finally implementing significant green infrastructure within our community, including Greenways, Greenlines, expanded Parks, designated bike lanes, and safer pedestrian bridge crossings. Our hope is those attending this meeting will continue to support the sponsor’s efforts to very literally transform our community with some of the finest park and greenway infrastructure in the nation.
We wish that the cities of Memphis, Germantown and Collierville will move forward with implementing the Wolf River Greenway Trails. When finished, the Wolf River Greenway would include more than 30 miles of smooth, all weather paths that would stretch from Mud Island, through Shelby Farms, then on to Collierville Arlington Rd. When completed, we could walk, run, ride a bike or roller blade from Beale Street to Collierville/Arlington Rd and never cross the street, following two beautiful, largely shaded river corridors. The Greenway could increase property values and the health of 30 square miles of Memphis’s older neighborhoods.
The Wolf River Conservancy also hopes that funding will be found to complete Shelby County’s newest park that is currently being implemented, The Wolf River Wildlife Area. This 2,100 acre, encompassing both sides of the Wolf River from Houston Levee Rd. to Collierville/Arlington Rd, will border the northern edge of Collierville that will also feature an 8 mile long greenway trail, boat ramps and a 1/4 mile Wolf River Boardwalk extending from Peterson Lake.
We also hope to enlist increased support towards the Wolf River Conservancy’s efforts to protect the threatened and still natural and beautiful lands along the “Middle River” sections of the Wolf within Fayette County county from encroaching sprawl. Protecting these lands will work towards protecting our precious aquifers from contamination as well as tracts of beautiful wilderness within an hour of midtown Memphis.
Again, the Wolf River Conservancy hopes for greatly increased grassroots and political support in 2007 towards “Greening Greater Memphis”, both our urban and rural environments.
