Post by strait2you on Mar 1, 2008 12:56:20 GMT -5
found another article that mentions George not about him....
www.nytimes.com/2008/03/01/us/01crane.html?hp
In Tennessee, 2 Endangered Groups Meet by Chance
John C. Felts for The New York Times
Two rare whooping cranes were spotted by birders at George West’s farm five miles from Nashville, in one of the fastest-growing regions in the United States.
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By PETER WHITE
Published: March 1, 2008
BELLS BEND, Tenn. — Two unexpected guests showed up over the winter at George West’s farm here, rare whooping cranes that landed in Mr. West’s rich, boggy turnip field five miles from Nashville and were spotted by local birders during the annual Audubon count.
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Enlarge This Image
John C. Felts for The New York Times
In the midst of rapid development, farmers like Mr. West are becoming as rare in Tennessee as the cranes in his field.
The New York Times
Building in the greater Nashville area threatens farmland.
“They couldn’t believe their eyes,” said the president of the Tennessee Ornithological Society, Richard Connors.
The cranes had been bred as part of an $11 million effort by an international partnership that includes the United States Geological Survey to re-establish a flock along the Eastern Flyway between Wisconsin and Central Florida.
The birds’ touchdown in Middle Tennessee was all the more surprising because the area is the 11th fastest-growing region in the United States, according to a study by the Natural Resources Defense Council, with subdivisions sprouting like weeds in every direction. The effect of the current economic downturn and the subprime mortgage crisis has been felt in the greater Nashville area, but not to the extent as in many other places.
Much of the building has come at the expense of farmland. Today, Tennessee has 84,000 farms, down from 127,000 in 1970, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. The American Farmland Trust, a group working to stop the loss of productive farmland and promote healthier farming practices, estimates that Tennessee is losing 42,000 acres of farmland each year, much of it to development. The United States Forest Service says one quarter of the state’s 14.4 million acres of forests will be gone in 30 years.
Bells Bend is a 22,000-acre U-shaped tract accessible only by a winding two-lane road. Sod farmers here have been growing fescue, a type of grass, to supply the local builders, and that business has helped them hang on to a rural way of life that has all but disappeared elsewhere in Davidson County. It was the best sanctuary the cranes could find within 50 miles.
Mr. West has spent all but about two of his 67 years on the farm. Like many other family farmers in the South, he worked a full-time job — in his case, reading meters for the local electric company for 23 years — while raising cattle and growing hay and other crops.
As he hauls his lank frame onto his 1952 Farmall tractor, Mr. West looks like something from a Norman Rockwell magazine cover. The tractor fits him like an old shoe, and it starts with the first crank.
Mr. West took up the fiddle six years ago and writes songs about lost love and the farming life.
“I remember the river, the hills, and the trees,” he said. “I remember the hollyhocks and the bumble bees. We slept on the front porch in the warm summer breeze. I remember the screen door full of cottonwood seeds.”
But characters like George West are becoming as rare in Tennessee as the cranes in his turnip field. The average age of a Tennessee farmer is 56 and rising. Surgery has impaired Mr. West ’s balance, and he no longer feels safe driving his tractor. He is a bachelor and has no children to take over the farm.
Developers have been knocking at Mr. West’s door, begging him to sell. Last year, he said, the country-western star George Strait offered to buy his 118-acre farm for $1.6 million, but he turned him down.
“I just see so many other farms destroyed and now here I am,” he said. “I don’t want to see mine like that. I’d love for it to remain like it is — one big piece of property.” The Tennessee Land Trust buys development rights that allow people to stay on their land, use it, sell it, or even give it away. But the conservation agreement the trust makes with the landowner stays with the deed forever.
“In the last three months, we’ve protected 20 working farms,” the trust’s president, Jeanie Nelson, said. In eight years, it has preserved 107 properties, totaling 30,000 acres, she said.
Mr. West’s neighbors say they hope he will strike such a deal. “We don’t have suburban sprawl here,” said Barry Sulkin, who lives nearby. “Just farms, forest and open space, and I’m hopeful most people would want to keep it that way.”
In 1989, a plan to build a dump on Bells Bend prompted a rousing fight from the community. The city eventually bought 800 acres and turned it into a park. But residents were unable to stop a new sewage treatment plant from being built here to service Bellevue, a suburb across the Cumberland River. This was an especially bitter pill since Bells Bend residents all have septic tanks and want to keep it that way.
Rather than fight City Hall over every building permit, Mr. West’s neighbors are working with the Tennessee Land Trust and the local planning department to develop a conservation plan.
Last year, though, developers bought 1,500 acres about a mile from Mr. West’s farm for $18 million. They have filed plans to build condominiums and a commercial center on 600 acres and leave 900 acres undeveloped. The new construction would connect to the nearby sewer plant and increase Nashville’s tax revenues.
The plan also calls for construction of a $50 million bridge that would connect Interstate 40 and Bells Bend, which is opposed by most residents.
If he does not sell the farm by spring, Mr. West said, he will climb onto his Farmall, and with steady compelling pleasure, plow his fields once more. He plans watermelons, pumpkins and, later, a crop of turnips — hoping the cranes will return next winter.
More Articles in US »
www.nytimes.com/2008/03/01/us/01crane.html?hp
In Tennessee, 2 Endangered Groups Meet by Chance
John C. Felts for The New York Times
Two rare whooping cranes were spotted by birders at George West’s farm five miles from Nashville, in one of the fastest-growing regions in the United States.
* Sign In to E-Mail or Save This
* Reprints
* Share
o Del.icio.us
o Digg
o Facebook
o Newsvine
o Permalink
Article Tools Sponsored By
By PETER WHITE
Published: March 1, 2008
BELLS BEND, Tenn. — Two unexpected guests showed up over the winter at George West’s farm here, rare whooping cranes that landed in Mr. West’s rich, boggy turnip field five miles from Nashville and were spotted by local birders during the annual Audubon count.
Skip to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image
John C. Felts for The New York Times
In the midst of rapid development, farmers like Mr. West are becoming as rare in Tennessee as the cranes in his field.
The New York Times
Building in the greater Nashville area threatens farmland.
“They couldn’t believe their eyes,” said the president of the Tennessee Ornithological Society, Richard Connors.
The cranes had been bred as part of an $11 million effort by an international partnership that includes the United States Geological Survey to re-establish a flock along the Eastern Flyway between Wisconsin and Central Florida.
The birds’ touchdown in Middle Tennessee was all the more surprising because the area is the 11th fastest-growing region in the United States, according to a study by the Natural Resources Defense Council, with subdivisions sprouting like weeds in every direction. The effect of the current economic downturn and the subprime mortgage crisis has been felt in the greater Nashville area, but not to the extent as in many other places.
Much of the building has come at the expense of farmland. Today, Tennessee has 84,000 farms, down from 127,000 in 1970, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. The American Farmland Trust, a group working to stop the loss of productive farmland and promote healthier farming practices, estimates that Tennessee is losing 42,000 acres of farmland each year, much of it to development. The United States Forest Service says one quarter of the state’s 14.4 million acres of forests will be gone in 30 years.
Bells Bend is a 22,000-acre U-shaped tract accessible only by a winding two-lane road. Sod farmers here have been growing fescue, a type of grass, to supply the local builders, and that business has helped them hang on to a rural way of life that has all but disappeared elsewhere in Davidson County. It was the best sanctuary the cranes could find within 50 miles.
Mr. West has spent all but about two of his 67 years on the farm. Like many other family farmers in the South, he worked a full-time job — in his case, reading meters for the local electric company for 23 years — while raising cattle and growing hay and other crops.
As he hauls his lank frame onto his 1952 Farmall tractor, Mr. West looks like something from a Norman Rockwell magazine cover. The tractor fits him like an old shoe, and it starts with the first crank.
Mr. West took up the fiddle six years ago and writes songs about lost love and the farming life.
“I remember the river, the hills, and the trees,” he said. “I remember the hollyhocks and the bumble bees. We slept on the front porch in the warm summer breeze. I remember the screen door full of cottonwood seeds.”
But characters like George West are becoming as rare in Tennessee as the cranes in his turnip field. The average age of a Tennessee farmer is 56 and rising. Surgery has impaired Mr. West ’s balance, and he no longer feels safe driving his tractor. He is a bachelor and has no children to take over the farm.
Developers have been knocking at Mr. West’s door, begging him to sell. Last year, he said, the country-western star George Strait offered to buy his 118-acre farm for $1.6 million, but he turned him down.
“I just see so many other farms destroyed and now here I am,” he said. “I don’t want to see mine like that. I’d love for it to remain like it is — one big piece of property.” The Tennessee Land Trust buys development rights that allow people to stay on their land, use it, sell it, or even give it away. But the conservation agreement the trust makes with the landowner stays with the deed forever.
“In the last three months, we’ve protected 20 working farms,” the trust’s president, Jeanie Nelson, said. In eight years, it has preserved 107 properties, totaling 30,000 acres, she said.
Mr. West’s neighbors say they hope he will strike such a deal. “We don’t have suburban sprawl here,” said Barry Sulkin, who lives nearby. “Just farms, forest and open space, and I’m hopeful most people would want to keep it that way.”
In 1989, a plan to build a dump on Bells Bend prompted a rousing fight from the community. The city eventually bought 800 acres and turned it into a park. But residents were unable to stop a new sewage treatment plant from being built here to service Bellevue, a suburb across the Cumberland River. This was an especially bitter pill since Bells Bend residents all have septic tanks and want to keep it that way.
Rather than fight City Hall over every building permit, Mr. West’s neighbors are working with the Tennessee Land Trust and the local planning department to develop a conservation plan.
Last year, though, developers bought 1,500 acres about a mile from Mr. West’s farm for $18 million. They have filed plans to build condominiums and a commercial center on 600 acres and leave 900 acres undeveloped. The new construction would connect to the nearby sewer plant and increase Nashville’s tax revenues.
The plan also calls for construction of a $50 million bridge that would connect Interstate 40 and Bells Bend, which is opposed by most residents.
If he does not sell the farm by spring, Mr. West said, he will climb onto his Farmall, and with steady compelling pleasure, plow his fields once more. He plans watermelons, pumpkins and, later, a crop of turnips — hoping the cranes will return next winter.
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