Moccasin Bend Is Added To Chickamauga &
Chattanooga National Military Park
By Deborah Fitts
April 2003
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - A 780-acre tract on Moccasin
Bend, a fertile loop of history-rich bottomland on the Tennessee
River, has been added to the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National
Military Park by an act of Congress.
"We're excited to get that much of Moccasin Bend preserved,"
said park superintendent Patrick Reed. Congress created the
new unit of the park as part of a huge omnibus bill passed Feb.
13.
The unit, to be added to the park's existing 8,300 acres, will
be called "Moccasin Bend National Archaeological District"
in recognition of the more than 10,000 years of Native American
habitation.
The tract, which is almost entirely open space, also includes
significant Civil War resources, Reed noted, including the "best
surviving earthworks" from the siege of Chattanooga.He
cited impressive Union artillery positions at the south end
of Stringer's Ridge, plus the locations of water batteries on
the west side of Moccasin Bend to control vessels on the river.
The fine condition of the earthworks, plus the fact that nearly
all the earthworks around Chattanooga have been destroyed by
development, make these particularly significant, Reed said.
He estimated that it could take six months to a year to transfer
the acreage to the park. Most of it is held by the state, Hamilton
County, and the City of Chattanooga. In fact, the government
entities have been holding the land for more than half a century,
since an plan to donate the land to the park went awry as the
result of a change in governors.
Not included in the new unit are dozens of developed acres,
including a golf course and state mental health hospital. Reed
said these additional acres on Moccasin Bend may be added to
the park sometime in the future.
Public access to the new unit could be provided, in limited
fashion, as early as 2004 or '05, Reed said. By that time, if
the park's operating budget has been boosted to accommodate
the new unit, there could be wayside exhibits, trails and a
brochure. The park's current budget of $2.3 million is inadequate
to meet the needs of even the existing park, he said, let alone
the new property.
The nonprofit Trust for Public Land (TPL) has played an important
role in bringing the Moccasin Bend project to fruition, Reed
said, by working to purchase the privately owned land that is
part of the new unit. Recently TPL bought from a private company,
for about $900,000, a 97-acre tract at the north end of Moccasin
Bend, which will be donated to the park. A portionof Union commander
U.S. Grant's supply line ran across the property.
And Reed said efforts are under way to buy another 13 acres,
for $1.3 million. That money was inserted in this year's legislation.
TPL is being reimbursed in both cases with money from the federal
Land & Water Conservation Fund.
Bobby Davenport, director of TPL's Chattanooga office, said
of TPL, "We've been working for years gobbling up as much
land as we can get our hands on. We've had a real good run."
TPL has either purchased or caused to have donated 137 acres
of core battlefield land inside the park boundary, according
to Davenport. The most significant recent acquisition, in January,
was 37 acres at the foot of Lookout Mountain.
While TPL typically has been reimbursed for purchases, Davenport
said, "We step in where the public sector can't, and buy
them some time." He said, "An awful lot of private
landowners would rather deal with us than the federal government."
"Tourism has become a very large industry for Chattanooga,
Davenport said. "The park has several thousand visitors
a year who may stay for days. That's a real sound economic reason"
to preserve historic ground. He added that the Park Service's
"presence in this is a blessing."
Tennessee Congressman Zach Wamp (R) spearheaded the legislation
to make Moccasin Bend a new unit of the park. TPL worked with
Congress on legislation in 1999 that amended an earlier requirement
that allowed the park to add land only by donation. Since 1999,
the
purchase of land for the park is allowed.
