Pickett Forest Gets 1,541-acre Addition
By Morgan Simmons
Knoxville News Sentinel
December 22, 2003

Pall Mall, Tenn. - The scenery that surrounds this small, picturesque town in northern Fentress County is like nothing else on the Cumberland Plateau.

The mountains are indented with deep coves, and the views from the overlooks are unsurpassed.

Jim Creek, a tributary of the Wolf River, is the largest of several streams that flow off the western edge of the plateau into the valley that surrounds Pall Mall. The creek's drainage area covers 1,541 acres, and for two years conservationists and government officials have been trying to get the tract- also known as Horseshoe Cliff- added to Pickett State Forest.

Thanks to a recent federal appropriation and help from the Tennessee chapter of the Nature Conservancy, that effort is complete.

"It's not often you have the chance to protect an entire watershed," said Nature Conservancy spokesperson Gina Hancock. And if you're tired of fighting the crowds in the Smokies, you can't get more beautiful than the Pickett complex."

Located on the northern Cumberland Plateau, the Jim Creek tract received The Nature Conservancy's highest rating based on its biodiversity and location. The tract contains numerous caves that contain Indiana bats, a federally endangered species, and provides habitat to a wide variety of rare plants and aquatic species.

The property is also significant because it divides Pickett State Forest in half. Pickett State Forest currently includes 18,302 acres. It adjoins Pickett State Park, and is located just west of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area.

As part of the state forest system, the Jim Creek tract will be open to public recreation and managed for multiple use.

Two years ago The Nature Conservancy purchased the Jim Creek tract from a land company for $1.1 million. Since then the property has been a high priority for the Forest Legacy Program, a federal program that coordinates with state forestry divisions to purchase environmentally important forested tracts as they become available from willing sellers.

The program covered 75 percent of the cost while The Nature Conservancy chipped in the remaining 25 percent match, but those funds have been placed on hold as part of Gov. Phil Bredesen's efforts to balance the budget.

Pall Mall, is the birthplace of Alvin C. York, and the World War I hero is said to have climbed up the overlooks on the outskirts of town to pray over his decision to join the Army.

Jim Creek's cultural significance also relates to the naturalist John Muir, who is believed to have passed through the area during his 1,000 mile walk from Indiana to the Gulf of Mexico. A portion of the John Muir Trail has been built westward from Pickett State Park to the end of Blackhouse Mountain. Plans are to extend that section to the York Mill State Historic Site in Pall Mall.

A major political supporter of the Jim Creek Acquisition was U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis, a Democrat whose district includes Fentress County. Speaking at a recent ceremony to celebrate the deal, Davis talked of having grown up on a farm on Blackhouse Mountain that his father purchased from York. It's just four miles from Jim Creek.

Davis said he expects public recreation on Jim Creek will enhance tourism in his district, and he said the monuments of Washington, D.C. have nothing over the scenery right out his back door.

"It's an awesome sight, sitting on your back porch and looking across the Wolf River at the cows pecking at the fields," Davis