Deepening Our Impact in the Duck River Watershed

TennGreen has acquired more than 30 acres within the Duck River watershed in Marshall County—an important step in protecting one of the most remarkable waterways in North America.

Recognized by the U.S. Geological Survey as the continent’s most biologically diverse river and the third most biodiverse in the world, the Duck River is both a natural treasure and a beloved recreational destination in Tennessee.

Conserving land within the watershed helps preserve essential floodplains and sustain the extraordinary biodiversity that makes this ecosystem so vital and unique.

This acquisition also builds on TennGreen’s recent work in the Duck River watershed, including the permanent protection of land at Mayberry Hollow in 2021 and 2024.

In fall of 2024, Governor Bill Lee signed Executive Order 108 into action, affirming his administration’s commitment to the Duck River. In doing so, Tennessee’s government took a giant leap forward in ensuring the Duck continues to be a bountiful resource of both recreation and biodiversity. TennGreen is working every day to help uphold this promise to Tennessee’s citizens and wildlife.

TennGreen’s Work Along the Duck River

For over 25 years, TennGreen Land Conservancy has conserved land where people and nature can thrive—safeguarding wetlands, grasslands, mountains, forests, and waterways across the state we call home. Through projects like Happy Hollow WMA, Star Branch Headwaters, Rockdale Trace, and Mayberry Hollow Conservation Easement, TennGreen has protected (and will in perpetuity) the Duck River alongside its tributaries and feeder streams.

At the aforementioned Mayberry Hollow—an easement recently expanded to over 70 acres—diverse habitats protect a large diversity of breeding birds and freshwater animals in the Duck’s broader ecosystem. Fort Cooper Creek runs through the property and empties into Lick Creek, a feeder stream to the Duck River.

In 2024, landowner Tommy Pinkston acquired and added an additional 9.3 acres to the Mayberry Hollow, further protecting this area’s riparian corridor. Here, the Pinkwood Branch ultimately feeds the Duck—a waterway of critical conservation concern.

Similarly, Star Branch Headwaters is a Conservation Easement named for the Star Branch stream which flows through the property for more than three-quarters of a mile. Waters on the land continue downstream into the protected Big Swan Headwaters Preserve, part of the Lower Duck River watershed. In addition to the streams, Star Branch Headwaters contains nearly an acre of a calcareous seep wetland—a critical source of recharging waters for the Duck. The area has been protected by a 141 acre easement since 2022.

‘Conservation easements such as Rockdale and Big Swan are ideal for permanently preserving land in the watershed of this critical waterway’

In 2021, TennGreen also partnered with Swan Conservation Trust (SCT) and a private landowner to assume responsibility for the Rockdale Trace conservation easement in Lewis County, Tennessee. Rainwater falling on the Rockdale Trace property flows into the Duck River from Big Bigby Creek. This followed 2017’s groundbreaking work to protect 1,358 acres adjacent to The Farm with a conservation easement called Big Swan Headwaters.

To reduce sediment entering creeks, it’s essential to protect forested tracts in the headwaters and along the Duck. Conservation easements such as Rockdale and Big Swan are ideal for permanently preserving land in the watershed of this critical waterway.

Through acquisitions, TennGreen also assisted in the formation of 1,800-acre Happy Hollow Wildlife Management Area. This Hickman County WMA consists of upland oak forests with steep ridges and wet valleys along the Duck River. It also remains the river’s largest protected area.

As our treasured lands are passed on to the next generation, and development pressures continue to accelerate, we stand poised to have a greater conservation impact in areas of critical importance like the Duck River.

If you or someone you know also stands ready to protect land along the Duck, please contact us.