In December 2020, Fredrika Lowenberg Felt, William Lowenberg, Alison Wetter, Jodie Markell, and Ilene Markell donated nearly 60 acres of wetlands, fields, and forests in Memphis to TennGreen Land Conservancy. This unique urban habitat contains a quarter-mile of Nonconnah Creek, a long-degraded but important stream that flows through the heart of the city.
The land is easily separated into two parcels, as I-385 divides it into north and south sections. The north section, adjacent to a neighborhood, will serve as a TennGreen Ambassador Preserve once a management plan is in place. TennGreen will convey the south section, located along the Nonconnah Creek Greenway, to the Memphis Parks Department. This acquisition is the first of the Mid-South Regional Greenprint and Sustainability Plan (GREENPRINT 2015/2040), along an underappreciated and underutilized waterway worthy of protection.
The GREENPRINT 2015/2040 is a 25-year plan that envisions a region of connected communities united to create a high quality of life, where the physical and social environments are sustainable for future generations, and all people can access abundant economic, social, and natural opportunities. Funding for the plan’s development was generously provided by TennGreen, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant, and the Hyde Family Foundation.