Institute Feature

The project exemplifies what the UT Agricultural Experiment Station’s Research and Education centers are all about: developing, using, and demonstrating research advances and techniques that make a difference to Tennesseans and their quality of life. Download this photo (1.2 MB)

The UT Agricultural Experiment Station Forest Resources Research and Education Center has been selected as the winner of the 2006 Governor's Environmental Stewardship Award in the Agriculture/Forestry Category.

The award recognizes outstanding achievement by individuals, businesses, organizations, educational institutions, and agencies for successful environmental projects and conservation measures.

James Fyke, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, said that UT's Hornyhead Branch Restoration Project stood out among other nominations in the most competitive stewardship awards process of the program’s 20-year history.

The Forest Resources Center initiated the project to improve water quality and habitat in the Hornyhead Branch as well as to provide better access to research sites along its banks. Download this photo (1.1 MB)

The center initiated the project to improve water quality and habitat of the Hornyhead Branch, as well as provide better access to forestry research along 3,100 feet of the branch contained on the UT Cumberland Forest Unit in Morgan County.

The project demonstrates the use of six different types of bank stabilization methods as options for stream restorations. These methods provide examples for future restoration efforts on impaired streams and creeks. The project is instrumental in ongoing efforts to improve the quality of Crooked Fork Creek, which is listed on Tennessee’s Impaired Waters List. Hornyhead is a tributary of the creek.

As it improves Hornyhead Branch, the restoration project will serve as a source of continuing education of stream restoration techniques for resource managers and landowners and aid in cooperation with other agencies in riparian zone management.

Tennessee Environment and Conservation Deputy Commissioner Paul Sloan (left) joins University of Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station Manager Martin Schubert, UT Forest Resources Center Director Richard Evans and Environment and Conservation Commissioner Jim Fyke to recognize the UT Forest Resources Center's Restoration of Hornyhead Creek in Morgan County with the 2006 Governor's Award for Excellence in Agriculture and Forestry at the Adventure Science Center in Nashville. Download this photo (1.8 MB)

“We couldn’t be more pleased with the environmental stewardship award,” said Center Director Richard Evans.

Cooperators in the Hornyhead Branch Restoration Project include the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service Morgan County Office, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Morgan County Soil Conservation District. Assistance was also provided by the UT Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science, the Emory River Watershed Association, and the Morgan County Central Middle School Beta Club.

For more about the project and the Cumberland Forest Unit, visit http://forestry.tennessee.edu/CUhornyhead.htm.

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More information about the awards is available online at these sites:
http://state.tn.us/environment/awards/
http://state.tn.us/environment/news/release/2006/Jun/stewardshipawards.php