"There are few places in the Upper Cumberlands
that are not special
to someone. There are even fewer places that are special to everyone.
Scott's Gulf is one of those places."
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Brenda Cardwell and Pam Miller provided current information
on Scott's Gulf
to visitors to Cookeville's 1997 Earth Day festivities.
You know how it is with friends. You have some who you hang around with from time to time, but who really aren't that close. And then you have other friends, the true-blue, best friend, one-for-all and all-for-one type. Those are the friends you remember your whole life, the ones you make extra time for, just because you enjoy their company so much.
The Friends of Scott's Gulf, Inc., are like that, too. We know a lot of you out there in Cyberspace care about the Gulf and want to help however you can -- with a small donation, or by buying a t-shirt, or by writing a note to your senator. But then there are some of you out there who love the Gulf wholeheartedly, who've spent many happy hours caving or hiking or canoeing there, and who are willing to make extra time for the Gulf because you enjoy it so much. You are the ones who need to join the Friends of Scott's Gulf the most.
A while back the State of Tennessee passed a law allowing, and, in fact, encouraging, state parks and widerness areas to contract with and receive financial assistance from a "Friends" group organized according to the law. This enables private citizens to support their favorite parks by becoming more directly involved in their protection, management, and development. The Friends of Scott's Gulf, Inc., is modeled on the same non-profit, corporate structure as other "Friends" groups in the state, with one very important difference. The area the Friends of Scott's Gulf intend to support is not a public wilderness area -- or, at least not all of it. But we're hoping this initiative will encourage those with the power to act to do so immediately, while establishing a precedent for cooperation between the users of Scott's Gulf and those who manage it.
The complete charter and specific goals (complete with legal-ese) of the organization are available in the Scott's Gulf Archives, but following is a summary of the goals of the Friends of Scott's Gulf:
-- providing support and assistance in the preservation and protection
of the many natural, cultural and scenic features;
-- promoting the use of the public wilderness recreation area as an environmental
and wilderness resource;
-- assisting the government entities owning such public wilderness recreation
area to provide quality recreation and interpretive experiences;
-- generally engaging in any other lawful endeavor or activity that fulfills
the stated purposes of the Friends of Scott's Gulf;
And if you think that's bad, you should see the full text!
The Board of Directors is considering some amendments to the sections of the charter outlining election procedures. You can review them here. Please let us know if you have any comments.
All members of the Friends of Scott's Gulf, Inc., get one vote in the decisions of the corporation, with exceptions as noted below. Dues for membership in the Friends of Scott's Gulf are as follows:
| Category | Amount |
| Student | $5.00 per year |
| Individual | $10.00 per year |
| Family (gets 2 votes) | $15.00 per year |
| Life | $200.00 one-time fee |
| Family Life (gets 2 votes) | $300.00 one-time fee |
| Associate | $25 per year |
| Corporate: Silver | $120 per year |
| Corporate: Gold | $600 per year |
| Corporate: Platinum | $1200 per year |
Associate Membership is for clubs, grottos, and other related organizations, whereas Corporate Membership is for commercial enterprises, businesses, industries, etc. As a member of the organization you will receive the newsletter of the Friends of Scotts' Gulf. The inaugural issue of the newsletter will be out in the next few weeks and will then come out (we hope) on a quarterly basis if we have enough material. You will also receive notification of trips, hikes, cleanup projects, and other activities in the Gulf which the Friends will be organizing for members.
Joining the Friends of Scott's Gulf is simple. You can either contact Ross Cardwell for a membership form or you can print out this .gif form. (Since Family Life is a new category, if you wish to join as a Family Life member, you will need to indicate that on your form until we get a chance to revise it! -- Sorry!) Fill it out completely and return it to:
Friends of Scott's Gulf: DUES
Care of the Sparta/White County Chamber of Commerce
16 W. Bockman Way
Sparta, TN, 38583
But wait! Hold your horses. You may not NEED a form -- you may, in fact, already be a member.
If you donated money to the Trust for Scott's Gulf in the last two years, your dues for the Friends of Scott's Gulf have been paid for one year. All you need do is renew your membership before it runs out to remain a member. The Board of Directors of the Friends of Scott's Gulf felt this was the least that could be done to say "Thanks" to all of you who have helped in the effort to preserve Scott's Gulf so far.
So, for all of you who have suddenly become members of this new organization, congratulations and thanks! You will be receiving our newsletters and mailings in the future. Please make time to read these mailings and find out how you can get involved!
The current members of the Board of Directors of the Friends of Scott's Gulf are:
Ross Cardwell, President
John Harwood, Vice President
Chuck Estes, Secretary
Brenda Cardwell, Treasurer
April Hannah, Chair of the Public Relations Committee
John Harwood was chosen to fill the vacant board position and was elected vice president by acclamation at the November board meeting. John is president of the Upper Cumberland chapter of the Sierra Club and has been extremely active in efforts to preserve the Gulf. We thank John for agreeing to serve in this transitionary period.
If you would like more details on these matters, please read the the full text of the corporate charter and review the proposed changes to it. And, remember, this may be your only chance to have input into the decision-making process that will affect such matters as cave management and access, the level of recreational development that will be allowed in the proposed wilderness area, and the development of educational and interpretive resources. As we announce new committees that are being formed within "Friends," please consider volunteering your time to help set the future path for the Scott's Gulf effort. Get involved!
For more information, contact any of the following officers of the Friends of Scott's Gulf:
Ross Cardwell, President,
(931) 738-2760
John Harwood, Vice President, (931)
528-2301
Chuck Estes, Secretary, (423)
482-7374
Brenda Cardwell, Treasurer, (931)
836-3552
April Hannah, Public Relations
Chair
Back to What You Can Do.
We ask all interested Scott's Gulf supporters to send a personal thank you note to Bridgestone/Firestone thanking them for the wonderful gift they have given us and how much you look forward to enjoying it. If you haven't already, we hope you will express your gratitude and appreciation in the near future.(please pass this on to your family and friends.
Our response and how well we take care of this 4000 acre $4 Million gift may well influence any future outcome of the remaining 11,000 acres.
Masatoshi Ono, President
Bridgestone/Firestone
50 Century Blvd.
Nashville, Tennessee 37214
Please send a carbon copy or duplicate of Mr. Ono's letter to Chris Karbowiak at the Bridgestone/Firestone address.
The Governor and his staff worked very hard for it to even be possible to accept this gift. (for example passing the Bill that allows TWRA to own a property of this nature) There are lots of others, so don't forget to thank them also.
Governor Don Sundquist
State Capitol
Nashville, Tennessee 37243-0001
Justin Wilson
Deputy to Governor for Policy
Office of Governor
State Capitol
Nashville, Tennessee 37243-0001
Gary Myers, Executive Director
Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency
Ellington Agriculture Center
Nashville, Tennessee 37204-0747
Reed Tatum, Regional Director
Tenn.Wildlife Resource Agency
218 Gensis Road
Crossville, Tennessee 38555
(Crossville office will develop management plan)
Milton Hamilton, Commissioner
Tennessee Dept. of Environment & Conservation
21st Floor, L & C Tower
401Church Street
Nashville, Tennessee 37243-0435
Rex Boner, Southeast Specialist
Conservation Fund
Box 1362
Tucker, Georgia 30085
If you are a Tennessee citizen, one of the most effective ways you can help is by writing, calling or emailing your state and federal legislators to let them know you appreciate their efforts, past and future, to preserve the entirety of Scott's Gulf as a wilderness recreation area.
Back to What You Can Do.
In March 1996, the Upper Cumberland Grotto voted unanimously to give the Trust for Scott's Gulf, which only contained $13,000 at the time, a donation of $200. Since that $200 was a third of our entire treasury at the time, we issued a challenge to our fellow grottos and TAG's caving community to see if they could match it. The subsequent response was much greater than even we anticipated! Cave-related organizations, from around the U.S. as well as in TAG, helped significantly to raise the more than $50,000 that has been received to date to support the creation of the Scott's Gulf Wilderness Recreation Area. In fact, in terms of number of donations received, cavers have consistently been the largest single contributing group to the effort to save Scott's Gulf.
Now the Upper Cumberland Grotto has an even bigger challenge for the caving community. As the Friends of Scott's Gulf begin their efforts to secure our future access to Scott's Gulf's vast recreational resources, we challenge you to become involved! Your time, energy and expertise could be the effort's most valuable resource. By joining the Friends of Scott's Gulf and exercising your voting power, you can shape the course of this organization. And there are so many ways you can contribute something even more valuable than money. Hosting a slide show, developing cave management proposals and access policies, conducting biological inventories, photographing cave resources and contributing slides -- these are all ways that individual cavers, as well as whole grottos, can make valuable contributions. Please -- Scott's Gulf needs you more now than ever -- get involved!
.... to those grottos and cave-related organizations who have made donations to the Trust for Scott's Gulf:
| Tennessee Cave Survey | Upper Cumberland Grotto |
| Nashville Grotto | Central Indiana Grotto |
| Southport Chronic Cavers | Dogwood City Grotto |
| Cumberland Spelean Association | East Tennessee Grotto |
| Spencer Mountain Grotto | Southeastern Cave Conservancy |
| Southeastern Region Association (SERA) | Southern Cavers Association |
Back to What You Can Do.
Proclaim your support for Scott's Gulf proudly when you wear this limited edition tee! Each shirt is cream-colored cotton and features a color photo from one of the Gulf's beautiful overlooks with the words "Scott's Gulf: Grand Canyon of the Cumberlands." T-shirts are available from the Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning and sell for $15 (plus an additonal $2 for shipping, if applicable), with all proceeds going to benefit the Trust for Scott's Gulf.
Only limited quantities of this initial version of the Scott's Gulf T-shirt will be available for sale to the general public, so get yours soon! Contact the Sparta/White County Chamber of Commerce at 1-800-869-0761. Please remember to include $2 for shipping if you want us to mail your t-shirt.
Back to What You Can Do.
To reserve the Scott's Gulf slide presentation, which includes 100 photos of the Gulf plus a written narrative, call Brenda Cardwell at the Sparta/White County Chamber of Commerce, (931) 836-3552 or 1-800-869-0761.
The Friends of Scott's Gulf also have available a new video which will be available for $15 at the Chamber of Commerce. If you would like us to mail your video, please be sure to send an additional $2 to cover the cost of shipping. Since this video is basically a prototype, there are only a few copies available, so you might want to act soon if you want a copy.
ATTENTION CAVERS! If you have some nice slides of caves in Scott's Gulf, would you be willing to make them available to the Scott's Gulf slide show? Only a handful of the slides in the current show pertain to caving, so some more nice caving slides would be welcome. Any addition to the show will also require 4 copies of each new slide. Since the narrative is on computer, it would not take long to update it, so please also include the location and something about what is taking place in each slide.
Please send the slides you'd like to donate to Ross Cardwell, 654 North Edgewood Drive, Sparta, Tennessee, 38583, Phone: (931) 738-2760, or to the Sparta/White County Chamber of Commerce, 16 West Bockman Way, Sparta, Tennessee, 38583. Please send a self addressed, stamped envelope for returning your slides.
Thanks for your help!
Back to What You Can Do.
You can also help by donating whatever amount you can to the Trust for Scott's Gulf. This fund was originally established to raise money for land acquisitions in the Scott's Gulf area. Although the situation in the Gulf has changed since the Trust was founded, the Friends of Scott's Gulf still hope to use those funds to supplement the tracts that have been donated to the citizens of Tennessee. If not, then the money will be used for major conservation-oriented projects in the Gulf, such as gating significant caves or habitat protection. In the meantime, almost half of the money received to date has been sunk into a mid-term Certificate of Deposit (CD). If you'd like to contribute to the trust, send your donation to the:
Trust for Scott's Gulf
Care of the Sparta/White County
Chamber of Commerce
16 W. Bockman Way
Sparta, TN, 38583
Donations received will be used to fund projects in support of the public purchase, preservation and recreational use of Scott's Gulf and adjacent properties.
Back to What You Can Do.
Go back to the TOP of this trail.
Go back to the Scott's Gulf Home Page.
Go back to the Entrance of the Upper Cumberland Grotto's Home Cave.
We welcome your comments or bug reports
via email to your friendly, neighborhood speleoweb hostess,
April Hannah, NSS #35012.
This page, http://www.tntech.edu/www/life/orgs/grotto/Gulf/sgfriends.html,
validates as 
(C) Copyright 2003, April Hannah for the Upper Cumberland Grotto of the NSS. All Rights Reserved. Photos available on this web site are the property of individual members of the Upper Cumberland Grotto. Failure to request permission before saving the contents of this web page to disk for your own use is a violation of the U.S. Copyright Law.
