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Drink a Beer, Save a Forest Thursday, September 03, 2009
You know that tunnel you drive under when passing from North Chattanooga to Redbank? Maybe the smell of the onion rings at Nikky’s Diner will jog your memory. Well, some of you may not know that as you lose your cell-phone reception driving through that tunnel, you’re passing underneath a battleground known as Stringer’s Ridge.
For almost two years, residents and advocates of Hill City have been defending the 100 woodsy, undeveloped acres of their back yard from a private developer who bought it in late 2007 with plans of clear-cutting and high-end condos. The property spans from Nikky’s all the way to Merriam Street in North Chatt and like most of our city’s beautiful natural refuges (ahem, Suck Creek…), it serves as both a great place to hike and an unfortunate vessel for unwanted trash.
As one member of a neighborhood team wearing homemade “Save Stringer’s Ridge” t-shirts who hauled tires, sofas, even refrigerators out of the long-underappreciated woodland last March, I can see how a developer might have assumed that no one cared about this land.
But people do care.
Last fall, the Trust for Public Land got involved. The Trust agreed to purchase a portion of the land and is currently working, along with local businesses, organizations, and individuals, toward the creation of a conservation easement for the remaining portion. The goal is to see Stringer’s Ridge become a new greenway for our city.
This month, the Terminal Brewhouse is adding a little flavor to the fight to save Stringer’s Ridge, by introducing ‘Old Baldy ESB,’ described as “a classic session beer designed to refresh and stimulate both your taste buds and your desire to preserve the beauty and natural uses of Stringer’s Ridge.” 20% of the September sales of Old Baldy will be donated to the Stringer’s Ridge cause.
“We have not only vowed to give you a well rounded beer,” says Terminal partner Jeff Tarr, “but to give some jack to the people that are dedicated to preserving the hiking and biking access to one of the most beautiful and approachable ridgelines in our fair city.”
Whether you’re drinking Old Baldy for the flavor or for the cause, stop into the Terminal all month and toast a glass of it to our beautiful backyard.
By Alison Burke, Editorial Fellow
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