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East Tennessee Eco-Recreation Guide: 

Natural Place to Go and Things to Do for Carson-Newman 

Students, Staff, & Faculty

A project of the Psy 318 Ecological Psychology Class, Fall 2002

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Links across a range of viewpoints I hope will be beneficial for the course and for your independent reading and research.

Adbusters--seeks to transform our ideas about marketing, advertising, technology, and consuming to be less materialistic and exploitative.  Sponsors Buy Nothing Day, Kill Your TV Week, and a slick, intelligent, and highly irreverent anti-marketing 'zine.

American Canoe Association--great resource for paddling sports, river safety and equipment, and river conservation.

American Rivers Network--national organization of river ecologists, outdoor enthusiasts, and political activists. 

Appalachian Studies Association--scholars, teachers, and community activists who focus on the history, culture, politics, economics, art and music, writing, and environment of the Appalachian bioregion. Their conferences are a good place for students to present research and writing; very student friendly! 

Appalachian Voices--citizen action organization based in Boone, NC, with good links to other regional and national groups.  Especially concerned with air pollution, the dying of the trees in Appalachia, and mountain top removal.

Center for the New American Dream--great resources and educational help for people wishing to free themselves from slavery to materialism and consumerism to pursue a simpler lifestyle.  Emphasis in on doing this together, sound financial planning, and having fun.

Chowan College Center for Ethics/Socially Responsible Investing Page--information on the connection between investments, Wall Street, worker justice, and the environment.  How to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Community-Based Social Marketing--psychology-based information and tools to help you plan and effect change in your community to make it more sustainable and environmentally friendly. 

Community Economic Development Network of East Tennessee--a great referral source for grass-roots, community-based organizations doing social justice and environmental stewardship work in our bioregion.

Community Food Cooperative Regional Listing--a useful guide to community-owned food cooperatives in the U.S. who sell organic, fair-traded products and help the local farm economy.  Of special interest to vegetarians and vegetarian wanna-be's.

Conservation Psychology--applies psychological theory and tools to conservation. 

Co-op America--one of the nation's largest and most successful businesses selling "green" products and services.

Creation Care Magazine-- religious perspectives on the environment from the Evangelical Environmental Network.

The Earth Charter--a U.N. sponsored document stating principles in support of life, peace, and justice for all humanity and the whole Earth community.  A great teaching tool for concepts most people are not that familiar with.  The goal of the Earth Charter is to recruit individuals, groups, and nations of the world to sign and adopt it in the same way  we now have the U.N. Declaration or Human Rights.

Education for Sustainability

Enviro-Psych Lab--on-line demonstrations of ideas from ecological psychology.

Environmental Health and Justice Database--find out how healthy the environment is where you life, who the majors polluters and what they are discharging into the environment.

Evangelical Environmental Network--part of Evangelicals for Social Action, the Tony Campolo and Ron Sider group, that attempts to save the environment from an orthodox, Christian perspective emphasizing discipleship and stewardship of  God's good creation.  

Friends Committee on Unity With Nature--Quaker organization that explores Friends' spiritual connections with Nature; also responsible for Eco-Witness, a Quaker political initiative for the environment monitoring important environmental legislation in Washington and informing citizens what they can do to help. 

Great Smoky Mountains National Park--good example of the "First Wave" of environmentalism that focused on preservation of natural areas of national significance.  Most frequently visited national park just an hour's drive from campus.  Many places to hike, bike, camp, and fish, and to learn about the park's human as well as natural history.  Especially interesting is the Cataloochee section near Big Creek where settlers resisted the coming of the park and tried to fight the loss of their historic lands.  

The Green Party--America's largest Third Party that places environmentalism as one of its cornerstone political values.  While not successful at the national level, Greens have been successfully organizing and getting people elected in local races.

Greenpeace--good example of the "Third Wave" of environmentalism that resorts to nonviolent civil disobedience to press their concerns about the environment.

Holston RiverWatch--local project of the Carson-Newman Chapter of the Izaak Walton League, committed to the enjoyment, study, and restoration of the Holston River and its main tributaries.

Ijams Nature Center in Knoxville, Tennessee--dedicated to nature study and showing people how to live more sustainably.  Offers a good solar power demonstration and shows how a house can be made more eco-friendly.

Izaak Walton League--national conservation organization seeking to restore and protect the environment through a business-friendly, non-confrontational approach.  Well-organized and active in east Tennessee, focusing primarily on water quality.

Kingsport, Tennessee, Greenbelt--great example of what a city can do to integrate nature into its metropolitan area in a way that enhances environmental aesthetics, economic development, and enjoyment by residents and visitors alike.

Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center--good example of the "Fourth Wave" of environmentalism wherein people learn to live sustainably and in harmony with Earth; 300+ acre land trust community in Grainger County where people have built homes and other structures using local and sustainable materials, minimal waste of water, organic agriculture, extensive recycling/reusing of resources, solar power, composting toilets, and a participatory approach to decision making.  An additional, recent project has been subscription farming.

Nature Conservancy--large international organization that preserves important natural areas by raising the money to buy the land or by working out conservation easements to prevent the land's destruction by commercial development.  They take a cooperative approach and like to work in collaboration with local farmers and other residents.  Several successful projects in our bioregion.

Nine Counties One Vision--an effort by concerned citizens of Knox and surrounding counties (including Jefferson) to organize across counties in an effort to shape economic development and population growth patterns of east Tennessee to preserve the natural environment, cultural history, and quality of family life in this place where we live.

North American Association for Environmental Education--great resources for hands-on learning activities for nature study.

Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance--anti-nuclear citizens group conducting education and peace marches on issues of disarmament and environmental justice.

Panther Creek State Park--our local state park with trails for hiking and biking, a campground and boat ramp.  Adopted by a volunteer group of citizens, Friends of Panther Creek State Park.

Population and Environmental Psychology--official website of the division of the American Psychological Association devoted to environmental psychology.    

Princeton University Environmental Jobs Page--career advice from a major national outdoor education program.    

Rural Resources: Sustaining Appalachia's Family Farms--non-profit organization in Greene County working to promote community-supported agriculture, organic farming, farm camps for kids, and other initiatives to help sustain Appalachia's family farms.

Save Our Cumberland Mountains--multi-county, non-profit organization headquartered in Lake City, working to protect rural areas from mining, logging, and pollution.

E.F. Shumacher Society--national headquarters of an international organization devoted to appropriate scale and technology named for the author of one of the most important ecological books of the 20th century, S mall is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered.

Sierra Club--good example of the "Second Wave" of environmentalism that stresses political action within the system (for example, support for the Clean Water Act).  One of the oldest, largest, and most effective conservation organizations with state and local chapters; founded by John Muir; program emphasis is on enjoying the outdoors in addition to political action.

Sierra Student Coalition--student component of the Sierra Club with resources for campus organizing.

Southern Alliance for Clean Energy--seven state non-profit developing programs to reduce air pollution through alternative energy production.

Southern Environmental Law Center--large non-profit advancing conservation through the legal system.

Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation--state agency with responsibilities for preventing and responding to pollution.  Who to call when you see something bad happening.

Tennessee Eastman Company--largest chemical company in the world located in Kingsport on the Holston River.  One of the largest of the region's polluters with a gradually improved record in recent years.  They give tours and sponsor a hiking and canoe club as well as Bays Mountain Park.

Tennessee Environmental Council--attempts to coordinate environmental legislation in Nashville for citizen groups across the state.

Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association--large paddling organization with programs for education and conservation.

Tennessee Green: All You Need to Know about Tennessee's Environment--data-base and search engine for state environmental information.

Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation--promotes greenway development.

Tennessee Valley Authority--federal agency with responsibilities for river management and power generation in this region.  Confiscated private land in the 1930s to build dams on the Holston, Clinch, French Broad, and other regional rivers.  Has very strong programs of preservation of natural resources and cultural history.

Union of Concerned Scientists--formed in the 1960s at M.I.T. to help the scientific community resist the pressures and incentives of the defense industry and the military to remain independent and for the purpose of the public good.  A major voice to environmental justice and conservation today.

Wilderness Therapy and Treatment--information on wilderness therapy.

Wilderness Therapy--Ethical standards and practice--as stated.