Swan Conservation Trust

Swan Trusts Protection Program includes educational outreach to promote protection of Tennessees Western Highland Rim through plant, bird, arthropod, and amphibian identification hikes, annual newsletters, and childrens environmental programs. It also includes scientific research by colleges and universities. In 2024, Tennessee State University graduate students began surveying creeks on Big Swan Headwaters Preserve for the State-endangered Hellbender Salamander. Swan Trust provided 8 events between April and September with experts in botany, biology, ecology, ornithology, and biodiversity for public education. A calendar of these events was printed and mailed to 600 residents of Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama and posted on the website. Two additional events were held to pick up litter in order to keep it out of streams and the Langford Branch State Natural Area. In 2024, Swan Trusts volunteer biologist met with students in a local school on fifteen occasions to perform fall seed collections and spring seed planting, to explore a wetland, to sample creek macroinvertebrates, and to begin birdwatching skills. Swan Trust volunteers provided tubs of macroinvertebrates from Big Swan Creek at the Hohenwald October Heritage Festival to teach children about biodiversity and water quality.

Swan Trusts Restoration Program includes elimination of invasive plant species and stewardship of all its properties. In 2024, volunteers worked on the Star Branch land purchased in 2022 to eliminate invasive plant species on August 8 and September 19, 2024. All labor and equipment were provided free of charge.