Hello Friends of ESNP!

This week, I have 1 thing to celebrate, 1 call to action, and 1 hike to invite you to:

CELEBRATE:    As I write this, we are just a 6 signatures away from hitting 12,000!!! Our next big goal is is to reach 15,000, but 12k certainly isn't something to gloss over! This is a huge accomplishment. I never imagined there would be this much support for our little (giant) park. I am honored to count myself among all of you and so grateful to be a part of a community who shares values and vision for our future--what we want to preserve, what we want to pass down, what we want our identity and legacy to be. 

ACT:    This week, we are asking everyone to please reach out to Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Charles Wood. Mr. Wood was one of the original endorsers of the "Land Swap" to the US Dept of the Interior, so we are asking him to please rescind his letter of endorsement due to the huge wave of public opposition within his community. There is a place for growth, a place for development, but that place is NOT on permanently protected public parkland.
    Email: cwood@chattanoogachamber.com
    Phone: 423-763-4335

HIKE:     We are co-hosting another hike at ESNP with the local Sierra Club group this Saturday 12/20 from 1-3pm, beginning at the Atlas Trailhead (parking lot 6). If you missed our last hike, we will be walking the same route from the Atlas Trailhead to Old Summit Cemetery, with a stop at Grey Pond. We will talk about the land, the proposal, and what our organization is doing to stop it. We will have our local volunteer historian, Jared Story, share his ongoing research on the Summit community who were displaced from the land and the cemetery they were forced to leave behind. 

As always, thank you for being a part of this giant community effort. 

-Melissa