In the 1950s, the section of the Wolf River that runs through the city of Memphis was dredged and channelized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to speed drainage of the river's floodplain and wetlands. Most of the streams and rivers in west Tennessee have been, and continue to be, similarly treated. Currently underway on the urban Wolf is an extensive project in which the Corps will attempt to halt the headcutting and restore habitat that has been destroyed by this process. It contains many miles of hiking trails and provides a safe home for a diversity of species ranging from tiny songbirds to herds of deer. Under the pressures of development, our urban forests are disappearing at a rapid rate, making areas like this even more precious and worthy of protection.
Nature is indifferent to our love, but never unfaithful.
Most of the thousands of people who cross our city's many bridges never look at what's flowing beneath their wheels. If they do look, some dismiss it as a muddy ditch. In reality, the urban Wolf has been a river in recovery since the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972. River Otter have returned, fish populations are rising, and Great Blue Herons are often spotted in the middle of our city. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.