TVA Celebrates National Trails Day With Enhancement Efforts

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., May 31, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Tennessee Valley Authority is commemorating National Trails Day on Saturday, June 4, with a one-day campaign to enhance and maintain several popular trails on TVA-managed public lands.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100304/TVALOGO)

TVA is encouraging the public to join staff members at a nearby trail perform a variety of general maintenance activities, including widening trails, cutting back vegetation over pathways, filling in washout areas, picking up trash or removing invasive plants.

Trail work days are scheduled at the following locations:

• East Lakeshore Trail, Lenoir City, Tenn., 9 a.m.-noon EDT (Directions: west on State Highway 95, turn right on Axley Chapel Road, turn right on Coytee Road to parking area.)
• Muscle Shoals Reservation Trails,  Muscle Shoals, Ala., 9 a.m.-noon CDT (Directions: meet at the Native Garden parking lot on the TVA Reservation.)
• Trotter Bluff Trail, Sevierville, Tenn., 9 a.m.-noon EDT (Directions: from State Highway 139 turn right on Douglas Dam Road/State Highway 338, turn left onto Boat Launch Road, parking is near the swimming area.)
• Lady's Bluff Trail,  Parsons/Linden, Tenn., 9 a.m.-noon CDT (Directions: take U.S. Highway 412 to east side of Tennessee River, turn north on State Highway 438, turn west at Bunker Hill-Standing Rock Road, turn left on Lady's Bluff Trail Road.)
• Bouton River Access Trail,  Bristol, Tenn., 9 a.m.-noon EDT (Directions: meet at the paved parking area on the South Holston Dam Reservation near Osceola Island.)
• River Bluff Trail, Norris, Tenn., 9 a.m.-noon EDT (Directions: head west on U.S. Highway 441/Norris Freeway, cross the dam, and turn left onto Dabney Lane; continue to bottom of the hill to trailhead.)

Volunteers are encouraged to bring water, snacks, insect repellent, sun protection, gloves, closed-toe shoes and long pants. TVA will provide all hand tools.

Work will be performed over a variety of terrain. For more information on any of the volunteer opportunities, please call the Environmental Information Center at (800) 882-5263.

TVA maintains about 90 miles of developed trails on the public lands it manages. TVA provides recreation opportunities at 80 campgrounds, day-use areas and boat ramps. TVA's environmental stewardship efforts encompass nearly 11,000 miles of public shoreline and about 293,000 acres of land.

The Tennessee Valley Authority, a corporation owned by the U.S. government, provides electricity for 9 million people in parts of seven southeastern states at prices below the national average. TVA, which receives no taxpayer money and makes no profits, also provides flood control, navigation and land management for the Tennessee River system and assists utilities and state and local governments with economic development.

SOURCE Tennessee Valley Authority