Nature lovers take heart: a blissful retreat from the
maddening pace of work-a-day life is close at hand at
Big Cypress Tree State Natural Area, located seven
miles from Greenfield with signs showing the way from
Highway 45E.
The park's 15th annual Fall Festival, scheduled for
Saturday, September 25 from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., is just
the ticket for those unfamiliar with the lush hideaway
to get acquainted with the park. Storytelling, a birds
of prey and reptile hands-on exhibit by Reelfoot Lake
State Park, arts and crafts, concessions, and live
music from "Southern Sounds" and local musical talent
are just the beginning of the fun day at Big Cypress.
Named for the tree that once towered 175 feet into the
sky, far and above all the other trees in the forest -
indeed it was the largest tree of any kind east of the
Mississippi - the park today is a tribute to that
gargantuan bald cypress and to the countless footsteps
of awestruck mortals who first trekked to the big
tree, then to its stump, and finally to its memory.
Today, the park also symbolizes a hope for the future,
a hope embodied in the "Friends of Big Cypress Tree
State Natural Area".
The non-profit group is one of 22 Friends groups
organized across the state for "maintaining and
enhancing the purposes, programs and functions of the
state park system. The Friends aid in protecting,
preserving and promoting the beauty and the splendor
of their favorite state park, giving selflessly of
their time, talents and energy to help ensure the
park's integrity is intact for future generations to
enjoy."
One of the park's biggest fans, Bill McCall never saw
the tree alive. Originally from Dyersburg, he became
the park's manager on April 1, 1979 soon after
graduating from the University of Tennessee at Martin
with a degree in parks and recreation administration.
That June, he married Teresa, now a fourth grade
teacher at Greenfield, whom he had met at college, and
the two began their lives together in the park's
on-site residence.
All that was left of the tree by then was its hollowed
stump, albeit still 40 feet tall. Lightning brought
the top of the tree down in July 1976, humbling the
majestic cypress that was 40 feet in circumference and
13 feet in diameter.
"They say it burned for two weeks," McCall says
reverentially. He recalls herding some 30 boy scouts
into the hollow truck with plenty of room for more.
One could rotate a 13 ft. pole at its center and not
touch the interior walls of the tree.
Bill McCall has managed
the park since 1976
The cypress was estimated by the U.S. Forest
Service to be 1,350 years old at its demise, an age
that sets its germination in the days of the Roman
Empire. It was already 850 years old when Columbus
discovered America. David Crockett lived about three
miles from the tree and doubtless was familiar with
the awe inspiring relic.
The park was established in the early '70s following
correspondence to the state from Eli Tillman, who
offered to confer the tree and 12 acres into the
safekeeping of the park system. The gift was unsettled
upon his death, however, and his wife, Mrs. Lessie
Tillman, later sold the entire acreage to the state.
The park was a tangled thicket, full of rabbits and
quail, when McCall became caretaker of its 330 acres,
most of which was hardwood bottomland forest in the
floodplain of the middle fork of the Obion River,
where the gum trees of the swamps remain in abundance
along with wildlife like beavers, fox squirrels and
deer.
He transformed the uplands into a picnic, playground
and group camping area with plenty of room for sports
activities.
But the park suffered a setback, as it was among those
blighted by former Senator Milton Hamilton during his
tenure as commissioner of the Tennessee Department of
Environment and Conservation under Governor Don
Sundquist, who in August 2001 announced the closure of
14 of Tennessee's 54 state parks and turned Big
Cypress over to the management of the Tennessee
Wildlife Resources Agency.
So says Carey Sanders, president of Friends of Big
Cypress, whose group works with McCall to promote and
develop the remaining 27 acres of the park. The
Friends group, once 40-strong, dwindled to a core
membership of 15 after the park's closure. They
weathered the ravages of other park systems
administrators who stripped the property of playground
equipment, split-rail fence, benches and even the
flagpole to emerge triumphant in the reopening of at
least part of the park in 2003. The state provided new
playground equipment after the park reopened and the
group hopes to add more in the near future.
Children play on the
Big Cypress playground
Tillman daughter Marjorie, a retired Greenfield
city recorder, is now treasurer of the Friends group
while her sister, Joy Cavendar, who worked for years
as a court reporter, is secretary.
"We grew up there," says Marjorie of the acreage upon
which the tree once stood. In fact, their old
homeplace remains not far from the former park
ranger's residence that now provides office space for
both the TWRA and McCall.
Marjorie recalls difficulty in reaching the tree,
which was between the dredged "ditch", that is now
considered the river, and the old river bed. As close
as they were to the tree, it was impossible to see it
for the wealth of other trees in the woods; it was
only further away that the top of
the tree could be seen, she said. As a young adult,
she recalls standing inside the hollowed tree and
looking up to sunlight seeping through a time-worn
crevasse in the trunk that was in decline even before
the fateful storm.
Says Marjorie of the setback upon losing the park in
2001, "We thought it was going real well and all of a
sudden it just blew up in our face."
Hard to take was the loss of a $148,800 grant that had
just been awarded and would have built a boardwalk to
the river and back to provide easy and handicapped
access to the remains of the big cypress and give
heart to visitors longing to be in the midst of
nature.
John Gregory, chief of real estate and forestry for
TWRA, which remains in control of the 303 bottomland
acres, said his division has no problem with the
construction of a boardwalk or planting of vegetation
in the area.
"We feel like we're doing a good job to keep it
natural," said Gregory, who says there are no
restrictions to hikers and others desiring to recreate
on TWRA's property. "There are some hunting seasons,
so I would ask people to be careful during that small
window of deer season," he added.
Good news came from the current state administration
under Governor Phil Bredesen Monday when Department of
Environment and Conservation spokesperson David Owenby,
while noting no effort is underway to reverse the
decision of the former administration, stated a
meeting taking place that day would be the first step
toward the acquisition of 40 acres of new lands
adjoining the current park.
"Our focus is on improving and enhancing the park and
we hope to be successful in adding land that will more
than double current holdings," he said.
While awaiting further developments, the Friends and
McCall were encouraged recently after receiving notice
of an 80 percent Local Parks and Recreation Fund grant
in the amount of $48,000 that will be used to enhance
the half-mile trail that winds through the uplands.
"Getting that grant was a big step in the right
direction," says McCall. The dirt trail will be paved
to make it handicapped accessible and benches will be
added for rest plus stations for exercise. Over 20 species of trees, plus poison oak, are
identified along the trail and in the picnic area, a
fact that brings students from all around when
completing leaf identification assignments. At the
trail's end, a young bald cypress is identified in apt
acknowledgement of the park's namesake.
Currently a day-use only park, except for well
supervised groups like scout troops, the park is also
popular with churches whose members spend the day in
services and recreation.
"Other folks just drop by to enjoy a picnic or the
quiet and peacefulness out here," says McCall.
Already attractive to many, McCall and the Friends of
Big Cypress have plans to make the park even more
irresistible. McCall reports new barbecue grills have
been ordered and Sanders dreams of adding tennis courts,
volleyball pits and other recreational activities. An
artist, he also hopes a life-size replica of the
bottom 20 feet of the trunk can give visitors a more
realistic understanding of the tree's earlier
magnificence. No small dreamer, he envisions a
pavilion with an interpretive center and classroom
with a slideshow of the tree's history as well.
Membership in Friends of Big Cypress is just $5 per
individual or $10 for a family. Says Sanders, "One of
the biggest benefits of membership is knowing the
money is going straight to things needed in the park."
An e-mailed newsletter keeps members informed about
current events surrounding the park.
For more information call Park Manager Bill McCall at
731-235-2700 or Friends of Big Cypress President Carey
Sanders at 235-9216 - or, come to the festival on
September 25 for a good time.
Says McCall, "Come hear some stories, eat a hamburger,
listen to music and see a bald eagle."
Chances are, you'll be glad you did.
