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Hatchie River

Hatchie River
The Hatchie River
© Byron Jorjorian

Visit the Hatchie River Blog - new in 2008!

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site
The 24 million-acre Mississippi River Alluvial Plain Ecoregion covers 7 states in the lower Mississippi River valley stretching from southern Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico.  Due to flood control practices and other dramatic alterations to the landscape in the ecoregion over the past 200 years, only roughly 4.4 million acres of bottomland hardwood forest remain, or about 20 percent of its original extent. While the area and quality of river and forest habitats has been greatly reduced, the ecoregion still provides extraordinary diversity of life, including 240 fish species, 50 species of mammals, 45 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 37 species of mussels. In addition, approximately 60 percent of bird species in the 48 contiguous United States use the ecoregion.

The Hatchie River in Tennessee is remarkable as the longest free-flowing tributary of the lower Mississippi, and contains the largest forested floodplain in Tennessee. Because it has remained undammed and unchannelized, the natural flood processes that drive the ecosystem are intact, sustaining the river and wetland habitats that support a rich ecological diversity. 

Biological Diversity
The Hatchie River ecosystem is a complex interconnected ecological system encompassing bottomland hardwood forests, canebrakes, swamps, and sloughs, rivers and lakes.  These habitats support more than 100 species of fish and 35 species of mussels.  With 11 species of catfishes, the Hatchie probably contains more species of catfishes than any other river in North America. About 250 species of birds use the Hatchie’s forests at some point during the seasons. Swainson’s and cerulean warblers are some of the rarer birds found in its forests. 

Threats
Excessive sedimentation, contaminants, altered flow patterns as well as habitat fragmentation are all threatening the viability of the Hatchie. Heavy sediment loads flow into the Hatchie from most of the river’s 36 tributaries. Most of these sediments orignate from past channelization of these tributaries and less current land uses such as agriculture.

What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing
Thanks to the good stewardship of local landowners, citizen conservationists, and the area's two national wildlife refuges, the Hatchie continues to be one of the priceless gems of west Tennessee. The Nature Conservancy, through its West Tennessee Program office, has created a five-year plan designed to reduce sediment flows to the river and protect important bottomland forest habitat. Building on recent success in restoring sections of streams, the Conservancy is embarking on the most ambitious stream restoration to date to reduce sedimentation into the river. We are also working with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to more than double the size of the Lower Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge in Tipton and Lauderdale Counties. Species monitoring for mussel populations, the alligator snapping turtle, and the northern madtom is also being conducted.

Learn more about The Nature Conservancy's crucial conservation work on rivers and streams across the U.S. and abroad.