North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area
The North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area is a 200,000-acre, state-owned wildlife management area that falls into Scott County, Campbell County, Anderson County, Morgan County and Claiborne County in Tennessee. The WMA encompasses much of the Cumberland Mountains between the Tennessee-Kentucky border and S.R. 116 between the towns of Rocky Top and Petros in Tennessee.
History
The WMA began as Royal Blue Wildlife Management Areas, and consisted of about 53,000 acres in Scott and Campbell counties, generally along the S.R. 63 corridor between Huntsville and Caryville. The property was part of the Koppers Coal Reserve, and the State of Tennessee’s ownership included recreational rights only. Those rights were managed by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
The Royal Blue WMA took its name from the unincorporated community of the same name that was adjacent to the forest. Royal Blue was a mining community founded by the Blue Diamond Coal Company. The mountains within the WMA and surrounding areas were traditionally surface-mined for coal, not just by Blue Diamond, but by several other companies — including West Coal Corporation, based in Oneida.
In 2002, the state purchased the recreational rights on an adjacent 75,000-acre tract of property and formed the Sundquist Wildlife Management Area, named for then-Gov. Don Sundquist. The Sundquist WMA fell into Scott, Anderson and Campbell counties.
The purchase of the Sundquist WMA property was described as the nation’s first conservation deal of its kind. The 18-month negotiations ended with The Conservation Fund purchasing the surface rights to the 75,000 acres from International Paper, the world’s largest timber company, as it was in the process of off-loading the land. The Conservation Fund transferred that ownership to TWRA. The timber rights were purchased by Massachusetts-based Renewable Resources Inc.
The Sundquist WMA linked with Frozen Head State Forest on the south end and Royal Blue WMA on the north end to create a 140,000-acre unbroken tract of public property — the second-largest in Tennessee, behind the Cherokee National Forest and Great Smoky Mountains National Park complex.
At the time of the Sundquist purchase, plans were announced for a new 35-mile segment of the Cumberland Trail, linking existing trail segments on Royal Blue and Frozen Head. Once completed, the Cumberland Trail will extend the length of Tennessee, from Cumberland Gap National Historic Park in the north to near Lookout Mountain in the south. The corridor surrounding the hiking trail was eventually named the Justin P. Wilson State Park, after the state comptroller who served in the Sundquist administration.
In 2007, a similar deal saw the state purchase an additional 23,200 acres to add to the WMA. At that point, the WMAs were combined, and named the Royal Blue Unit, the Sundquist Unit, Unit, and the New River Unit of the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area. The state originally planned to add the new annex the Brimstone Unit, but a dispute with privately-owned Brimstone Recreation, which had trademarked the name, resulted in a change of plans. Brimstone Recreation, based in Huntsville, had previously leased the recreation rights to the 20,000 acres, representing about half of their total holdings. The New River Unit includes lands around Smokey Creek and Brimstone in Scott County.
The terms of the New River deal were similar to the Sundquist agreement — meaning the property was added to the WMA but remained a “working forest,” with the timber rights and mineral rights owned privately. The original deal called for timber rights to be transferred to the State of Tennessee within 10 years from the date of purchase.
In 2014, TWRA announced that it was adding an additional 43,000 acres to the North Cumberland WMA in Claiborne County and northern Campbell County. It was named the Tackett Creek Unit of the WMA. The Tackett Creek property had previously been managed as a Public Hunting Area before TWRA signed a five-year lease agreement with Molpus Timberlands Management, LLC to add it to the North Cumberland WMA.
Together, the properties of the North Cumberland WMA now encompass more than 205,000 acres. When combined with Frozen Head State Forest, the area represents more than 220,000 of contiguous public land.
Controversy
While TWRA’s purchase agreements for the New River and Sundquist Units saw the timber and mineral rights for the properties remain in private hands, the state appealed on behalf of the agency in 2010 to have the federal Office of Surface Mining declare the mountaintops of the WMA unsuitable for mountaintop-removal mining for coal. The Tennessee General Assembly also led an effort to prohibit surface mining above specific elevations. Ultimately, President Barack Obama’s administration adopted regulations banning surface mining in the Cumberland Mountains.
Another controversy is the use of off-highway vehicles on the WMA. Off-road riding is now the most popular usage of the WMA, but hunting organizations have complained that the noise and traffic from ATV riders has a detrimental impact on hunting the property, which they view as unacceptable since the WMAs were purchased largely with hunters’ dollars.
Usages
The North Cumberland WMA is one of the least restrictive WMAs in the state. Hunting, fishing, camping, horseback riding, mountain biking, and off-highway riding are all permitted on the WMA with the appropriate permits. Hunting seasons generally follow statewide hunting seasons.
Forms of usage other than hunting and fishing require a high-impact usage permit from the state for those who do not hold a hunting license and accompanying WMA hunting permit. For ATV riders, permits are available in the form of daily, three-day, seven-day or annual passes, with different prices for residents and non-residents.
Popular forms of hunting on the WMA include deer hunting, turkey hunting, grouse hunting, coon hunting, bear hunting, pig hunting and elk hunting.
The North Cumberland is home to one of the largest elk herds east of the Mississippi River, stemming from a reintroduction program initiated by TWRA in 2002. Only a few — 19, as of 2024 — hunting permits are awarded each year through a computerized draw.
Bear hunting was legalized on the WMA in 2022 as an archery-only hunt. Black bears have maintained a presence on the WMA in recent years after expanding their footprint from the nearby Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area, where a bear reintroduction program was undertaken between TWRA and the National Park Service in the 1990s.
Pigs are considered an invasive and unwanted species on the WMA, having spread there after escaping from game reserves adjacent to the WMA.
Wildlife and Fauna
In addition to its game species, the North Cumberland WMA is home to several rare or endangered species, including several species of migratory songbirds that thrive in the mountainous forests. Bird-watching is a popular activity on the WMA. Among aquatic species on the WMA are the green salamander, rainbow darter, scarlet shiner and upland burrowing crayfish.
Endangered species on the WMA include the Indiana bat, Northern Log-eared bat, Allegheny wood rat, Werhle’s salamander, Emerald darter, Cumberland arrow darter, and black-sided dace.