Department of Environment & Conservation
Jim Fyke, Commissioner

Lands Management and GIS

The Lands Management and GIS section helps to achieve Recreation Educational Service’s mission through responsibilities involving Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation land issues. These include land acquisition, environmental assessments of land, and development of lands for state and federal grant monies. Other projects include maintaining a GIS and database of statewide grant lands.
Together the sections staff monitor and coordinate the acquisition and disposal for the Department-owned lands, maintain lands database and boundary maps for the Department-owned recreation lands, assists and advise state agencies with land acquisition for park development through the Local Parks and Recreation Fund (LPRF), and oversees the conversion process that addresses change of use on state lands that were acquired or developed with grants administered by the Division.

Land Acquisition:
The State Lands Acquisition Fund (SLAF) has been instrumental in the efforts to acquire lands for preservation and conservation across the entire state of Tennessee. Since the inception of the real estate transfer tax, the SLAF serves as the facilitating entity when structuring collaborative land purchases involving multiple funding sources, non-profit agencies, and state agencies.  These unique and creative partnerships utilizing SLAF brought availability of these gems for future generations to enjoy and treasure. Executive summary

The Lands Management and GIS  Staff
Bill Avant (Manager) coordinates the Lands Management and GIS Section. His responsibilities include oversight of the Department land acquisition and disposal programs. It is also his responsibility to review environmental assessments prepared for acquisition and development projects receiving LPRF and RTP grants. For information regarding this area call: (615) 532-0052.
Ruse Tucker (Assistant) Responsible for deeds, maps, boundary surveys and markings on TDEC owned land.  Ruse assists in environmental clearances and change of use.  He is also responsible for document preparation for the State Lands Acquisition Committee and State Building Commission. For new acquisitions, he supplies the surveyors with boundary markers. For information regarding this area call: (615) 532-1599.
Kimberly Guy (Administrative Secretary) oversees the division website, maintains the grants database, and she is the administrative assistant for the State Lands Acquisition Committee (SLAC). For information regarding this area call: (615) 532-0748.
Erin Tyrell (GIS Tech) provides technical assistance in the production of geographical information.  Her responsibilities are map production, GPS training, and LWCF inventory. For information regarding this area call: (615) 532-0751.

Additional Links:
TN State Parks GIS
TWRA GIS
Office of Information Resources GIS
State Recreation Atlas – A multi-agency project, producing a map that indicates public
recreational lands across Tennessee 57.9MB
State Lands Photo Gallery