The Colmenares family has expanded its commitment to conservation by permanently protecting an additional 86 acres of forestland in Dickson County with The Land Trust for Tennessee. This latest agreement builds on a 2010 conservation easement that covered 114 acres, bringing the family’s total protected land to nearly 200 acres.
The property, located in northeastern Dickson County, is mostly forested and provides important wildlife habitat and productive soils. Erica Colmenares’ connection to the land goes back to her childhood when her parents, Theron Caldwell Ris and William Caldwell, bought it in the late 1960s. Though the family later moved to Wisconsin, Theron was determined to keep the land.
“There was nothing on it except the old shelter,” Colmenares said. “We spent summers camping there. My mom was an artist, so she would bring her supplies and send us off to explore.”
Inspired by her mother’s love for the land, the family partnered with The Land Trust for Tennessee in 2010 to ensure the property remained undeveloped. Now, Erica and her husband, Phil, have built on that commitment by working with the organization again to place another conservation easement on the adjoining land.
“We are incredibly grateful to have worked with landowners like Theron Caldwell Ris and to continue working with Erica Colmenares and her siblings, Ben, Sam, Alan, Megan, and Bret, who recognize the importance of protecting Tennessee’s irreplaceable landscapes. This commitment ensures this forested land will remain undeveloped for generations to come, and we are honored to be a part of that,” said Emily Parish, Vice President at The Land Trust for Tennessee.
The Land Trust for Tennessee’s role going forward is to ensure that the conservation easement is permanently upheld no matter who owns the land in the future, which is key to achieving Erica Colmenares’ and her family’s conservation goals.
According to Colmenares, working with The Land Trust for Tennessee made the conservation process straightforward. She noted the misconception that landowners no longer own their property. “People think it’s not ours anymore, but we own it,” she explained. “We were even able to build a house on it in a designated area that we decided on. We just can’t subdivide it or develop it, and that’s fine with me.”
For Colmenares, conservation is about more than just keeping the land undeveloped—it’s about ensuring it remains a healthy, functioning ecosystem. “I think it’s important to protect nature and open space. Once a woods or wild area is gone, it’s very unlikely that it will come back. To be able to protect it from that happening seems like a good thing,” she said.
Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter!
