Appendix 11-B: Excerpt from Survey Administered by the University of Tennessee: Explanation of Hypothetical Agricultural Policies and their Potential Impacts

Background Information on the Clinch River Valley ...........................................287 Evaluating Changes in Agriculture to Protect the Environment ..........................288

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE CLINCH RIVER VALLEY

The upper Clinch and Powell Rivers represent some of the last free-flowing river segments in the Tennessee River system. Together, they drain approximately 3800 square miles of land area. The Clinch and Powell Valley has one of the most diverse concentrations of freshwater mussels and fish species of any river in North America. Many of the valley’s mussel and fish species are on the decline. Twenty-two mussels and eleven fish species are listed as endangered or threatened. Moreover, the Clinch River Valley has many species that are found nowhere else. Of the 50 mussel species that are listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as “Threatened” or “Endangered,” 16 are found in the Clinch River Valley.