chatt TFP: Audubon Society continuing work of "rewilding" downtown Chattanooga's McLellan Island
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Chattanooga Audubon Society, aided by goats, aims to rewild Maclellan Island
14 hours, 49 minutes ago by Sam Still
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Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Jim Stewart uses a chainsaw to cut back an invasive plant on Maclellan Island.
A high-profile herd of hungry goats that has been grazing on invasive plants on Chattanooga's Maclellan Island is taking a winter break so volunteers can dig into the work of rewilding the urban oasis with native plants.
"We're only able to do a section now, and we think this will be what the normal process will be on the island for the foreseeable future — goats, cut down the invasives, plant native trees, repeat," Chattanooga Audubon Society Executive Director Jim Stewart said in an interview.
Since 2023, the small but committed force of the Chattanooga Audubon Society has sought to clear 19-acre Maclellan Island of the invasive plants that have overtaken the land. The nonprofit estimates three-fourths of the island is covered in invasive species, bush honeysuckle and English ivy being chief among them, Stewart said.
"So, picture an island that's about 20 acres — 75% of it needs to be removed," Stewart said. "That's a big job."
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Chattanooga Audubon Society, aided by goats, aims to rewild Maclellan Island
In an attempt to clear the invasive plants, the society conducted a prescribed burn in March 2024. When that effort failed, the society pivoted to a new tactic: goats.
Since making landfall on Maclellan Island in the summer of 2024, the caprine contingent of workers has managed to clear about 4 or 5 acres, Stewart said. The goats love to eat the bush honeysuckle, he said, but they are unable to devour English ivy, which becomes toxic for the animals if overconsumed.
The goats have become celebrities, garnering media coverage not just locally but nationally. The New York Times featured the Maclellan Island goats in September as part of the paper's 50 States, 50 Fixes environmental solution-focused reporting series. CBS Evening News followed suit, highlighting the goats' work in an October spot.
This month, the Audubon Society took the goats and their guard dog off the island for the winter, and society staff and volunteers continued the work of clearing invasives, making way for the planting of native species.
Because the society cannot get heavy machinery over to the island, staff and volunteers have to clear the invasives by hand with whatever tools they can carry by boat. Among the native species to be planted are sycamore, paw paw, dogwood and white oak, according to a shipment list provided by Stewart.
Taking a boat to and around Maclellan Island makes the challenge of rewilding clear.
The island's flora seems like an impenetrable mass. Along the loop path that encircles the island, the bush grows denser and denser, and the trees and vines stretch upward to the sky, obscuring views of the bluff to the south and Girls Preparatory School to the north.
Were it not for the distant sounds of motorists crossing the city's downtown bridges, it would be easy to forget that Maclellan Island sits between the city's bustling Riverfront and North Shore districts. The noise caused by crews hard at work on the renovations of the Walnut Street Bridge cut through the quiet stillness of the island on the December afternoon when the Chattanooga Times Free Press visited the island with the Chattanooga Audubon Society.
The story of how Maclellan Island became overrun with invasive plants begins with how the island got its name.
Formerly known as Chattanooga Island, the property's namesake, Robert J. Maclellan of Provident Life and Accident Insurance (now Unum), lived along the bluff and got together with some of his affluent associates to purchase the island, having tired of witnessing the raucous parties that took place there, Stewart said.
The group purchased the island sometime around 1930, and Maclellan eventually bought the others' shares to become sole owner of the property, according to newspaper archives. In 1954, Maclellan donated the island to the Chattanooga Audubon Society, with the stipulation that the property be preserved as a nature sanctuary, Stewart said.
So, the Audubon Society's been doing just that," Stewart said. "You'll notice there's no development on the island. There's no electricity. There's no water. It's very primitive, much the way it was decades ago. Unfortunately, what has happened is, by just leaving the island alone, it's become home to many invasive plants."
In 2024, over 500 volunteer hours went into the island-clearing effort, Stewart said. By the end of this year, Stewart is expecting that number to double.
While the number of volunteers working on the island varies day-to-day, one consistent presence has been Eric Fleming, a retiree from Fort Oglethorpe who paddles his kayak from Coolidge Park to Maclellan Island to volunteer. When the Times Free Press met Fleming, he was hard at work clearing English ivy by hand. Fleming is no stranger to the property, having previously volunteered and camped on the island over the years.
(READ MORE: You might be surprised by the number of islands you can camp on near Chattanooga)
"It's for a good cause, and I just hope to see more people being able to use it," Fleming said of the island in an interview. "It's right here in downtown, easy for everybody to get to, and it's just been neglected."
Invasive plants are the problem the Chattanooga Audubon Society is able to tackle now, Stewart said. But, the plants are not the only issue facing the island. Erosion is gradually washing the island away, and the only practical, albeit "phenomenally expensive," solution seems to be riprap, rocks that could be placed to reinforce the island's banks, Stewart said.
The Audubon Society is a small nonprofit, receiving no government funding and finding success in community support, Stewart said. Of the organization's total revenue in fiscal year 2024, 61% came from contributions, according to tax documents.
A grant, coordinated through the Southeast Conservation Corps, is helping fund the work on Maclellan Island, Stewart said. While he declined to share the exact amount of the grant, Stewart said taking care of the goats and maintaining security cameras on the island costs $3,000 per month.
It is rare for a wild island, accessible only by boat, to be in the middle of a major city, Stewart said. That alone makes Maclellan Island special. One could imagine the property might be desirable for condos or a restaurant, Stewart said. And yet, it remains intact — the forces of nature not withstanding.
Contact community reporter Sam Still at sst...@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6579.
If you receive a copy of Community News each week, then you are probably familiar with reporter Sam Still's work. In addition to Community News, Sam writes for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, covering arts and culture, environment and human interest stories, among plenty of others. He is also a long-standing writer for the Times Free Press' lifestyle publication, Chatter Magazine, having started his journalism career as the magazine's intern in February 2023. Before joining the Times Free Press full-time in June 2023, Sam received a bachelor's degree in communication from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he was a staff writer and assistant news editor for the university's newspaper, The Echo. He is originally from Cleveland, Tennessee.