Civil War history buffs have long climbed to the top of Rocky Face Ridge to see the numerous fortifications. and since the opening of Rocky Face Ridge Park two years ago, the ridge has attracted mountain bikers and hikers.
But the ridge is more than just a site for history and recreation, said Amy Hartline, recycling and education program coordinator for the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority and executive director of Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful.
“The ridge offers us an incredible tree canopy which helps cool down our environment, reduce flooding, keep our waterways clear and reduce our chances of wildfires and the impacts of droughts,” she said.
Hartline is a member of the Dalton Resilient Community Committee that has created the Rooting for the Ridge program to bring awareness to all of the benefits the Dalton area receives from Rocky Face Ridge.
“The county (Whitfield) has done amazing work, especially with Rocky Face Ridge Park, and in many ways I think it impacted our choice of focus,” she said. “Many residents have told us how much the view of the ridge is important to them and we hope that our work encourages residents to appreciate recreational activities on the ridge like Rocky Face Ridge Park or the Roadrunner trail system (at Dalton State College).”
The committee was put together two years ago as part of the Resilient Communities program, a partnership of the Open Space Institute and the Thrive Regional Partnership, which has selected four communities in Tennessee and Georgia, including Dalton, to participate in the pilot round of an effort to help communities plan for the increasing effects of climate change and other environmental challenges.
The other communities are southern Chattanooga; Spring City, Tennessee; and South Pittsburg, Tennessee.
The Open Space Institute is a New York City-based conservation group. The Thrive Regional Partnership is made up of local governments in 16 counties in Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia, including Whitfield County, aimed at planning for regional growth.
The goal is to help those communities become more resilient, and more able to deal with the impact of climate change in particular.
“We are focused on helping identify nature-based solutions to help us become more resilient, not just engineering-based solutions such as greater stormwater infrastructure, which are necessary as well,” said John Lugthart, a professor of biology at Dalton State College and another member of the Dalton Resilient Community Committee.
“In addition to that, it’s an education effort,” he said. That’s what the Rooting for the Ridge effort is about, helping our community as a whole understand the value of some of the natural areas we have in our community.”
To learn more about Rooting for the Ridge, visit rootingfortheridge.com. There you can take part in a survey about the ridge and other natural areas in Whitfield County. Residents can go directly to the survey at https://www.nwgrc.org/ridge.
Lugthart said the committee has other plans such as a map of the county’s trails, parks and natural areas, and members are working with county and city of Dalton officials to find a way to link those parks and trails.