John Tully State Forest

Size: 2,131 acres, (862 ha)

John Tully State Forest, located in Lauderdale County, was purchased by the state on August 29, 2002. The land was part of a substantial tract of prime forestland and wildlife habitat acquired from Anderson-Tully, a Memphis-based timber management and lumber company.

As the only state forest representing western Tennessee's physiogeographic region, it is covered in Mississippi River alluvial bottomland hardwoods and holds some of the state's best hunting and fishing lands.  It is only the second state forest established in the last half-century. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency also provides stewardship of the forest as a wildlife management area.

The forest had been owned by the Anderson-Tully Corporation since 1902, with timber production as the primary objective.  Almost the entire forest was harvested extensively in the years prior to purchase by the state. Funding was provided by a joint effort of the state of Tennessee, the USDA Forest Service's Forest Legacy program, the Nature Conservancy, and various other private sources including the National Wild Turkey Federation, Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation, and Wildlife Forever, Inc.

John Tully State Forest Road Use Map (1.3 Mb pdf)

John Tully State Forest Firewood Collection Map

For More Information

Shawn Posey, Area Forester
3570 Ebenezer Loop, Somerville, TN  38068
(901) 465-7349