This Geocache is part of an annual Geocache Challenge put on by the Heritage Program at Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area as part of our outreach to the public, to get people to explore their forest and their history, and to share the unique heritage of the families from Between the Rivers.
This Geocache is part of the “2022 Land Between the Lakes Heritage Geocache Challenge: Conservation Heritage Between the Rivers”. There are 6 geocaches placed across Land Between the Lakes related to the history of wildlife conservation between the rivers. If you locate each geocache, and collect a numbered aluminum tree tag from each cache, you can turn them in at the Golden Pond Visitor Center for one of 150 Challenge Coins created for this event.
The Geocache is a 6” x 6” orange watertight plastic box marked “Heritage Geocache” on the top. The geocache is placed at the base of a tree.
If parked adjacent to Shaw cemetery, travel northeast across the narrow field into the woods again with a game trail. The Box is on a highpoint which is an old fence line.
There is another geocache located at the actual Hacking Towers approximatly 0.1 miles due West of this location.
Thank you to Phillip Toon for providing the new Geocache Boxes.
Bald Eagle Conservation Geocache
In 1980, TVA and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) partnered for the Bald Eagle hacking program. Eaglets were raised on the platforms of the hacking towers and then released once they reached sexual maturity.
What is Hacking?
Hacking is the method used to simulate Eagle nesting and Eagle population recovery in a particular area by releasing fledgling Eagles into the wild from an artificial nesting tower.The principle behind Eagle Hacking is that Eagles tend to return to the area from which they were raised and fledged (within approximately 75 miles) after they reach sexual maturity at 4 to 5 years age and choose a lifelong mate.
The bases of the two nearby hacking towers are about 20 meters off the ground and have caged compartments which protect the eaglets from predators before they're able to fly. Perch poles in front served as branches to practice branching, "wingercizing," and hovering in place. Water and food (probably fish and quail) was delivered to eaglets in a way to avoid human contact until they were able to fly on their own.
In Kentucky, the eagle population by the 1960s was zero. In 1986 there was one nest in all of Kentucky!
Eagle populations in Kentucky and Tennessee grew rapidly in the 1980s and 1990s thanks to deliberate hacking! Today, bald eagle populations in the region are: • In 2020 there were at least 25 nests on LBL. • In 2015, 32 fledglings were documented, which help surrounding areas. • In KY alone, occupied nests went up 400% from 2006 (43 nests) to 2019 (187 nests)!