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2014 Downtown Knoxville boatshow

Fort Loudoun Lake Association

Knoxvillians love their lakes at all nessee River, where the Holston and Kiger. Kiger was one of the founding

times of the year—and nothing can be
French Broad Rivers come together, directors of the organization. He adds:
so discouraging as to see a lake filled down to the Fort Loudoun Dam. “We “one person can make a big difference

with trash. For many years, Knoxvillians actually monitor 56 miles of the river,” to the organization,” as all donations are
were concerned about Fort Loudoun says Howard.
used to directly fund the personnel who

Lake. “Trash and debris—including With only one full-time and one part- are out on the water daily.
tires, dead animals, and fallen trees— time zone manager monitoring eight The FLLAKE must rely on volunteers

were floating in and down the waterway zones of the river, it’s all the organiza- to help their fulltime staff by collecting
and collecting on the side,” says Angela tion can do to keep the largest and most the trash along the riverbank, but with

Howard, current Executive Director
hazardous trash out of the water. The 356 miles of shoreline in their purview,
of the Fort Loudoun Lake Association zone managers, currently Jake Hudson the task sometimes seems impos-

(FFLAKE). “There was nobody respon- and Kirk Forgety, focus mainly on larger sible. Ideally, the FLLAKE would like
sible for clean up.” And so, in 2006,
objects, such as fallen trees, removing to extend its reach to care for a larger

a group of Knoxville businesspeople them from the water to clear the path area. “The possibilities are endless—the
founded the FLLAKE, an organization for boaters. They also watch the river- watershed is huge,” says Howard. But

committed to “promoting the economic banks for signs of erosion.
for now, their focus is on caring for
benefit and quality of life value of clean “I don’t think people really understand the 56 miles of lake for which they are

water” in Fort Loudoun Lake.
how big an impact this organization has responsible. You can check the calendar
The FLLAKE monitors Fort Loudoun on the quality of the water around us,” on their website (www.fllake.org) for

Lake from the beginning of the Ten-
says Board of Directors member David
scheduled “cleanup days” or contact
the organization directly (call 865-523-

3800) if you’d like to help out. In the
past five years, the volunteers and staff

of the FLLAKE have removed 9,558 bags
of trash from the lake.

The FLLAKE also has a scientist on
staff, Mike gaugler, Ph.D., who “monitors

storm water management and the health
of streams and creeks through biologi-

cal testing for pathogens,” says Howard.
Their organization works with govern-

ment agencies like the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and other

water quality experts to study what the
system needs and to eliminate hazardous

items, such as E. Coli, from the lake.
In addition to cleanup days, the FL-

LAKE hosts events throughout the year
that raise both funds and awareness for

their cause. The annual Raising of the
Water Celebration commemorates the

opening of the lake to boaters each spring
and features live music, food, and an

auction. This year, the Paddle for Clean
Water offered Knoxvillians a chance to

paddle canoes and kayaks for five miles
through downtown Knoxville, while

regular social gatherings allow the com-

34 DowntownKnoxvilleboatshow.com march 6-9, 2014