A Cumberland County businessman has made a major land donation to the state. According to Tennessee’s Deputy Commissioner of Parks and Conservation Brock Hill, George Lindemann, who is a major landowner in the surrounding area, including Rhea and Bledsoe Counties, donated 1,034 acres around the Soak Creek area to the Justin P. Wilson Cumberland Trail State Park. The donation is worth just over $8 million and will add 5 miles of crucial terrain. When completed, the 300 mile trail will connect the Tennessee River Gorge to Cumberland Gap. The addition will be a part of the Great Eastern Trail, which is an alternative to the Appalachian Trail. The acquisition is one of the largest private land donations in the state’s history.