Forest Service Concerned about ACP Access Roads
The Forest Service (FS) expressed concerns about Dominion's Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) route and accompanying access roads in a Sept. 1, 2016 letter to FERC.  The letter cited Dominion's intent to build a new access road that would cross Laurel Run, a native brook trout stream in Bath County, multiple times.  The FS states strongly that "the proposed access road is inconsistent with Forest Plan standards and best management practices (BMPs)" and is unacceptable.  The letter also expressed concerns about access roads crossing streams that flow off Hankey Mountain in the Dowell's Draft and White Oak Draft areas, both wild brook trout streams.

ACP access roads are as problematic as the pipeline itself. They fragment the forest, degrade endangered Indiana bat habitat, threaten native brook trout streams, disturb Special Biological Areas, and intrude on popular recreation areas in our national forests.
​
The FS will be conducting a more thorough review of the pipeline and associated infrastructure.

​Learn more from DPMC Story Maps:

• Ground Truth about ACP Access Roads
• Forest Fragmentation and the ACP
• ACP and Our National Forests

Your Help is Needed!
Tell the Forest Service to deny Dominion's request for a special use permit to build the ACP and 20 miles of destructive access roads through the GW and Monongahela national forests. Construction and maintenance of this new utility corridor through our public lands would fragment core forests, put important watersheds at risk, and violate both forest plans.  

​Send your comments to: comments-southern-georgewashington-jefferson@fs.fed.us   Be sure to thank the USFS for being responsible stewards of our national forests.

ACP and MVP Are Not Needed
Neither the Atlantic Coast Pipeline nor the Mountain Valley Pipeline are needed to meet our region’s future energy demands, according to a report by independent energy experts that was released on Sept. 12, 2016.
The conclusion of the study was, "Additional interstate natural gas pipelines, like the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley projects, are not needed to keep the lights on, homes and businesses heated, and existing and new industrial facilities in production.”  Our existing system of buried natural gas pipelines is sufficient to meet the region’s peak demands through 2030.  Both of these proposed pipelines pass through special places on our public lands, fragmenting forests, threatening water supplies, and degrading popular recreation resources.
The report was written by Synapse Energy Economics and released by Southern Environmental Law Center, Appalachian Mountain Advocates, and the Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance.

Learn more from:

• DPMC Story Map:  Atlantic Coast Pipeline:  A Question of Need
• SELC Press release:  New report shows demand doesn’t justify new natural gas pipelines
• Full economic report by Synapse:  Are the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Mountain Valley Pipeline Necessary? An examination of the need for additional pipeline capacity into Virginia and Carolinas

The VWC Annual Meeting was held Saturday, June 25 at the Dickerman Farm in Swoope.  The 20 in attendance were able to enjoy the cool air, the buzzing of the nearby beehives, and the mooing of cows, as we sat underneath the giant leafy limbs of the trees in the yard, which even blocked the rain of a sudden shower. 
 
Bud Watson, President, called the meeting to order, welcomed the group, and introduced the newest (and “second, thereby doubling the staff”) member, Lacey Dean, who recently took on the position of Outreach Coordinator.  
 
Reports on the finances, Friends of Shenandoah Mountain, and the Stakeholder Collaborative were presented.  A mock up of the new VWC wilderness brochure was also displayed.  

​New Executive Committee Board members were nominated and voted upon.  They are:
Bud Watson – President
John Hutchinson – Vice President
Christy Bradburn – Secretary
Larry Evans – Treasurer
 
Bud is continuing in his position as President.  Previous Board members, but new to the Executive Committee are John Hutchinson and Chrisy Bradburn.  John Hutchinson is the Director of Conservation for the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation.  John has been involved in land use planning on the George Washington National Forest in the past and looks forward to working with the VWC on wilderness issues in the future.  Christy Bradburn is Senior Asst. Director of JMU’s Office of Admissions and an Adjunct Professor in the Geographic Science Department.  She greatly values Wilderness and is interested in natural resource management issues.  Larry Evans is new to VWC.  A part time bookkeeper and carpenter, Larry has served on several non-profit arts-related Boards and is currently treasurer of the Rockbridge Area Conservation Council.
 
Pete Bsumek and Catharine Tucker were nominated to be new Board members.  Catharine is a long standing member of VWC, recruited by Ernie Dickerman.  She lobbied for the original Wilderness Act and has been involved with Native Plant Society, Trout Unlimited, Va Society of Ornithology, and the Va Master Naturalists.  Pete Bsumek is co-director of the JMU Center for Health and Environmental Communication and coordinator of the interdisciplinary Environmental Studies program.  He has been the Wilderness Issues Chair for the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club since 2006 and currently serves on the National Sierra Club Wildlands Committee.  He previously served as the Secretary for VWC.
 
The next VWC Annual Meeting is set for Saturday, June 24, 2017.  Please plan to join us.

Please join us!
​When: Saturday, June 25 at 10am
Where: The Dickerman Farm, 228 Old Parkersburg Turnpike, Swoope VA 24479
(Rt. 42, 6 mi S of Churchville, R onto Rt. 688 at church, .8 mi, then L at ribbons).
Agenda: election of officers, annual report, updates on our 3 major Wilderness efforts, and a hiking schedule. 
Bring lunch, a folding chair, and a thirst for the inspiration of wild places! 

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) wants to know if you think the Atlantic Coast Pipeline belongs in our national forests. 
 
Comments are due June 2nd.
 
Comment through FERC's online system or by mail: 
Electronically on www.ferc.gov under the link to Documents and Filings, using the eComment feature.
 
OR
 
By mailing them to the following address:
 
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
888 First Street NE, Room 1A
Washington, DC  20426
 
Reference the ACP Docket #  CP15-554-000
 
Comment in Person:
You can also attend one of FERC upcoming open houses:
 
Marlinton Community Wellness Center
Friday, May 20, 2016
10:00 am – 7:00 pm
320 9th Street
Marlinton, WV 24954
 
Bath County High School
Saturday, May 21, 2016
10:00 am – 7:00 pm
464 Charger Lane
Hot Springs, VA 24445
 
New ACP Route - Still Bad News!  Below are reasons that no right of way should be approved anywhere in the George Washington National Forest:
 
Special Biological Areas (SBA)
The pipeline survey route goes through five Special Biological Areas in the GWNF.  These lands serve as core areas for conservation of the most significant and rarer elements of biological diversity in the GW. They provide habitat for plants and animals that occupy a small portion of the landscape, but contribute significantly to biological diversity

1. Browns Pond SBA. (See photo below) 117 acres.  Montane Depression wetlands.  A sinkhole pond in a dry sinkhole complex in karst topography .  Browns Pond has salamanders, frogs, high bush blueberries and other plants characteristic of sinkhole ponds.   
2. Ratcliff Hill SBA.  (See photo below) 31 acres.  Central Appalachian Shale Barren.  Located along the Cowpasture River on the east end of the 678 Bridge.   Shale barrens are considered globally uncommon and host many locally rare species including the butterflies Appalachian grizzled skipper and Olympia marble and the federally listed plant shale-barren rock cress.
3. Big Cedar SBA.  43 acres.  Central Appalachian Shale Barren. Near the intersection of Scotchtown Draft and Deerfield Rd.
4. Reubens Draft Shale Barren.  39 acres - along Deerfield Rd. south of West Augusta.  
5. Big Levels Macrosite SBA. (See photo above) 17,793 acres.  Montane Depression Wetlands. A tiny corner of the SBA is in the survey area, but it is located close to some of the Maple Flats ponds.

 
Remote Backcountry 
The 16,680-acre Jerkemtight Roadless Area on the south end of Shenandoah Mountain is the third largest Inventoried Roadless Area in the GW.  A big chunk of Jerkemtight along Scotchtown Draft and Deerfield Rd. is within the survey area.  
 
Eligible Recreation River Corridor (See photo below)
The GWNF Corridor for the Cowpasture River is at Ratcliff Hill across from Fort Lewis. This is one of the most beautiful sections of the Cowpasture River, with bald eagles, river otters, a wide variety of waterfowl, and mussels.  Scenic quality is outstanding with both mountain and pastoral scenery. 
 
Scenic Corridor and Viewshed 
Rt. 250 is a scenic gateway to popular recreation areas, including Braley Pond, North River Campground, Camp Todd, Staunton Dam and Elkhorn Lake, and Hankey Mountain.  The forest plan calls for management activities that maintain the natural characteristics that make the area scenic and states that "these areas are unsuitable for designation of new utility corridors, utility rights-of-way, or communication sites".
 
Recreation Areas (See photo below)
The pipeline route passes close by both Braley Pond Day Use Area and Sherando Recreation Area, two of the most popular in the GWNF.
 
Trails
The pipeline will negatively affect many trails in the GWNF:
Great Eastern Trail
The pipeline would cross the GET in two places.
 
Shenandoah Mountain South Trail
Crosses just north of 678, near the Cowpasture and Ratcliff Hill.
 
Braley Pond Trails
Access could be restricted or cut off and certainly permanently impaired.

1. Johnson Draft
2. Bald Ridge
3. Braley Branch Trail
4. Braley Pond Trail

 
Dowells Draft Trail
Pipeline follows Dowells Draft Trail and the Dowells Draft Rd, which is popular for hiking, biking, and hunting.
 
White Oak Draft Trail
The pipeline would cut across this trail approx. 3000 ft north of Rt. 250
 
Appalachian Trail
Although the pipeline would tunnel under the AT, the entry and exit points will be visible from popular vantage points, like Humpback Rocks.
 
Mt. Torry Ridge Trail and Mills Creek Trails
The trailhead for both is at Mt. Torry Furnace, within the pipeline survey boundary 
 
All three of the following are within the pipeline survey boundary:
Back Draft Trail (546)– starts off of SR 641 and goes over Walker Mountain
Short Ridge Trail (717)–  starts off west side of SR 629 and goes to FR 399 on Shenandoah Mountain
Brushy Ridge Trail (718) – comes off east side of SR 629, just west of Walker Mountain by Fowler Spring
 
Visiblility from many more trails
The pipeline corridor will be permanently visible from trails in Ramseys Draft Wilderness, Hankey Mountain, Elliott Knob, Crawford Mountain, Jerkemtight, Signal Corps Knob area, Big Levels, Sherando, Humpback Rocks, Three Ridges Wilderness, and many other locations in the GWNF.
 
Cultural resources
The route passes through several important cultural resources. 
 
Mt. Torry Furnace 
This historic iron furnace near Sherando is on the National Register of Historic Places.  It is within the pipeline survey area.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has just announced a scoping period and scoping meetings to take your comments on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP).   

They want to know if you think the Atlantic Coast Pipeline belongs in our national forests. 
Comments are due June 2nd.

There are two important questions to address in your comments: 
1) Should the USFS issue a right of way for the Pipeline?
The Forest Service is calling for comments on whether or not to issue a "right-of-way grant" that would allow the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to cross and occupy National Forest lands.

2) Should the George Washington National Forest amend its 10 year plan to allow the ACP to cross the forest?
Because the ACP does not utilize a designated utility corridor through the George Washington National Forest (GWNF) the Land Resource and Management Plan (LRMP) for the GWNF would need to be amended to allow the pipeline across. 

Comment through FERC's online system or by mail: 
Reference the ACP Docket #  CP15-554-000

Please carefully follow these instructions so that your comments are properly recorded. 
(1) You can file your comments electronically using the eComment feature located on the Commission’s website (www.ferc.gov) under the link to Documents and Filings.  This is an easy method for interested persons to submit brief, text-only comments on a project;

(2) You can file your comments electronically using the eFiling feature located on the Commission’s website (www.ferc.gov) under the link to Documents and Filings.  With eFiling, you can provide comments in a variety of formats by attaching them as a file with your submission.  New eFiling users must first create an account by clicking on “eRegister.”  You must select the type of filing you are making.  If you are filing a comment on a particular project, please select “Comment on a Filing;” or

(3) You can file a paper copy of your comments by mailing them to the following address:

Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
888 First Street NE, Room 1A
Washington, DC  20426

Comment in Person:
You can also attend one of FERC upcoming open houses, but please be sure to type up and submit your comments in writing as well at the meeting.   

Public scoping meetings, at which time oral comments can be delivered before FERC staff: 

Marlinton Community Wellness Center
Friday, May 20, 2016
10:00 am – 7:00 pm
320 9th Street
Marlinton, WV 24954

Bath County High School
Saturday, May 21, 2016
10:00 am – 7:00 pm
464 Charger Lane
Hot Springs, VA 24445

It was a beautiful day to be in the woods.  VWC's Board members Laura Neale and Lynn Cameron and VWC's Field Director Mark Miller and Outreach Coordinator Lacey Dean joined members of the Stakeholder Collaborative and the public on a tour given by the Forest Service of the markings for the Porters Mill timber sale, a part of the Lower Cowpasture Restoration and Management Project on March 29. VWC appreciates being part of the planning for our national forest resources.  

On March 16th the Forest Service initiated its second large scale landscape project. The North Shenandoah Mountain Restoration and Management Project (NSMP) is located in northwestern Rockingham County. The project follows the successful conclusion of the Lower Cowpasture Restoration and Management Project in Bath and Alleghany Counties.
While the size and scope of the project has yet to be determined, the area under consideration includes Forest Service land north of US 33 and west of Route 259. Activities that may be considered include timber harvesting, prescribed fire, trails, stream restoration work and the removal of NNIS.
The initial roll out meeting’s purpose was to make the public aware this project is now in the planning phase. The meeting also served to educate the public on forest project planning rules and regulations. Project planning is expected to take two years.
The meeting was well attended and included people who represent many different user groups including mountain biking, hunting, active management, off road vehicles, fisheries, conservation and the George Washington National Forest Stakeholder Collaborative. The Stakeholder Collaborative has been active on the GW for several years. The Collaborative has developed a shared vision for the management of the forest including a mosaic of habitats from young forest to Wilderness. The Virginia Wilderness Committee’s primary interest in the project is the plan designated Beech Lick Knob Wilderness Study Area.
Beech Lick Knob was recommended to Forest Planner four years ago by the Stakeholder Collaborative and is included in the Revised Management Plan for the forest. Beech Lick is a 5,700 acre landscape of old growth forest, small streams and high elevation ridges. Its remote and unroaded character make it a prime candidate for Wilderness consideration.
The Virginia Wilderness Committee will keep you posted on meetings and opportunities to comment on the NSMP. Stay tuned. 

New route is bad news!
Dominion announced in February that it will pursue a new alternative route for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline that circumvents Shenandoah Mountain in VA and Cheat Mountain in WV and passes through 14.3 miles of the George Washington National Forest in Highland, Bath, and Augusta Counties, catching landowners along the way completely off guard.

A close look at the new route reveals that it is very problematic.  In addition to fragmenting habitat in the national forest, it would negatively affect five Special Biological Areas, an Inventoried Roadless Area, two Concentrated Recreation Areas, a Recreational River Corridor, a Scenic Corridor, a Dispersed Recreation Area, several significant cultural resources. and a long list of trails, including both the Great Eastern Trail and the Appalachian Trail.  There is nothing to like about this new route.  

Dominion wants to survey in the GWNF
Dominion has requested a special use permit from the George Washington National Forest to survey the new route beginning in spring 2016, and to continue surveying the old route.  Surveys would gather information on wetlands, water, soil, sensitive species, and cultural resources. Dominion is asking for a study corridor that is 2000-6,000 ft. wide!  The pipeline could potentially be routed anywhere within this wide corridor.  The GWNF has issued a scoping notice, asking the public for comments, which are due March 21.

Say NO to a survey!
Tell the Forest Service to deny Dominion's request for a special use permit. There is no point in doing a survey through a route lined with special natural resources, cherished recreations areas and unique cultural resources.

Tell them what we really need is a meaningful "region-wide" NEPA analysis and comparison of all the new pipelines that have been proposed rather than simply bulldozing through the GW.

Send your comments:

​On March 16th the Forest Service will be holding a meeting to discuss the North Shenandoah Restoration and Management Project. This large landscape will be centered around the Slate Lick area in northwestern Rockingham County. The purpose of the meeting is to introduce the project to the public and begin to gather information about its scale and scope. We invite all VWC members to attend this important gathering. The meeting is from 9-2 and will be held at the Rockingham County Administration Center 20 East Gay Street in Harrisonburg.

Agenda:
​
Time                           Topic                                      Presenter
 
9:00 am – 9:15 am       Welcome                                 Elwood Burge, North River District Ranger
 
9:15 am – 9:45 am       Introductions
 
9:45 am – 10:30 am     Project/Process Overview     Karen Overcash, Project Coordinator
·   Process, Project Sideboards, Timelines, etc.
 
10:30 am – 10:45 am   BREAK
 
10:45 am – 12:00 pm  Presentations on Current Conditions
·   Forest Vegetation – Kevin Kyle, North Zone Silviculturist
·   Wildlife and Aquatics – Meg McElveen, North Zone Wildlife Biologist
·   Recreation – Steven Beri, North River District Recreation Program Manager
·   History of Wildfire and Prescribed Fire - TBD
 
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm    LUNCH
 
1:00 pm – 1:10 pm      Closeout                                 Elwood and Karen
 
1:10 pm – 2:00 pm      Informal Time for Reviewing Maps and Discussions