CONTACT:  
Bonni McKeown, Stewards of the Potomac Highlands. 773-209-4712 [email protected]   
Andrew W. Young, Virginia Wilderness Committee,  (434) 202-4397 [email protected]  
 
Citizen groups in Virginia and West Virginia filed suit in federal court today to stop construction of a seven-mile section of Corridor H highway from Wardensville in Hardy County, W. Va. to the Virginia line.  The groups say the four-lane highway would deflate the local rural economy and threaten drinking water supplies, wildlife habitat and other natural resources in both states. 

West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH) had announced plans earlier this year to let out construction contracts by this month, but the suit could throw another roadblock to the long-controversial project.
Stewards of the Potomac Highlands and the Virginia Wilderness Committee, represented by attorneys Andrea Ferster and Brad Stephens, filed suit against WVDOH and the Federal Highway Administration in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District in West Virginia.   They argue that the highway agencies failed to consider less expensive and less environmentally damaging alternatives.  (CA No. 5:26-cv-11111)

Now estimated to cost $542 million, this Wardensville to Virginia line section of Corridor H would “cross through the iconic George Washington National Forest and bypass and severely impair the economy of Wardensville’s historic Main Street district.”  It would also “impact the lives of farm and homeowners in its path,” reads the legal complaint. “The far-reaching consequences of this project will have economic, environmental, and other ripple effects decades—indeed, centuries—into the future.”

The groups also launched a website to raise awareness about the proposed highway--Corridor H: Highway to Nowhere (highwaytonowhere.org).

In the 1960s, the Appalachian Regional Commission planned the four-lane highway which was slated to reach 15 miles into Virginia to connect with I-81 and I-66 in Strasburg.  Since 1995, however, the Commonwealth of Virginia has said that it has no plans to build this Virginia section.  Further, the Shenandoah County Board of Supervisors and the Town of Strasburg declared their opposition to Corridor H in 2022.  

If built, the Wardensville to Virginia line section of Corridor H would end abruptly at the state line, funneling traffic into the two-lane Route 55/48, a designated Virginia Scenic Byway also known as the John Marshall Highway.  The citizen groups warn this would add more peril to hikers on the popular Tuscarora Trail as they cross Route 55/48 on the crest of Great North Mountain.  

Most sections of Corridor H have been built across eastern West Virginia, from I-79 to the western edge of Wardensville, except for another controversial section in Tucker County, where environmentalists are urging a different, northerly route. But WVDOH acknowledged traffic on the corridor is only half what it projected in its 1996 environmental documents.

“We object to an unneeded four-lane that would rip through 2.4 miles of intact forest in the George Washington National Forest,” said Virginia Wilderness Committee board member Andrew Young.  “During Earth Month we celebrate the rich forest ecosystems, wildlife habitat, native trout streams, and many outdoor recreational resources of this Allegheny Mountain region – all of which is threatened by the Corridor H boondoggle.” 
“Legal action could, and should, cause our officials to re-think their priorities,” said Bonni McKeown, president of Stewards of the Potomac Highlands.  It’s time our transportation policies take ‘wild, wonderful West Virginia’ seriously and support our natural beauty, our historic towns, and people’s homeplaces and farms instead of tearing down our special places.”

WVDOH acknowledged in its 2025 federally required environmental documents that the four-lane construction would traverse 2.4 miles and 300 acres of George Washington National Forest in West Virginia, cut through an aquifer supplying drinking water for the Town of Wardensville, and decrease customer traffic to businesses on Wardensville’s Main Street.  However, WVDOH has refused to consider the alternative of making safety improvements to the existing two-lane Route 55/48 over Great North Mountain.

West Virginia public officials, including Gov. Patrick Morrissey and U.S. Senators Jim Justice and Shelley Moore Capito, have continued to prioritize Corridor H, even though Morrissey announced last year that the state highway budget is inadequate.  Highway engineer groups rank West Virginia among the most deficient states in the U.S. in
bridge repairs.
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Organized in 1969, the Virginia Wilderness Committee (VWC) works to permanently protect the best of Virginia's wild places for future generations, foster understanding and appreciation of Wilderness, and promote enjoyment and stewardship of our last remaining wildlands. The Virginia Wilderness Committee is a 501(C)3 non-profit citizens' group.   https://www.vawilderness.org/
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Economically and culturally, our area has a proud tradition of small farm and forest ownership and historic towns. Stewards of the Potomac Highlands, a 501c4 nonprofit citizens group, networks in West Virginia’s northeastern counties to protect this heritage and support an environmentally and socially sustainable, locally controlled economy. https://potomachighlandstewards.org/

In an attempt to gut another popular and effective conservation law, Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) introduced H.R. 1897, co-sponsored by 26 other Congressional Republicans, to "amend" the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The bill will weaken the strength and effectiveness of the ESA by rewriting key portions of this bedrock environmental law. It will remove critical habitat protections and undermine science-based standards, making species recovery harder and extinction more likely. 

The House of Representatives plans to schedule a vote on the ESA Amendments Act (H.R. 1897) tomorrow, April 22, EARTH DAY!!

Tell your representatives to vote down H.R. 1897 because you don't want to strip away core, science-based safeguards for our most vulnerable wildlife.

Click here for the text of H.R. 1897

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) sent a letter to Senate leadership requesting the Senate’s prompt consideration of a bipartisan package of National Forest bills that advanced unanimously out of the Senate Agriculture Committee on October 21, 2025. The bills affect public lands in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

“We write to respectfully request a process to advance a bipartisan package of National Forest bills to the President’s desk. We are grateful for the Senate Agriculture Committee’s unanimous approval of these bills this Congress, and we now ask for your help in sending them to the President’s desk to be signed into law,” wrote the senators.

“These bills are a product of years, sometimes decades, of work with local communities to strike the balance unique to each of our respective states. Each bill addresses a specific, locally important issue on our public lands, from facilitating recreational access and conservation designations to resolving land ownership technicalities,” the senators continued.

“This is an opportunity for Congress to come together to do good work for public lands, local economies, and rural communities,” the senators concluded. “We ask you to begin an effort to send a comprehensive, bipartisan package of National Forest bills to the President’s desk and we stand ready to work together to achieve long awaited results for our communities.”

In addition to Kaine and Tillis, the letter was cosigned by U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Tina Smith (D-MN), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI).

The full text of the letter is available here and below:

Dear Leader Thune, Leader Schumer, Chairman Boozman, and Ranking Member Klobuchar:

We write to respectfully request a process to advance a bipartisan package of National Forest bills to the President’s desk. We are grateful for the Senate Agriculture Committee’s unanimous approval of these bills this Congress, and we now ask for your help in sending them to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

At the Committee’s business meeting on October 21, 2025, a slate of public lands bills affecting nine states was approved without objection, reflecting a welcome consensus on managing our National Forest System lands. These bills are a product of years, sometimes decades, of work with local communities to strike the balance unique to each of our respective states. Each bill addresses a specific, locally important issue on our public lands, from facilitating recreational access and conservation designations to resolving land ownership technicalities. Collectively, they benefit communities in Tennessee, Virginia, Mississippi, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Arkansas, Alabama, and North Carolina, showing the nationwide reach of this effort.

Facilitating the enactment of this package would enhance recreation opportunities and support local communities while serving as a shining example of a bipartisan, regular order process. This is an opportunity for Congress to come together to do good work for public lands, local economies, and rural communities.

We ask you to begin an effort to send a comprehensive, bipartisan package of National Forest bills to the President’s desk and we stand ready to work together to achieve long awaited results for our communities.

​Sincerely,

While some issues may appear state or location specific, they can carry new precedents that impact how we govern nationwide. H.J. Res. 140 is one such issue. It will not only impact the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota but have far reaching outcomes for many conservation protections across the country, including here in Virginia.

Tell Your Senators to vote NO on any resolution that would overturn Boundary Waters protections.

Known for its pristine lakes, streams, and wetlands, Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) Wilderness is the most visited wilderness in the U.S. It’s a million-acre sportsperson’s paradise and supports many outdoor industry jobs, like guiding and outfitting.

However, last month, despite rigorous environmental review and public comment, the House quickly passed a bill to overturn a ban on mining of the headwaters to the BWCA Wilderness. In passing it, the House used a legislative maneuver that has never been used before to overturn a ban on public land exploitation, the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The CRA is a tool for Congress to maintain oversight over federal regulations during the first 60 legislative days after a rule is received, not to overturn a 20-year moratorium.

If the Senate passes this measure, it will set a dangerous precedent, undoing and nullifying hard-earned public land protection orders and withdrawals. This could have far-reaching effects on public land conservation efforts across the country. Not only will this measure allow for pollution-prone mining that will poison one of the most pristine watersheds in the U.S., but also support revoking any protected land in the U.S. that wasn’t designated by Congress.

Now is the time to take action and speak out against H.J. Res. 140.

The Senate is expected to vote on this measure next week, so contact your Senators today. Help us prevent H.J. Res. 140 from passing and creating major implications for environmental conservation and putting our existing public land protections at risk.

VWC Executive Director Ellen Stuart-Haentjens was interviewed by Politico for an article on FOFA, click here to read more.

"The “Fix Our Forests Act,” S. 1462, which advanced out of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee with bipartisan support earlier this month, would give the Agriculture secretary wide latitude to declare “emergency” situations on millions of acres of federal land...

“This administration is redefining what we call an emergency,” said Ellen Stuart-Haentjens, executive director of the Virginia Wilderness Committee, a nonprofit environmental group."

The Virginia Wilderness Committee is pleased to announce that the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry passed both the Shenandoah Mountain Act and the Virginia Wilderness Additions Act this morning with unanimous support! Thank you to Senator Tim Kaine, Senator Mark Warner, and to Senator Amy Klobuchar and the bipartisan support on this Senate Committee. And thank you to all of the partners and supporters who have joined us in crafting and championing these bills. It now heads to the full Senate!

Press release from Senator Tim Kaine's office:
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Warner & Kaine Applaud Unanimous Committee Passage of Virginia Wilderness Bills
October 21 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) applauded the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry’s unanimous passage of their two bills to protect lands and watersheds in Rockingham, Augusta, Highland, and Bath counties. Both bills are the result of years of Virginia stakeholder-driven collaboration. In June, the senators sent a letter to the committee’s leadership requesting consideration of the legislation.

“Virginia is home to beautiful wilderness spaces and natural resources that should be preserved for future generations to enjoy,” said Warner. “These two bills protect and expand the Commonwealth’s lands as well as support local economies that depend on tourism and outdoor recreation. I urge my Senate colleagues to join us in supporting this legislation for the benefit of all Virginians.”

“As an avid hiker, I know how important it is to preserve Virginia’s natural resources, which are some of our greatest treasures and critical parts of local economies,” said Kaine. “I’m glad the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced our legislation to preserve wilderness in Rockingham, Augusta, Highland, and Bath counties. I urge my colleagues to support these bills on the Senate floor.”

The Shenandoah Mountain Act would establish a 92,562-acre Shenandoah Mountain National Scenic Area (SMNSA) in Rockingham, Augusta, and Highland counties. National Scenic Areas protect the scenic, historic, recreational, and natural resources in specific areas and allow compatible uses such as outdoor recreation activities.
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The Virginia Wilderness Additions Act would add 5,600 acres to the existing Rough Mountain and Rich Hole wilderness areas within the George Washington National Forest in Bath County.

Our friends at SELC have set up a comment submission site and will mail or hand deliver your letters, at this link: https://selc.link/4g6WMGs
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OR you can email your comments to us at [email protected] and VWC Executive Director Ellen Stuart-Haentjens will hand deliver your comments when she is in DC for National Wilderness Week (Sept. 15-17).