VWC Newsletter - November 1999
Nuts & Bolts of the Jefferson Plan
The development of the Land Management Plan for the Jefferson National Forest is approaching a critical stage. The general meetings for public input, which seem to have been going on for years, are over. The focus now moves to the District level, where consideration will be given to the detailed assignments of every parcel of land on the Forest. Meetings will be held in each District in a whirlwind of activity in early December. This is the time for you to champion your own favorite candidate for wilderness.
At each meeting there will be maps showing the proposed management prescriptions for every parcel of land, shown in a bewildering array of colors. While it would be good to drop by the District Office beforehand to preview the maps, don't be intimidated by their complexity. Your job is simple: Tell the Forest Service that you want your special place designated by Management Prescription 1B - Wilderness.
Here is the list of upcoming meetings. Try to attend as many as you can, especially the one closest to home, because LOCAL support is of the essence.
Let the Forest Service hear from you!
Kirbywalk
The Virginia Wilderness community has been enormously stimulated by Peter Kirby's walk along the Appalachian Trail promoting conservation of adjacent wildlands. There is more of the Trail in Virginia than any other state, about 500 miles, and Peter was joined all along his walk by members of conservation organizations, forest and local officials, reporters and just plain folks. He gave well-attended talks in Damascus, Roanoke, Blacksburg, Lexington, Wintergreen and Charlottesville, at each place showing slides of nearby wildlands. On Garden Mountain in Bland County he was joined for three days by two VWC members and for half a day, gratifyingly, by the Forest Supervisor, who thinks enough of the wilderness potential of Hunting Camp and Little Wolf Creek to meet and talk over the issues on site. Peter had good company on Peters Mountain in Giles County and an excellent subsequent article in the Roanoke Times. He was surprised (and delighted) to be disturbed in his tent late on Halloween by a friend who, remembering his "trail-sugar-deprivation", brought him candy!In Charlottesville he joined with VWC officers meeting with Congressman Virgil Goode to ask whether he would consider introducing a Wilderness Bill for Three Ridges and The Priest, both in his district (5th) and both recommended for wilderness in the 1993 George Washington Forest plan. As expected, he's concerned about local support which is growing only slowly. There are deep-seated and long-standing reservations about federal wilderness designation in Nelson County (some based on misconceptions we are working to overcome). So if you are from that area, please let local officials and leaders know how you feel, LOCAL opinion carries weight, and if you're in the 5th District, encourage Congressman Goode (US House of Representatives, Washington DC 205l5) to introduce a Wilderness Bill in January. If they can do it for Dugger Mountain, Alabama (recently passed by the House and Senate), we can do it for Three Ridges and The Priest.
PRES: Jim Murray, 1601 Bentivar Farm Rd., Charlottesville VA 22911 (804)973-6693
VICE-PRES: Chris Bolgiano, 10375 Genoa Rd., Fulks Run VA 22830 (540)896-4407
TREAS: Juliana Simpson, 11E Monmouth, Winchester VA 22603 (540)662-7043
SEC: Lynn Cameron, 5653 Beards Ford Rd., Mt. Crawford VA 22841 (540)234-6273
The development of the Land Management Plan for the Jefferson National Forest is approaching a critical stage. The general meetings for public input, which seem to have been going on for years, are over. The focus now moves to the District level, where consideration will be given to the detailed assignments of every parcel of land on the Forest. Meetings will be held in each District in a whirlwind of activity in early December. This is the time for you to champion your own favorite candidate for wilderness.
At each meeting there will be maps showing the proposed management prescriptions for every parcel of land, shown in a bewildering array of colors. While it would be good to drop by the District Office beforehand to preview the maps, don't be intimidated by their complexity. Your job is simple: Tell the Forest Service that you want your special place designated by Management Prescription 1B - Wilderness.
Here is the list of upcoming meetings. Try to attend as many as you can, especially the one closest to home, because LOCAL support is of the essence.
- December 1 Radford at the Norwood Room 4:00-9:00 pm Wythe and Blacksburg Ranger Districts
- December 2 Hampton Inn (Col Alto), Lexington 4:00-9:00 pm Glenwood Ranger District
- December 6 Marion Middle School, Marion 4:00-9:00 pm Mt. Rogers Nation Recreation Area
- December 7 UVA-Wise 4:00-9:00 pm Clinch Ranger District
- December 8 McCleary Elementary School, Newcastle 4:00-9:00 pm Newcastle Ranger District
Let the Forest Service hear from you!
Kirbywalk
The Virginia Wilderness community has been enormously stimulated by Peter Kirby's walk along the Appalachian Trail promoting conservation of adjacent wildlands. There is more of the Trail in Virginia than any other state, about 500 miles, and Peter was joined all along his walk by members of conservation organizations, forest and local officials, reporters and just plain folks. He gave well-attended talks in Damascus, Roanoke, Blacksburg, Lexington, Wintergreen and Charlottesville, at each place showing slides of nearby wildlands. On Garden Mountain in Bland County he was joined for three days by two VWC members and for half a day, gratifyingly, by the Forest Supervisor, who thinks enough of the wilderness potential of Hunting Camp and Little Wolf Creek to meet and talk over the issues on site. Peter had good company on Peters Mountain in Giles County and an excellent subsequent article in the Roanoke Times. He was surprised (and delighted) to be disturbed in his tent late on Halloween by a friend who, remembering his "trail-sugar-deprivation", brought him candy!In Charlottesville he joined with VWC officers meeting with Congressman Virgil Goode to ask whether he would consider introducing a Wilderness Bill for Three Ridges and The Priest, both in his district (5th) and both recommended for wilderness in the 1993 George Washington Forest plan. As expected, he's concerned about local support which is growing only slowly. There are deep-seated and long-standing reservations about federal wilderness designation in Nelson County (some based on misconceptions we are working to overcome). So if you are from that area, please let local officials and leaders know how you feel, LOCAL opinion carries weight, and if you're in the 5th District, encourage Congressman Goode (US House of Representatives, Washington DC 205l5) to introduce a Wilderness Bill in January. If they can do it for Dugger Mountain, Alabama (recently passed by the House and Senate), we can do it for Three Ridges and The Priest.
PRES: Jim Murray, 1601 Bentivar Farm Rd., Charlottesville VA 22911 (804)973-6693
VICE-PRES: Chris Bolgiano, 10375 Genoa Rd., Fulks Run VA 22830 (540)896-4407
TREAS: Juliana Simpson, 11E Monmouth, Winchester VA 22603 (540)662-7043
SEC: Lynn Cameron, 5653 Beards Ford Rd., Mt. Crawford VA 22841 (540)234-6273