Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2017 - 16

mountain report

Rivers in West Virginia and Virginia
Get Positive Attention
And in North Carolin, a 259-acre tract gains protection.
by Cathryn McCue
HARLOW CHANDLER

Virginia's Rappahannock River has been listed a number five on a list of 10 endangered rivers from American Rivers.

ARouNd the ReGioN
The national River
Network recognized
Angie Rosser, with West
Virginia Rivers Coalition, and David Sligh,
with Wild Virginia, as
two of its 2017 River
Heroes who show "extraordinary effort" in
protecting local waters.
Rosser is noted for uniting diverse stakeholders to protect her state's
streams and rivers and
promote water-based
recreation. Sligh has devoted his 35-year career
in the public and nonprofit sector to being a
strong legal advocate
for clean water. Both
are working in coalitions to stop natural gas
pipelines proposed in
the Blue Ridge region.
rivernetwork.org

16 BlueRidgeCountry.com

NoRth CARoliNA
At 16 acres, a tract in
Jackson County purchased by Mainspring
Conservation Trust is
small, but it's a key
parcel in protecting
views and providing
better access to the
beloved Panthertown
Valley of the Nantahala National Forest.
The valley includes
clifftop views, eight
major waterfalls, trout
streams, rare plants
and diverse wildlife
habitat. The trust and
Friends of Panthertown raised the funds,
matched by a donation
from North Carolina
philanthropists Fred
and Alice Stanback. A
new parking area will
be built, and the tract
eventually conveyed to
the U.S. Forest Service.
mainspringconserves.org

NoRth CARoliNA
The 259-acre Sank
Gap tract in McDowell
County is now under
permanent easement
with the Foothills
Conservancy of North
Carolina. The trust
coordinated the purchase through private
donors and a generous sale price from
the landowner, Tim
Sweeney. It will add
the tract to its Catawba
Headwaters Preserve;
the Catawba provides
drinking water to some
2 million Carolinians.
Sank Gap also provides
".. an invaluable haven
for wildlife and human
communities as the
climate changes," said
Peter Howell, with the
Open Space Institute
which partnered in the
deal.
foothillsconservancy.org

ViRGiNiA
Gov. Terry McAuliffe
signed an order May 16,
directing the state Department of Environment Quality to make
a rule to reduce carbon
pollution from power
plants. "The threat of
climate change is real,
and we have a shared
responsibility to confront it," he said. Half
of Virginia's counties
risk water shortages
by 2050 from climaterelated weather shifts,
according to his press
release. He said the
rule would also help
create jobs, noting
jobs in Virginia's solar
energy sector grew 65
percent in the last year.
governor.virginia.gov

ViRGiNiA
American Rivers named
the Rappahannock River
as #5 on its "10 Most Endangered Rivers" list, an
annual effort to highlight
threats to the nation's
waterways and inspire
action to protect them.
The Rappahannock, the
longest free-flowing
river in the state, runs
from the Blue Ridge to
the Chesapeake Bay, and
a critical resource for
farmers and watermen
alike. The potential of
natural gas fracking in
the watershed threatens
their livelihoods, as well
as the thriving outdoor
recreation economy in
the area. The group encourages citizens to urge
local and state leaders to
take appropriate action.
americanrivers.org/
endangered-rivers/
rappahannock-river-va/

http://governor.virginia.gov http://www.rivernetwork.org https://www.americanrivers.org/endangered-rivers/rappahannock-river-va/ http://www.foothillsconservancy.org http://www.mainspringconserves.org http://www.BlueRidgeCountry.com

Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2017

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