As many of you know by now, a portion of the Blackwater Canyon on both sides of the river and alongside the railtrail has been acquired by Allegheny Wood Products. This acquisition also includes half of the rail-roadbed. The boundary line runs down the center of the trail with Allegheny Wood Products now owning the river side of the trail while the Monongahela National Forest owns the other side. Allegheny has declared there intent to log approximately 3,000 acres on both hillsides. There are also strong hints of the intent to build a housing development called Canyon Views Condos afterwards. Aerial photographs taken on October 9, 1997, show that logging has already started on the Canaan Mountain side of the River with timber being transported out through the sawmill property located near Hendricks, WV.
What follows is a letter
from Frank Proud of the West Virginia Rails-to-Trails Council to Donna Reckart
of Allegheny Wood Products. This letter represents the official position of the Council
on the Blackwater Canyon issue.
Old western Maryland Railroad bridge across
the Blackwater River at Hendricks
or
New sign near Coketon along the upper end
of the Blackwater Canyon Trail
Dear Donna,
I write to you as the spokesman for the nationally recognized West Virginia Rails-to-Trails Council (WVRTC). Our primary goal is to promote recreational opportunities and stimulate economic development through rail-trail tourism. Our focus in the Blackwater Canyon is narrowly limited to the railroad grade commonly known as TR-115. We do not oppose logging trucks sharing the rail-trail. Please tell Mr. Crites that we wish his participation in the development and promotion of the Blackwater Canyon Trail as an integral piece to the American Discovery Trail (ADT), the nation’s longest.
Stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the ADT is a project to develop our nation’s first coast-to-coast, multi-use hiking and biking trail. It connects people in large cities and small towns to mountains, forests, and deserts by linking local, regional and national trails. West Virginia is fortunate to host approximately 276 miles. Much of the ADT is mapped on county roads and highways. Because of its location, construction and gentle 3% grade, the Canyon trail is ideally suited as the path up and down the mountain ... the railroad learned this long ago.
The problem is that Monongahela National Forest (MNF) owns a long-ways half of the railroad grade ... the portion known as TR-115. Allegheny Wood Products owns the other half. Clogged culverts are causing serious erosion and threaten the very existence of the railgrade. Thoughtful cleaning of rock slides could also fill washouts. It would be in the long term interest of both parties to allow repair equipment access to your half so that corrections could be made. I encourage you to continue dialogue with MNF that would facilitate long term use and maintenance of the railtrail. Bringing both sides together could be easy in this case.
Rail-trailers and loggers can work together for mutual gain as can be evidenced with Georgia-Pacific and Richwood’s Tri-Rivers Trail (see Trail Tracks issue #7). This is your opportunity for the trails community to enshrine your name in WV’s cooperative corner stone of economic development associated with a national trail system. The ADT will bring Tucker County within reach of long distance hikers and bikers from population centers on both sides of them. Public appreciation of your wisdom will be noted by trails activists as well as the timber industry. We will be there to advise you of the trail details and to volunteer to help with the work.
ADT progress is underway at either end of the Canyon.
The WVRTC’s matching grant programs are at work in the Parsons depot restoration. Soon we
hope to be redecking the Thomas trestle. As a prudent business man and leading WV volunteer on
rail-trail development, I can see that sharing the Blackwater Canyon Trail would successfully leverage
the Canyon’s resources for all sides. Donna, please tell Mr. Crites that we would like to
meet him in the middle. We want both sides of the rail grade back together as a working unit. We would
like for you to present both sides of the issue. Please, tell him we want to decide this half and half problem
for forward progress. Tell him we have a chance at national attention through West Virginia’s development
of the American Discovery Trail up the Canyon via TR-115, the Blackwater Canyon Rail-Trail.
Sincerely Yours,
Frank Proud
West Virginia Rails-to-Trails Council
If you would like to write to Allegheny Wood Products
to voice your concern over the proposed logging
and development within the Canyon please
write to:
Donna Reckart
Allegheny Wood Products
PO Box 867
Petersburg WV 26847
In-late breaking news, Clarksburg lawyer Tom Michael filed a complaint on behalf of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, the state chapter of the Sierra Club, the West Virginia Wildlife Federation and citizens Chuck Merritt of Kerens and Jim Sconyers of Terra Alta with the state Public Service Commission. (WVRTC is not party to this lawsuit.)The complaint alleges that Allegheny Power did not get required approval before it sold 3,000 acres of the scenic canyon in February to Canyon Lands Inc., which sold the property to Allegheny Wood Products.
Under West Virginia law, public utilities like Allegheny Power must receive PSC approval before selling property. Utilities are allowed to operate as monopolies in exchange for providing needed services like water and electricity. In exchange, utilities are also expected to operate to serve the public interest. Land sales are subject to PSC approval so the agency can make sure they are in the public interest.
Mary Lynn Sacco, spokeswoman for Allegheny Power, said the company hasn't had time to review the complaint and declined comment. Previously, Allegheny Power officials have said the company was not required to receive PSC approval for the Blackwater Canyon land sale. The canyon land, they said, was held and sold by West Virginia Power and Transmission Company, which is a subsidiary of West Penn Power Co. West Penn is a subsidiary of Allegheny Power. But Allegheny Power officials said that, because West Penn is based in Pennsylvania and serves no customers in West Virginia, it was not subject to PSC jurisdiction here. Pennsylvania does not have a requirement that utility land sales be approved by its public service commission.
In the complaint, Michael argued that a change in Allegheny Power, or APS, management organization gave the PSC jurisdiction over the sale. "In 1995, APS created a single management team for itself and its operating subsidiaries," the complaint said. It also combined engineering, marketing and other functions in the operating units. "APS has introduced the 'one company concept' with the goal of consolidating its various operations into a unified energy supply system," the complaint said. "Because of the unification of all the subsidiary operations by APS, the company which sold the Blackwater River canyon is the same company which has thousands of customers in West Virginia," it said. "Therefore, APS is subject to the provisions of state law and the sale of the Blackwater River canyon property requires the consent of the PSC."
Sandra Neal, executive secretary for the PSC, said Allegheny Power has 10 days to respond to the complaint. PSC staff then have 20 days to review the matter before it will be considered by the commission, Neal said.
In even later-breaking news word has reached us that Senator Rockefeller’s office is working with various parties including Allegheny Wood Products to negotiate a land swap for the acreage in the Blackwater Canyon. Stay tuned for more details.
Morgantown - Progress is evident on the Mon River
portion of the Caperton Trail. The bridge over
Decker’s Creek has been
decked. Thanks to the diligent
effort of volunteers from GE Speciality Chemicals who put
in over 400 hours of work our
first decking is complete. A
dedication was held on August
13th. Thanks GE for your commitment
to the local community. Now let’s see some
other organizations and companies match this contribution.
Morgantown - In a second story from Morgantown,
debate continues on the Cheat Lake Railtrail. This
is a trail that travels along the east side of Cheat
Lake north past the Lake Lynn Dam and would eventually
connect to the Sheepskin Trail running from
the Caperton Trail at Point Marion, PA, to the
Youghiogheny Trail at Connellsville, PA. Public
hearings have been held where trail supporters as
well as local land owners who are opposed to the
trail could speak out. Allegheny Power (the owners
of the property) have taken the comments under consideration.
Greg Good stated at a public meeting
that fears about security along the trail were not supported
by the testimony of law enforcement agencies
in communities with trails.
Durbin - Decking of the 130 foot trestle over the West Fork of the Greenbrier River is complete along with some trail work. Leroy, ‘the little engine that could’ hauled volunteers to and from the work sites on August 30th and 31st. Please use caution since only the center of the trestle is decked. Please yield right-of-way to the live tourist train that also uses this trestle.
Thurmond - on September 27th the final trestle was
decked on the National Park Service's Southside
Junction Trail near Thurmond. The West Virginia
Rails-to-Trails Foundation worked with the National
Park Service to complete this project.
Snowshoe - Snowshoe Resort has allowed us to list their network of old rail trails in the West Virginia inventory of rail trails. This is an addition of approximately 16 miles. However, this listing does not mean that trails within the Resort area are open for free use. You must still buy a trail pass as in the past.
Richwood - volunteers have started working to add handrails and decking to the 280 foot trestle over the Cranberry River on the Tri-Rivers trail. This connects to Sarah’s Tunnel and a potentially huge mountain biking trail network.
Charleston - a new local trail group has been formed. The Paint Creek Trail Foundation is dedicated to creating a trail on the abandoned line along Paint Creek in Kanawha and Raleigh Counties. This trail will be the most visible trail in WV, as will be in sight of the WV Turnpike almost its entire length. For more information, contact:
Paint Creek Trail Foundation
c/o Mike Davenport
1412B Quarrier St.
Charleston, WV 25301
Parsons - WVRTC has provided grant money for the restoration of the
Parson’s depot. Stop by and take a look, it’s coming
along well. The depot is located right behind
Shirley’s Diner and near the Sheetz service station.
It now houses the Heritage House Arts and Crafts
Co-Op. Future plans include a museum in another
part of the depot. All of this is just the beginning to
opening the Parsons to Elkins railtrail and tying it
in with the Blackwater Canyon trail.
Elkins - The Highlands Trail Foundation, a local organization devoted to the recreational development of a regional trail system, was awarded a $12,500 grant to help construct a new trail that will connect Elkins with Parsons. Gov. Cecil H. Underwood presented the foundation with the grant in a ceremony March 26 in the Governor's Reception Room at the State Capitol in Charleston. The HTF, which includes members from Randolph and Tucker counties, hopes the multi-use, non-motorized traffic trail will be used for bicycling, jogging, walking, horseback riding and even cross-country skiing. The Department of Transportation grant will enable the HTF to construct the trail from Elkins to Kerens, according to the foundation's president, Karen Carper, owner of Elkins Bikeworks in Elkins. The HTF is an affiliate member of the West Virginia Rails-to-Trails Council. "The foundation would love to increase its membership," Carper said. Membership fees benefit the trail development. The HTF is planning recreational outings such as biking and skiing trips for the future. In the past, the foundation has had a tradition of providing volunteer trail maintenance work in Monongahela National Forest. The West Virginia Department of Transportation funds trail construction through the Transportation Enhancement Program and the Recreational Trails Funding Program. During the past six years, the program has given recreational trails financial support totaling $6.6 million. Overall about 400 miles of trails have been acquired or improved for public use. Those interested in supporting or joining the Highlands Trail Foundation should contact Karen Carper at 304-636-9670. This article was provided courtesy of the Elkins Bikeworks web page. Check them out at http://wvweb.com/www/bikeworks/bikeworks.html.
In addition to the grant awarded for Randolph
County, they have also secured the lease of the right-of-way in Randolph and Tucker Counties from the
state. (No grant for Tucker County yet, but they’re
working on it.) The National Guard will be available
in the spring to complete surface work. The
Foundation is busy now making plans so that they
will be ready for them. It looks like we'll have a
new Rail-Trail in West Virginia next summer!
Recently the use of fly ash for trail surfacing has become more popular and in some places the politically expedient thing to use. However, the question remains, is this a good surfacing substance? One of the most recently completed trails to use fly ash is the West Fork River Trail from Fairmont to Shinnston. Earlier this year I explored this trail and had the following observations.
I started riding south on the trail at Monongah for the simple reason that that was the only trail head that I could find. I was immediately struck with the fact that the trail surface was different than anything I had ever ridden on before. It most closely reminded me of sand. The ride was smooth and usually not too difficult to pedal on. However, at times the sand-like consistency was evident and more effort than normal was required. Second, was the very noticeable noise that my bike tires made as I rode over the ash. If I had been riding with a partner conversation would have been difficult. The most disturbing thing about the surface though occurred some miles into the ride. At a particular point a horse had evidently been ridden on the trail. The effect of the horses hooves were disastrous. Large holes remained as mute testimony to the animal’s passage. These were the equivalent of potholes on our highways. Much of the time riding was spent avoiding these holes. The remainder of the ride was pleasant with nice scenery and small towns interconnected by this trail. Riding at night gave this area a unique feel, especially with a full moon. In later conversations with other riders the following question about fly ash came up; what effect does the ash have on the mechanical components of a bike?
Does anyone have any thoughts on fly ash as a surface
agent? Do you know of any other trails where
fly ash has been used and the outcome there? Please
let us at the WV Rails-to-Trails Council know so
that we can better understand this issue.
Rep. Jim Ryun (R-KA) of Olympic fame and a number of co-sponsors introduced a U.S. House bill Sept. 9 that would gut NTSA Section 8(d) railbanking. The main thrust of the bill is to make federal railbanking inferior to state property laws, which in many if not all states revert rail corridor easements to adjoining property owners.
The bill is numbered HR2438 and its description is
“To encourage the establishment of appropriate trails
on abandoned railroad rights-of-way, while ensuring
the protection of certain reversionary property
rights." Twenty two co-sponsors have signed onto
the bill. We need to get on top of this one and bury
our federal honorables with our protest. This bill
deserves to die in committee.
The last edition of the Federal highway funding act, known by the acronym ISTEA ("ice-tea") included funding for pedestrian, bicycle and historical sites called "enhancements." The enhancement funding, as well as the rest of ISTEA, is up for renewal before the US Congress this fall. The enhancement funding of ISTEA has brought money and success to rail trails in West Virginia. The West Virginia Rails-to-Trails Foundation supports the continuation of that funding.
A list of West Virginia projects includes helping to purchase the 53 mile long Mon River/Deckers Creek Trail, the Cranberry/Tri-River Trail, and the West Fork River Trail. It has helped to restore old train depots, provide materials for decking and handrails on trestles, and add the final surface to miles of trails. In West Virginia, hundreds of thousands of dollars of privately donated money, materials, and labor have been drawn to rail trails to match the ISTEA funding.
This fall Congress will decide whether to continue
enhancement funding, and whether enhancement
projects will have dedicated funding or will have to
compete directly with all other highway projects.
As with all political decisions, letters and phone calls
can have an important effect. Letters to your Senator
and Representative are needed now to keep enhancement
funding.
The Charleston Gazette carried the following Associated Press report of interest to rail-fan aficionados. The rail line in the report is the one that runs along Shaver’s Fork.
A rail line that state officials say is critical to the economies of four central West Virginia counties will remain in operation. The State Rail Authority has bought 122 miles of railroad in Barbour, Webster, Randolph and Pocahontas counties, Transportation Secretary Richard Jemiola said.
The deal with CSX Transportation is for $3 million in cash and $3.08 million in services, said authority Executive Director John Hedrick. Those services involve the replacement of 19 wooden bridges that cross over the tracks and the long-term maintenance of the new structures, he said Thursday. CSX Transportation is currently responsible for those bridges.
Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., praised the purchase. "Not only will it help to prevent the potential derailment of local businesses that are dependent upon the rail service, but it will also help to keep other local economic development efforts on track," he said.
CSX sought to get rid of the line after losing $1
million on it between January 1992 and September
1994. The company initially wanted to abandon it,
but offered to sell it after pleas from state officials.
Jemiola said the tracks running from Tygart Junction,
Barbour County, to Bergoo, Webster County,
could be used to transport poultry, wood, products
and coal. The line also could be used for tourism,
such as a train line to Cass Scenic Railroad State
Park and Snowshoe-Silver Creek Ski Resort. CSX
will run the line until the rail authority is ready to
operate it.
Greetings to everyone interested in rail-trails and in improving the economics and quality of life in West Virginia through rail-trails! I am the wet-behind-the-ears new chair of the WV Rails-to-Trails Council. I've been a hiker and biker of rail-trails since I first got my training wheels off and snuck out the back gate around 40 years ago! I'm very glad to now be part of the process of extending rail-trails and bringing them into ever more corners of the Mountain State!
Every chair should have a few things that he would especially like to see come out of his time in office. I would especially like to see us begin widening and deepening the network of rail-trails around the state. I would like to see us bring the trails into as many towns and neighborhoods as possible, so that people can reach rail-trails easily from their homes. I would like to see us bring the trails right into as many state parks, national forests, and other recreational areas as we can, so that we can get to them from our homes without strapping our bikes onto our cars. Not that we will always leave the car at home, but wouldn't it be nice sometimes to have the option?
Meanwhile, we need to keep improving the rail-trails we have now around West Virginia. There's always more to do, and improvements to be made. We also need to have more member groups around the state and more active members all around. So here is my plea: Join us, work with us, and be active in support of trails!
Greg Good