Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 21, 1991 TAG: 9102210067
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE/ NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Jefferson National Forest officials are proposing several projects for a chunk of the Blacksburg Ranger District that they call the "Pandapas Pond Opportunity Area."
"What we have now there pretty much is a pond, and a lot of opportunities," said District Ranger Dave Collins. The pond is 10 miles north of Blacksburg off U.S. 460.
Logging is included among those opportunities. But, Collins said, "There is no clear cutting planned."
Under the initial plan last year, clear cutting was still a possibility. But citizens said that such timbering practices would ruin the area, a favorite hiking spot for many Montgomery County residents.
The U.S. Forest Service, along with state and local officials, have been working over the last year to redraft a 10-year management plan for the Pandapas Pond area, which covers 8,529 acres.
The new proposal includes only alternative harvesting methods, such as clearing up to two-acre patches of selected trees and thinning out individual trees.
Most of the timber that would be removed from about 1,100 acres over the decade would be in the form of firewood, according to the proposal.
Mary Rhoades, chairwoman of the New River Valley Sierra Club, said the revised plan is better than last year's, but that no timbering should be allowed in the largely recreational area.
"I don't see any reason to mix use," Rhoades said. "My other concern is they're trying to put mountain bikes, horses and people on the same trails, and I don't think that works."
About 11 miles of trails would be maintained for general purpose use. The trails and a proposed fishing pier would be accessible to the disabled.
Part of the trail system would be designated as a Blacksburg-to-Appalachian Trail link, but much of that work would be on a volunteer basis, Collins said.
He said that the Pandapas Pond area, which attracts a lot of visitors throughout the year, has more proposed recreational uses than the other opportunity areas in his district.
The proposal calls for almost tripling the recreation area around the pond, from about 300 acres to 850 acres. A small recreational facility with flush toilets and drinking water, a group shelter and up to 10 picnic and camping sites would be built near the pond.
An old homestead surrounded by 24 acres of field adjacent to the pond would be converted into a bird habitat for bird watching.
In addition, the Forest Service would maintain about 1,600 acres throughout the area for wildlife.
The most noticeable change would be a 40- to 60-acre fishing pond on Poverty Creek, two miles downstream from Pandapas Pond.
For now, Collins stressed, the agency is simply proposing to study the idea. "It may not be physically feasible, based on the soils and all that."
But Rhoades said another pond would bring too much traffic to the area, and might threaten the rare Diana butterfly that lives along the creek.
Richard Hoffman, a curator with the Virginia Museum of Natural History, said the butterfly is recommended for "special concern" status, which ranks below threatened and endangered for protection.
"It's rare, there's no question," Hoffman said. "Since the 1960s, they've been seen very little."
Collins said the proposal will be sent to the forest supervisor in about two months. Once approved, parts of the plan would be implemented this summer.
Although the public comment period for the proposal ended last month, Collins said citizens may make comments by calling the ranger district at 552-4641.
by CNB