Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 8, 1992 TAG: 9202080201
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Long
LOVER OF THE LITTLE RIVER IS PUSHING FOR ITS PROTECTION
Dick Gibbons sees more than just water and pretty scenery when he looks at a river, and he hears more than the gurgle and splash of the rapids.He sees a chance to keep the river flowing free and clean for generations to come. And he hears the protests of many riverbank owners who spurn government meddling with their property.
"I'll tell you an argument I've heard over and over again - if it ain't broke, don't fix it," said Gibbons, who for eight years has headed the state's Scenic River Program.
Gibbons probably will hear that refrain again Monday night at a Montgomery County Board of Supervisors' public hearing on whether to designate a 27-mile stretch of the Little River as scenic.
"That's fine if you're always there to protect it," he said in a telephone interview. But future landowners may not be interested in saving the river from reckless development, or have the power to do anything about it.
Scenic designation would allow landowners more control over what happens up and down the river, he said. Some landowners would be appointed to an advisory board that makes recommendations about public and private projects, including dams, subdivisions, industries, even power-line crossings.
And he's got success stories about most of Virginia's 17 scenic rivers to back that up, he said.
The Goose Creek advisory group, for example, convinced a quarry company to keep a wide buffer between the creek and the quarry and to turn the quarry over to the community when operations cease.
The more Gibbons works with the advisory boards, he said, the more he's convinced the program works - without any drawback to riverfront property owners.
But, he acknowledges he's the outsider, the bureaucrat from Richmond. The decision rests with the local governments and local citizens.
For the past few months, the debate has stirred emotions on both sides. The proposed section - from Virginia 8 to the Little River Dam - flows through Floyd, Pulaski and Montgomery counties, and all must agree to the designation.
The idea for scenic status for the Little is found in Montgomery Couny's Comprehensive Plan - a blueprint for growth and open-space preservation. At the request of some citizens, the Planning Commission asked the state Department of Conservation and Recreation to determine the river's eligibility.
Pulaski County has asked for more information from the state. Floyd County already has voted it down, but those who would like to see it pass haven't given up.
The proposed section could be shortened or, perhaps, in time, Floyd County will change its mind.
"We're just pretending that nothing had happened," said Lynda Coyle, a member of the New River Valley Preservation League who's been in the forefront of the movement.
Lately she's been pulling back, unprepared for the intensity of the opposition.
"I've become `that woman,' " she said, and a petition went around saying she was being paid by the state, which she said is false.
Coyle and other supporters will ask the Montgomery supervisors to delay a decision. They want for more time to talk with landowners and convince them of the benefits.
It's the same pattern with most rivers, Gibbons said, a classic example of an age-old dilemma: Everyone wants basically the same thing - a healthy, unfettered river - but disagree completely on how to get it.
Bernard Cox, for one, said the river's fine the way it is. He's against the designation and won't ever change his mind, he said.
"We got a good person looking after the river right now. He's been looking after it for 10,000 years," said the Montgomery County dairyman, who's lived on his 130-acre farm along the Little for 45 years.
And he's not worried about industries or development ruining the river, he said, because the county's land-use regulations are already strict - maybe even too strict.
"You can't even build an outdoor toilet out here without them sticking their nose in it."
Cox recently helped gather about 110 signatures on a petition against the designation. Opponents plan to give it to the board Monday.
His neighbor, Mary North, feels a bit differently. At first, she was "horrified" by the idea, thinking it would turn her backyard into a tourist spot.
But she wanted to learn more, and now, after talking with several other advisory groups around the state, she sees some advantages to getting scenic status.
Other scenic rivers have not become inundated with trash and traffic, she said. If any proposals for a park or boat ramp came up, the advisory board would have a say in controlling access.
"So it would really help keep it from becoming like McCoy Falls," she said. A letter to North from Frances Endicott of Bluemont, head of the advisory group for the 14 miles of the Shenandoah River in the scenic river program, said the group discourages advertising the scenic river status.
And as far as having state scenic river signs posted at bridges, "Most motorists don't know or care what it means," Endicott wrote.
She also said that when Avtex was found to be polluting the Shenandoah, her group helped pressure the state and the plant eventually shut down.