PETITIONS TAKEN IN WILDERNESS FIGHT

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 13, 1993                   TAG: 9303130301
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By Associated Press
DATELINE: AMHERST                                LENGTH: Medium
PETITIONS TAKEN IN WILDERNESS FIGHT
An environmental group has collected 2,000 signatures supporting federal wilderness protection for Mount Pleasant, but a paper company is circulating its own petition opposing the designation.
Amherst County Together for the Environment presented the petitions to the county Service Authority this week and is sending the signatures to Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke.
The county Board of Supervisors has agreed unanimously three times to seek federal wilderness designation for the 8,500 acres within George Washington National Forest. But Goodlatte generally is opposed to the designation and campaigned against it last fall.
Virginia has 16 wilderness areas in Jefferson and George Washington national forests and the Shenandoah National Park. The 172,025 acres must be left forever in a natural state, with no roads, motorized equipment, permanent structures or timber cutting.
About 5,900 acres of land around Mount Pleasant are designated as a special management area, which prohibits timbering and development.
Goodlatte and Virginia Fibre officials are worried that Congress will impose strict air-quality standards in wilderness areas that would hinder business growth.
Goodlatte told the supervisors last month he wouldn't go against his campaign promise unless a significant number of his constituents asked him to support the designation.
The petition shows "there truly is broad-based support in the community for Mount Pleasant wilderness," said Dan French, a member of the environmental group and director of public utilities for Amherst County.
Virginia Fibre, the county's largest employer, is circulating a petition for people who oppose the designation, said Marvin Tinsley, a company forester.
Some Appalachian Trail supporters also oppose the designation, which prevents chain saws from being used to maintain the hiking trail. But French said many of their petition signatures came from Appalachian Trail Club members.
Goodlatte's office has received about 100 letters on the Mount Pleasant wilderness issue, said chief of staff Tim Phillips.
"We've had a decent amount of interest in it as far as letters go and it's been evenly split," Phillips said.
Goodlatte will study the designation and visit Mount Pleasant before making a final decision, Phillips said.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB