Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 20, 1993 TAG: 9311240261
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The state wisely began promoting its share of the river's resources, as part of the wild, wonderful experiences awaiting visitors to the Mountain State.
Now, thousands of tourists travel to the New River Gorge yearly. The daredevil adventure of shooting the New's head-snapping, raging rapids is a multimillion-dollar enterprise for West Virginia.
In Giles County, the New, while a bit more placid, is every bit as big, beautiful and bountiful. But the splendor of the river - said by geologists to be the second-oldest in the world, predated only by the Nile - is still one of the best-kept secrets in Virginia.
Of course, most Giles residents may not want their scenic homeland turned into a commercialized, crowded tourist trap (as some complain the New River Gorge in West Virginia is fast becoming). Some may not want their 37-mile stretch of the river to be exploited.
But like most counties in Southwest Virginia, Giles needs more economic development.
And the natural resource of a wonderful river winding through the Appalachian mountains can be tapped for tourism and economic growth without necessarily spoiling the tranquility and beauty of either the river or the county.
The nonprofit National Committee for the New River has been awarded a $3,500 grant from the Virginia Environmental Endowment to plan for the development of a greenway along both sides of the river in Giles.
Greenways - large, open areas that run alongside natural or man-made corridors such as rivers or railway tracks - are one of the most promising concepts available to both rural and urban places for blending the development of tourism and an industrial base with the interests of conservation and quality of life.
Explore Park in Roanoke County, for example, had its beginning, in effect, as part of a greenway master plan for the Roanoke River. That plan needs to be revisited, as well as the potential for greenways throughout the Roanoke and New River valleys.
As now envisioned, greenways in Giles could follow the river to link five towns - Pembroke, Pearisburg, Narrows, Rich Creek and Glen Lyn.
The development of such greenways would serve not only as an invitation for more visitors to come to Giles to enjoy the majestic New River with its peaceful mountainous backdrop. The goal also would be to promote the five towns, whose assets as places to live and do business now go generally unheralded and overlooked.
As a recreational and environmental resource, the greenways would also add to local residents' quality of life.
Though the nonprofit committee's plan isn't complete and can't be endorsed sight unseen, the concept itself can be strongly recommended. Greenways would be a good thing for the future of Giles County, affording full advantage of its most remarkable feature: The old New River runs through it.
by CNB