Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 14, 1994 TAG: 9408190038
SECTION: DISCOVER PAGE: 25 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The pear tree and others like it are the "patriarchs of an old city," says Charles Blankenship, in whose yard the tree grows, "and we're now to the point when we're losing them."
A community tends to take its trees for granted, but city trees don't regenerate naturally, like they do in the forest. In Roanoke, the ice storm has taken its toll on the patriarchs, and disease and pests like the gypsy moth threaten to wipe out even more trees.
Not if Blankenship can help it.
``Urban forestry 10 years ago was an oxymoron in many people's minds,'' he says. Now it's an integral part of a community's identity. Last year, Blankenship organized the Roanoke Valley Urban Forestry Council to spread the word about the importance of trees in our everyday lives.
They mitigate air pollution by absorbing certain gases and even heavy metals. They provide shade and tend to keep an entire community cooler. But perhaps most important is their aesthetic value.
Picture your street or the downtown area. Now mentally erase all the trees. Not very appealing, is it?
Blankenship believes that an attractive community will attract tourism and other economic development - a subject he knows more about than the average person. He is a trained forester whose career spans three decades with the U.S. Forest Service. He designed outdoor recreation plans for millions of acres of public lands in four southern states, including Virginia.
Although he retired in 1990 from the Jefferson National Forest, Blankenship didn't quit thinking about how natural resources tie in with tourism. "I think the character of the valley is one of the attributes we've got," he says. Now, it's a matter of protecting and showing off those attributes, and he's got more than a few ideas of how it can be done:
Incorporate bike paths and walking paths as sewer lines are repaired along the Roanoke River. Blankenship was part of a group that in 1972 designed extensive bike trails for the valley. The plan was mostly shelved, he says.
Along with that, a greenway - a series of open, undeveloped spaces that link one part of the valley to another.
Develop a "scenic byway" on existing roads from the soon-to-open Hotel Roanoke to the picturesque counties to the north.
"Maybe our star isn't shining as bright as it used to be," Blankenship says. "If Roanoke is looking at what we are and what we should be, I think these public lands play a major role," he says.
Blankenship's father was a town manager for a small community near the George Washington National Forest. The young Blanenship's imagination latched onto the mystery and wonder of the woods.
He pursued a forestry degree at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where one of his contemporaries was Rupert Cutler, now the director of Explore Park.
After graduating in 1955, Blankenship went to work for the U.S. Forest Service in North Carolina where he was "a timber type," helping to manage the timber resource. He was part of a team assigned to inventory all recreation resources in that state's national forest land and write an overall recreation plan as part of a nationwide program. He did the same thing in Arkansas and Oklahoma before being tapped, in 1966, to design a newly designated national recreation area in Southwest Virginia - what is now the Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area.
Halfway between the Great Smoky Mountains and Shenandoah national parks, accessible to Interstates 81 and 77, the chunk of mostly pristine land was destined to be an outdoor recreation mecca. It was also destined to be Blankenship's greatest achievement - so far.
The 154,000 area is interspersed with about 40,000 acres of privately held land. From the start, he and the other planners set out to involve the local residents on deciding what should become of the area. It turned out to be one of the most controversial plans in the country.
"People were planning golf courses, resorts, ski lodges," he says. Some in the community said they "had preserved poverty long enough." Others argued for a slower paced growth, not wanting to see a Gatlinburg or Williamsburg in their quiet mountain region.
The Forest Service came up with a plan somewhere in between. After completing an environmental impact statement, they decided to scrap the ski runs and a 63-mile scenic highway across the high country. They also cut the intended visitor capacity from 5 million yearly to 2.5 million.
``Many of us were very fearful we were about to create something that was a little too - that would overwhelm the rural character of Southwest Virginia.''
Now, Blankenship says, the Forest Service has not developed the area enough, mostly because of lack of money. More educational and interpretive programs would probably bring more people to the area, though there's ``still a concern that they have a sleeping giant on their hands.''
by CNB