Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, September 18, 1995 TAG: 9509180117
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN MCCUE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Virginia Environmental Endowment included the money for the National Committee for the New River in its latest round of environmental grants around the state.
The river group will use the guide to broaden public awareness and involvement in planning for the protection of the New. Its chief project recently has been designing a "greenway master plan" for the river corridor in Giles County. The plan entails a series of public parks and private lands protected through voluntary conservation easements.
The endowment was set up in 1976 using funds from a $13.2 million fine against Allied Chemical, which was found to have polluted the James River with an insecticide called kepone. The endowment awards matching grants for environmental projects several time a year, and in its latest round gave a total of $329,220, including:
$17,130 to Virginia Military Institute Research Laboratories, which is preparing a manual and 12-minute video to help land managers prevent run-off, leaching and other "non-point" sources of water pollution.
$22,000 for the Clinch Powell Sustainable Development Initiative in Southwest Virginia. The money will help this organization increase the number of horse-logging firms and disseminate information about sustainable forestry practices to private timber lot owners, coordinate hiking and biking tours with tours of the horse logging operations and solar kilns, develop food processing plants and assess the market for locally made jams, sauces and other food.
$25,000 for a study of low-flow conditions in the Shenandoah River to help local governments determine appropriate water allocations for residential, agricultural and manufacturing uses.
$10,000 to the Virginia Housing and Environmental Network, which is embarking on a statewide campaign to educate professionals and the public about the economic and environmental benefits of building "green houses." The group will publish a directory and act as a clearinghouse for tips on energy conservation, environmentally safe building materials and other information.
Parkway plans
Separate community meetings will be held to unveil housing proposals from two developers along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Steve Musselwhite's plans for property on Mountain View Road will be available Sept. 27, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Vinton War Memorial. He submitted his proposal to Roanoke County earlier this summer, and is scheduled to go before the Planning Commission Oct. 3.
Len Boone's plans to develop about 200 acres of rolling pastureland, known as "the bowl," will be available at a community meeting Oct. 2 at Back Creek Elementary School from 7 to 9 p.m. Boone submitted his plans to the county earlier this month and likely will go before the Planning Commission in November.
Both developers worked with the National Park Service, renowned landscape architect Carlton Abbott - whose father Stanley helped design the scenic highway - county officials and a coalition of parkway promoters to come up with plans that blend with the rural scenery.
All the players will be available at the community meetings.
Damon sees the forest and the trees
Bill Damon, supervisor of the newly merged George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, will talk about the future of the 2 million-acre-plus forest which extends from the Shenandoah Valley into Southwest Virginia. Damon, who took the post just a few months ago, will discuss how the merger will affect management, the status of the forest plan revision, the proposal to route a four-lane U.S. 58 through the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area, and the impact of recent Congressional actions.
He will speak at the monthly meeting of the Roanoke River Group of the Sierra Club at 7 p.m. on Sept. 26 in the Science Museum Lecture Hall on the fifth floor of Center in the Square in downtown Roanoke. The public is invited, and there is no charge for admission.
by CNB