ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 12, 1996 TAG: 9602130056
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: The Green Scene
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE
Environmentalists appear to have galvanized a measure of support this session, and may pull off a number of successes in the General Assembly. One insider noted that conservation groups went on the offensive this year, working closely with legislators friendly to their cause to author a number of bills.
"We're in a new position this year. Industry is running around putting out our fires," the insider said.
The following is a highlight of last week's action. By the time you read this, House and the Senate committees will have met almost non-stop over the weekend to meet Tuesday's deadline for having acted on all the bills in their chamber. As this column is pre-printed, bear in mind that almost anything could have changed in the interim.
For more up-to-date information on these and other bills, call the Virginia Conservation Network hotline at (804) 644-3044, or the General Assembly's constituent services hotline at (800) 889-0229.
Bills that were still "alive" as of last Wednesday:
HB 1526: Eliminates the secretariat of natural resources.
HB 1532: Increases citizen standing and prohibits agency use of "guidance documents" in lieu of regulations.
HB 1412: Increases citizen standing.
HB 649: Establishes Abandoned Waste Site Authority and Fund to clean up dumps like Kim-Stan. Passed subcommittee.
SB 337: Reduces public participation in certain environmental permits regulations. Passed Senate committee, goes to full Senate.
HB 1031: Companion to SB 337.
HB 1095: Transfers the Natural Heritage Program to Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. (A companion bill in the Senate was all but killed.)
HB 1411: Requires detailed plans to reduce pollution in Chesapeake Bay tributaries.
HB 1535: Bans shooting of nongame or captive-bred animals in hunting preserves, including Boar Walla in Alleghany County, by 2001.
A statewide eco-directory
The Virginia Conservation Network has put out the first comprehensive directory of conservation groups throughout the commonwealth, ranging from local garden clubs to national lobbying groups located in D.C.
Broken down by regions, the directory gives each group's name, a contact, phone and fax numbers, and the group's mission or purpose.
In Western Virginia, for example, you can find the Roanoke Valley Bird Club, which is dedicated to the study and enjoyment of birds, their breeding and their habitats, as well as Citizens Organized to Protect the Environment, which is fighting American Electric Power's proposed power line through Giles County.
To order a copy, call the network at (804) 644-0283, or send a $4 check to VCN at 1001 East Broad St., Suite 410, Richmond, Va. 23219.
Parkway plans ready for public
Citizens are invited to a presentation of developer Len Boone's proposal for Wilshire, a planned community of more than 1,000 residences spread over 315 acres along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The presentation is scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Brambleton Teen Center across from Cave Spring Corners shopping center. The meeting has been postponed twice because scheduling conflicts and bad weather.
Boone's plan to build homes within sight of the national scenic highway spurred public fury several years ago and prompted a couple of lawsuits. Since last year, Boone has been working with parkway and Roanoke County officials to design a mutually agreeable development that meets housing market demands while blending with the rural landscape.
A key figure in the negotiations was Carlton Abbott, a Williamsburg architect whose father was a chief designer and first superintendent of the parkway.
Boone, Abbott, parkway officials and members of the county planning staff will discuss the plans for Wilshire. The proposal will likely go before the county Planning Commission on March 5.
For more information, call county planner Janet Scheid at 772-2094.
News from the forest
Also on Thursday, the U.S. Forest Service will hold its ninth annual public-involvement conference on Jefferson National Forest management issues. The conference is scheduled for 7 p.m. at forest headquarters at Valleypointe Parkway off Peters Creek Road in Roanoke.
The Jefferson recently merged with the George Washington National Forest; however, resources on the two forests are managed separately.
Anyone interested in the vast resources on the 1 million-acre forest in Western Virginia - from hiking to hunting to timber - is encouraged to attend. Forest officials will hold informal discussions on upcoming projects, new regulations, the forest budget and revisions to the management plan. There also will be updated maps of myriad resources in all the districts.
Virginia counties received $1.6 million from the Forest Service this year in payments from revenues collected from timber sales, grazing, recreation and mining on national forests. By law, the agency returns 25 percent of the revenues from those activities to counties, based on the number of acres of federal land.
This year's allocation is $774,000 more than last year's, due to increased value of timber products, said Bill Damon, supervisor of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests.
Roanoke County will receive $1,767; Montgomery $11,165; Bedford $10,795; Botetourt $46,993; Craig $66,416; and Giles $39,359.
Three Fredericksburg men were convicted last month for illegally dumping tires on national forest property near Augusta Springs. More than 1,200 tires were dumped in the fall of 1994. The men posed as businessmen who took used tires to a Richmond recycler. The men were ordered to remove the tires.
An anonymous tip from a local resident who noted curious activities in the middle of the night on forest lands alerted officials to the crime.
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