ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 30, 1996 TAG: 9610300006
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RONALD L. POFF
AS A LIFELONG citizen of Western Virginia and the father of two young adults, a high-school senior and a recently employed member of the business world, I have grave concerns about economic opportunities for youth who want to remain in this part of the state. My concern is based on long-range implications of the U.S. Forest Service recommendation of "no action" on American Electric Power's proposed 765-kv transmission line.
We should not take for granted that the infrastructure to support a strong economy will always be here. Reliable and reasonably priced electricity is an essential element of that infrastructure, our economy and the quality of life that we enjoy. Unfortunately, the Forest Service in its "no action" recommendation has taken the position that projects to maintain our infrastructure will not be considered if they impact the forest.
Competing interests are a way of life. Responsible citizens and managers must balance these interests, to the extent possible, for the greater good of the public.
As we deal with the inevitable competition between infrastructure such as highways and power lines and our natural environment, it's instructive to consider that the Jefferson National Forest extends for more than 218 miles from Pennington Gap to the James River and contains some 690,000 acres. Additionally, the Appalachian Trail meanders through Southwest Virginia paralleling our western border and extending from Maine to Georgia. The magnitude of federal lands in Western Virginia is second to none. No linear east-west project can reasonably avoid federal lands. Consequently, the philosophy with which the Jefferson National Forest and the Appalachian Trail are managed has a significant impact on the citizens of Western Virginia.
The Forest Service "no action" recommendation, if allowed to stand, will prevent construction of the Wyoming-Cloverdale power line. Yet the State Corporation Commission has found a "compelling need for additional electric capacity" to meet the needs of the citizens of Western Virginia. When the Forest Service and the Appalachian Trail take the position that gives little regard to the needs of the citizens who live in and around its holdings, there is a clear lack of balance.
In announcing the "no action" recommendation, the forest supervisor said that "the right and reasonable thing to do is to find some other way to meet whatever need we as a society may have for reliable sources of power."
I am troubled that the supervisor would say, in effect, "do something else" with a wave of the hand, without considering the social and economic consequences of that alternative. The U.S. Forest Service cannot ignore the fact that the national-forest system was established by our forefathers to be managed for multiple uses and not solely for the preservation of visual and aesthetic qualities.
To that end, the decision-making processes and management philosophies of the Forest Service and the Appalachian Trail must be carried out in such a way as to ensure that the economic vitality and quality of life of current and future citizens of Western Virginia are preserved and enhanced.
Managers of the forest and the trail should not allow tunnel vision to blind them to the needs of their neighbors. These neighbors deserve a forest management that strives to enhance Western Virginia for the benefit of all of us who live and work here.
Ronald L. Poff is project manager for American Electric Power's proposed 765-kv transmission line.
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