THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 23, 1996 TAG: 9604230352
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
Earth Day may have been started by liberal activists and students in 1970, but in conservative-led Virginia in 1996, there still is political room to recognize their legacy.
Instead of embracing ``Earth Day,'' however, Gov. George F. Allen and his secretary of natural resources, Becky Norton Dunlop, were celebrating their own concept Monday: ``Operation Spruce-Up.''
Now in its second year, the monthlong program in April encourages civic groups and other volunteers to clean up their communities, rather than waiting for government-hired workers to do it for them.
Funded solely by corporate donations, the program also stays clear of fixing blame for environmental woes and instead urges cooperation among citizens, business interests and government officials. Partnership replaces politics.
The state mailed out 10,000 brochures inviting participation this year, which resulted in about 150 environmental projects that will be under way or completed this month.
These included one at Chippokes Plantation State Park in Surry County, where Surry High School students planted trees to replace those damaged by storms this winter.
Across the James River in Hampton, another spruce-up project was held, this one bringing together college students and city officials to remove trash along the Hampton River.
``I see this as kind of parallel to Earth Day but with the same purpose,'' said Cheryl Cooper, an environmental relations officer at Hampton City Hall, who helped organize the cleanup with Hampton University.
``I mean, it's easy to point fingers and blame someone for your problems,'' she added, ``but it's a lot harder to get people out there doing the work. So I think this tracks real well with Earth Day.''
The program was conceived last year at the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, which wanted to spend April cleaning up its state parks, explained Paige Tucker, the program's volunteer coordinator.
Dunlop liked the idea and asked other state agencies to undertake similar house-cleaning projects. The Department of Historic Resources, for example, cleaned up several of its historic properties.
This year, more civic groups and colleges were asked to get involved, and next year the program will target businesses, Tucker said.
Dunlop infuriated environmentalists last year when she left the state to attend a political conference on the 25th anniversary of Earth Day, while also calling activist groups of today's environmental movement ``fear-mongers.''
This year, she stayed home. Dunlop traveled to Surry County Monday morning for the Chippokes event, then drove back to Richmond for an Earth Day rally in which she presented volunteers with good-stewardship certificates signed by her and the governor.
One activist, who was distributing a newspaper article about Dunlop's comments last year, described her public appearances Monday as hollow.
``My whole reaction is that she was there because the Allen administration, and all these Gingrich Republicans, are getting the hell beat of them on environmental issues,'' said Albert Pollard, a lobbyist with the Sierra Club, which recently gave Dunlop its annual ``Eco-Zero'' award.
``Planting a tree or giving someone an award for planting a tree doesn't cut it when you press for legislation that grants polluters immunity,'' Pollard said, referring to a bill passed last year that shields businesses from revealing the findings of many of their own environmental investigations.
While many local schools celebrated Earth Day on its traditional date Monday, the cities of Norfolk and Virginia Beach will hold their big green bash May 5 at Mount Trashmore.
The region's two largest cities chose to move the date to the first Sunday in May several years ago, since events on April 22 were sparsely attended when they fell on weekdays.
For the first time this year, the Navy will send representatives to the Earth Show festival, said Ruby Arredondo, Virginia Beach's clean cities commission coordinator. The service usually celebrates the day on its own with smaller events at individual bases.
Nationally, President Clinton did his bit for Earth Day when he and Vice President Al Gore helped clear a flood-damaged canal, while House Speaker Newt Gingrich served as a tour guide for schoolchildren at a zoo.
Bob Dole, the Senate majority leader and certain GOP presidential nominee, asserted that the nation's environmental heritage ``was forged under Republican stewardship'' by such presidents as Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt and Richard Nixon.
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt said Americans' ``love affair'' with nature is putting a strain on national parks, while the Sierra Club accused the government of dumping toxic chemicals into the capital city's Anacostia River.
The president announced a series of actions he intends to take to boost the national parks system, which has been under severe strain because of an increased number of visitors. The package, National Parks for Tomorrow, would expand or obtain two prized properties in states that are pivotal to Clinton's re-election bid. MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this report. by CNB