On April 10th, a bipartisan group of Senators led by Senator Manchin introduced a bill to guarantee permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The bill, which they are naming the Land and Water Conservation Fund Permanent Funding Act would fund this vital program at a level of $900 million. The Land and Water […]
Six West Virginia conservation groups submitted a letter to Sentor Manchin this week asking the Senator to oppose David Bernhardt’s confirmation as Secretary of the Interior. Manchin is a potential swing vote, with a prominent position on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. You can read the full letter here. Friends of Blackwater, the West […]
On March 26th, the Charleston Gazette-Mail ran a letter from Friends of Blackwater’s Director Judy Rodd, about the importance of protecting the Endangered Species Act: “The federal Endangered Species Act protects West Virginia’s “wild and wonderful” creatures. Now, proposed regulations from the Trump administration would delay protection, and make other harmful changes. Sens. Manchin and […]
The United States Forest Service has ruled against a proposal to build a massive industrial pumped storage facility on the edge of the Blackwater Canyon, earning praise from the conservation group Friends of Blackwater. In a letter dated March 4, 2018, Monongahela National Forest Supervisor Shawn Cochran ruled that the proposal by Freedomworks, LLC was […]
On February 26th, the United States House passed a comprehensive public lands bill that included permanent authorization for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The bill also included an official designation of the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area in West Virginia. The Senate had passed the same bill on February 12th. All of West […]
On February 12th, the U.S. Senate passed a comprehensive public lands bill, including permanent authorization for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The LWCF is a popular program that has funded conservation projects around the country. In our local area, the connector trail from Blackwater Falls State Park to Davis was made possible by […]
Despite snowy roads that kept some people stuck at home, two public meetings on the proposed Tucker County pumped storage garnered high turnout this week. The County Development Authority and Planning Commission had a number of technical questions about how the project would purchase power and generate revenue. Freedomworks is still working on making agreements […]
On December 29th, the Charleston Gazette-Mail ran an article recounting the controversy that has sprung up around a pumped storage facility planned for Tucker County. The article included quotes submitted by concerned environmental organizations, including Friends of Blackwater, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, and the West Virginia Rivers Coalition. Although they were not quoted in […]
This past spring, citizens made clear that commercial timbering in state parks was not an acceptable solution for the parks’ maintenance backlog. Now, with a new legislative session on the horizon, people are thinking about alternative funding sources that could be used to preempt any more bad ideas from the legislature. Recently, Robert Beanblossom, who […]
We just found out that the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge will not be moving forward with commercial timbering. Thank you to everyone who participated in the comment period! The press release we put out on this good news is below. You can also read the Refuge’s response to comments here. The Canaan Valley National […]
