A lawsuit filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) on January 8th seeks to reverse the Trump administration’s elimination of critical safeguards that have protected national forests from unneeded, ill-conceived and destructive logging, road building, and utility right-of-way projects. The U.S. Forest Service – under orders from President Trump to sell more publicly owned […]
Advocacy
FOB Signs on to Wildlife Recovery and Public Lands Letter to Biden
Friends of Blackwater has signed onto a letter to President-Elect Biden as his team begins to address the COVID-19 public health crisis and develop an economic recovery plan, requesting the creation of long-term conservation and restoration jobs. The US can overcome this economic downturn while protecting and restoring our unique natural resources, including biodiversity, and […]
FOB Submits Comments to Protect WV Freshwater Mussels
On December 28th, Friends of Blackwater and 66 signees submitted the following petition language to the US Fish & Wildlife Service, requesting an increase in protection for three WV freshwater mussel species: “The long-solid and round hickory-nut mussels are on the brink of extinction, and have been forced out of most of their habitat due […]
Upper Cheat Project- Virtual Public Meetings
We are very concerned about a Forest Service plan in the works called the Upper Cheat River project. It covers 86,138-acres, nearly 10% of the entire Monongahela National Forest, and is located north of Parsons in Tucker, Barbour, and Preston Counties in the Upper Cheat River watershed. Within this project area are older growth forests, […]
FOB Comments on USFS Grassy Ridge Timbering Project
On October 29th, Friends of Blackwater and the Center for Biological Diversity sent comments to Mon Forest Cheat/Potomac district ranger Jon Morgan about the proposed Grassy Ridge project. FOB and the Center are primarily concerned with the proposed project’s impacts to West Virginia Northern Flying Squirrel (WVNFS)and their habitat. First, the project’s proposal to clear […]
Meet Cheyenne, FOB’s New Executive Assistant!
Hi! Allow me to introduce myself to this beautiful community. My name is Cheyenne Carter. Raised outside of Elkins I have been skiing, hiking, biking, boating, horseback riding, and foraging in this area since I was a little girl. When it was time to go to college I left for Southern Maine Community College for […]
Keystone NPDES Online Public Hearing September 16th
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Mining and Reclamation, 47 School Street, Suite 301, Philippi, WV 26416, will hold an online Public Hearing from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM on Wednesday, September 16, 2020 as result of the comments and petition signatures submitted by Friends of Blackwater and you! The conference may […]
Great American Outdoors Act Becomes Law!
On August 4th, the President signed the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) into law. The GAOA is groundbreaking legislation that will improve trails, campgrounds, and other recreation in public lands across the United States. Now that it has become law, the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund will be created and the Land […]
Southern Partners Fund Highlights FOB in “Grantee Spotlight”
As part of their ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic, over the past few months Southern Partners Fund – a community foundation based in Atlanta, GA that supports grassroots community organizations in pursuit of racial, economic, and environmental justice – has been graciously promoting the organizations they work with via email and their website. Southern […]
FOB Opposes the Litigation Relief for Forest Management Projects Act
Friends of Blackwater recently signed onto a letter drafted by the Center for Biological Diversity that opposes S. 4057, the Litigation Relief for Forest Management Projects Act. This bill would compromise species protected by the Endangered Species Act by exempting the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management from consulting with scientists when new […]