Working to protect West Virginia’s High Alleghenies, Blackwater River & Blackwater Canyon.
February 2013
501 Elizabeth Street - Charleston, WV 25311 - phone: 304-345-3460 -
Friends of Blackwater
FOB Files Appeal #2 to Protect Ginny 2New Website to Protect National Forests from Fracking 2Non Profit Highlight: New Historic Thomas 3Winter Film Festival 3Leonard Harris Receives "Living the Dream" Award 3FOB's Wonderful 2012 Donors 4-5Allegheny Front Fall Migration 6Spring Party in Canaan 6Comments Needed for Whooping Cranes 6Potomac Highlands Food & Farm Initiative 6Petition 6Snug & Smug with Solar Power 7Goodbye to Ben 8Join FOB on Park's Slopes 8
FOB FILES APPEAL #2 TO PROTECT GINNY ON MON NATIONAL FORESTUPPER GREENBRIER BATS THREATENED TOO!
On Jan 14, 2013, Friends of Blackwater filed an administrative appeal of the United States Forest Service’s recent Decision Notice on the proposed Upper Greenbrier North Timber Project.
The proposed project is located near the towns of Durbin and Frank, the former home of the National Science Academy. This is an area with prime habitat for “Ginny,” the West Virginia Northern Flying Squirrel. This is an area where there are major endangered bat cave systems. This is an area that lies between two National Natural Landmarks -- Gaudineer Knob Scenic Area and Blister Swamp.
The streams in this region are famous for a stunning array of rare aquatic species, such as the newly discovered Greenbrier crayfish, native brook trout populations, the candy darter, and the eastern hellbender.
Our appeal asks the Service to protect all of Ginny’s habitat, and to protect threatened bats, who are being decimated by white-nose syndrome. The Fish and Wildlife Service
and the Forest Service are required by law to protect these species in crisis -- but nothing is being done to respond to this plague except to count the bodies!!
The Forest Service describes the proposed project as “red spruce restoration.” Regrettably, this claim is baloney -- an excuse for logging, under the cover of a popular idea. The Upper Greenbrier North proposal does not include one cent for any of the red spruce planting that Friends of Blackwater has always supported. Instead, “restoration” work would be logging, girdling and otherwise eradicating hardwood trees often using poisonous sprays. These are the very trees that endangered creatures depend on for food and shelter.
Some parts of the proposed Upper Greenbrier North Project are good -- such as stream restoration and closing roads that cause erosion. Also, thanks to strong citizen
pressures, the Forest Service has reduced (for now) the acreage of timbering in West Virginia Flying Squirrel habitat.
FOB may go to court, if our appeal can’t get some compromise on the Project.
Please join us by signing our petition asking the Forest Service to do the right thing. See page 6.
NEW WEBSITE HELPS CITIZENS PROTECT EASTERN NATIONAL FORESTS FROM FRACKING
Friends of Blackwater formed the Eastern Forests Gas Drilling Working Group (EFG) a year and a half ago to push back against fracking for gas on our public lands. We received major support from the Colcom Foundation. Information and strategies are shared on how to block destructive gas drilling on public lands in the east. National conservation groups and local forest advocates participating are Friends of Blackwater, West Virginia Trout Unlimited, Virginia Forest Watch, Allegheny Defense Project, Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), Heartwood, the Buckeye Forest Council, American Rivers (DC &PA), the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Penn Futures, Wild Virginia, and
The Center for Biological Diversity, and forest advocates from Arkansas. FOB coordinates bi-monthly conference calls.
Much of our collaboration and advocacy work will be reflected in our on-line “A Guide to Stop Fracking from Damaging Our Eastern National Forests”. The Guide will be available in an on-line format. The website explains to advocates what tools they have when fracking comes to their forest. It highlights Case Studies from citizens working to protect national forests in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Arkansas, and Alabama. These examples show a growing movement of citizen advocates dedicated to protecting the woods, watersheds and wildlife on our public lands.
The site also has links to related websites, reports and fact sheets with information on endangered species, drinking water and maps showing National Forests state by state. We had help putting the Guide together from Earthworks and the Land and Water Fund of the Rockies who allowed us to use excerpts from their booklet “Preserving Our Public Lands, a Citizens Guide to Understanding and Participating
in Oil and Gas Decisions Affecting Our Public Lands” for our section on the law and citizen actions. The National Resource Defense Council created the maps used in the Guide. We expect to finish the on-line version of the Guide by the end February 2013. Go to the FOB website for a link at www.saveblackwater.org
The new website demonstrates the success of dedicated local groups challenging gas drilling projects. The momentum created by Eastern National Forests Working Group has slowed down a rush to degrade our public lands with new oil and gas wells. But there is much more work to be done and our successes and determination need to be widely publicized. More advocates need to be recruited into the ENF working group network. We believe this project could easily be expanded to cover all the impacted national forests in the east. Growing the movement will cause politicians and agency officials to take a second look before permitting degradation of our special places. Please let us know what you would like added to this Fracking Website. Send suggestions to [email protected]
See more damage from gas drilling at www.wvsoro.org
February 2013
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NON-PROFIT HIGHLIGHT: NEW HISTORIC THOMAS
LEONARD HARRIS RECEIVES THE MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. “LIVING THE DREAM” AWARD!
Leonard Harr is is a Mart insburg businessperson, community leader, and activist. In 2012, Leonard Harris and his wife Helen graciously hosted and partnered with Friends of Blackwater’s “J.R. Clifford Project” -- in the Project’s educational work in the Eastern Panhandle.
Leonard Harris was recently honored by the WV Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Commission with the Commission’s annual “Living the Dream” Award. Harris’ award was announced at the Commission’s annual Banquet, held in Charleston, WV on January 12, 2013.
Harris is a founder and volunteer director of the Sumner-Ramer African American School Museum, located in Martinburg’s historic Ramer Center, where Blackwater Hero J.R. Clifford (1848-1933) was once a school principal.
Clifford, like Harris, was also a Martinsburg businessman. After working as a teacher and school principal, Clifford became a newspaper publisher and then West Virginia’s first African American attorney. Clifford brought a famous civil rights legal case in 1894 for an African American Blackwater Canyon/Tucker County schoolteacher, Carrie Williams.
Clifford obtained a landmark ruling from the West Virginia Supreme C o u r t t h a t helped protect a n d p r o m o t e e d u c a t i o n a l opportunity for African American West Virginians.
Leonard Harris and his wife Helen own the Harris Community Care home care business, located in Martinsburg and Romney. The Harrises were key players in helping the
J.R. Clifford Project put on our “A New Home for Liberty” living history drama in in October 2012 in Shepherdstown. Helen’s beautiful voice riveted the audience!
Congratulations to Leonard and Helen on the occasion of this award!
New Historic Thomas (“NHT”) was founded in 1996 with a focus on improving and preserving t h e h i s t o r y of Thomas. A group of new members have a list of ambitious new pro jects including, fixing up old buildings, working on the Veterans and Miners Memorial Park, planning a riverfront park, and beautifying Front Street. Recently the group was awarded a WV Brownfield Focus Plus grant, to further develop a plan forthe Thomas Riverfront. This grant will allow the group to start actual development. For more information on NHT please stop by one of the many great businesses on Front Street for a brochure; Thomas postcards and buttons are also available for a small donation. NHT meets the first Monday of every month at 6:30pm in the Conference Room on the second floor of the Thomas Education Center. Newcomers always welcome. For more info you can visit their website at newhistoricthomas.com.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH – FREE J.R. ClIFFORD MATERIALS:
The J.R. Clifford Project is celebrating February’s “Black History Month” by giving out free posters and coloring books on the life and lessons of John Robert Clifford (1848-1933 -- a great West Virginia hero). For more information contact the J.R. Clifford Project of /Friends of Blackwater at 304-345-7663 or send an e-mail to [email protected]. View all of our teaching tools at www.jrclifford.org.
You can also stop by and visit The J.R. Clifford P r o j e c t o n February 21, 2013 at History Day at the West Virginia S t a t e Cap i t o l from 9am-2pm and get our FREE materials there.
SaturdayFebruary 16, 2013
6pmat the
Tip Top CafeThomas, WV
•Skiing the Void •Further•Alaska Wilderness Classic•A Story of Trust •Denali Experiment•Freedom Chair•Unicorn Sashimi
Leonard Harris
suggested donation
$!0.00 per person
A fundraiser for Friends of Blackwater
Helen Harris
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February 2013
Porte Crayon SocietyDonna & Carroll CookLuanne McGovernAmelia & Bob McPeakFlorence MillarRafe & Lenore PomeranceTom & Judy RoddEmily SchoenbaumPeter ShoenfieldAnnette TannerGreg & Maria WhiteakerElizabeth Zimmermann
Maurice BarnettKen Bosworth & Mary HofleRobert CoughlinDavid & Trecla DeterichDiana DoveGianpiero & Teresa ForcinaSteven GarskeKevin GeiselmanKevin GeorgeTerry GilbertLouise GilloolyNathan GivensJanice HallBarry & Sassi HarelNancy HarrisonRoger & Rose HutzellDouglas & Linda JohnsonCharles & Adella LanghamStephen & Elizabeth LawsonMark LeesonLawrence & Stephanie LowdenLowell & Terri MarkeyKent MasonThomas & Judith McHughWilliam & Denise McNeelWoody NaasJulia & Joseph NeenanLauren PackAnn & John PalaitisRosalie PitnerPaul & Marsha H RexrodeJean RodmanWilliam RogersCatherine SamargoRebekah SinkBob SmytheJohn & Vicki StansburyLeah SternJudith & Robert StitzelSidney & Barbara TedfordMike TurnerJim & Judy Van GundyBrent WarnerBuddy WatkinsAlice WhiteRuth WilkinsonWayne WolframCindy & David Yazvac
DonorsJago
Paula AbelowCynthia Adam & Scoot PahlowMartin AlbertCharlotte AllisonTerry AndersonRaymond ArnoldPaul AtkinsFrances BailesJo Ann BarlowFrank & Deborah BashamJoel BeaneA. & Joan BelcherRalph BellCharles & Margaret BiggsDenise BirchJeb Booth & Simon CollisDennis BoylesPatricia & Matthew BurkettRobert BurkholderJohn CannonFrederick CarterMartha ChestemWilliam CloerNoble & Margaret ConnerMary CorrinSuzanne CovelloJames & Carmella CrawfordBill CsutorosGeorge De AtleyWallace & Kathleen Ross- DeanEdmund DomboskiSharon DurrBarbara EarlTom & Alice EastmanEvelyn EbbertRichard & Janet EberSally EganGertrude EhrlichPatty EllermanDianne EnglishKaren FedorovDorris FrissellRamsey FristJesse GandeeSara GannLydia GarveyClaire & Paul GesalmanEric GibsonLillian & Patrick GieseMark Giese
Betty GjesdalHullet & Shirley GoodElissa GordonBenton GrimmG & E GuidottiWalter & Sharon GuinnNate GwinnRoianne & Thomas HackettMark & Sally HallClifford & Eleanor HamrickMary HardmanJohn & Ann HargroveLeslie & Linda HatfieldJill HayesDiane HertEdward HigbeeRichard HitchcockJames & Patricia HowardWilliam & Mary JamesDouglas & Karen JaslowGreta & Steven JohnstonKenneth & Janice KassermanCarole KellerJanice KinsolvingChristopher KirkmanElizabeth KollerGail & Charles KramerRobert & Mary Lu LatanePatricia LawsonJennifer LerczakLetty LimbachJohn & Jane LindsayAlice LongRobert LynchRic MacDowellBrian & Antionette MaggiedRobert & Joy MarkleyDonna MartinDavid MaxwellShirley MayfieldChristina McCutcheonJim McIntyreNathaniel MillerPaul MintonDorothy MontgillionWilliam MontgomeryWilliam & Elinor MooreMary MorganJames MurrayThomas & Doris MyersMarilyn Newlon-Cole
Eric & Shelley NilsonRobert PaviourJeff PayneHarry PetersonPerrie Lee ProutyDiane Quinlin-ScottElizabeth ReadJanet & Bill Reger-NashRose RiterJohn & Betty RobertsJames & Roberta RoushLarry Rowe & Julia BeuryAlan RudleyTeri RuppenthalFred & Elizabeth SampsonElaine SappRonald SchaeferLaura & Dave SchmidtRoberta SchoenMidge SchraderDon SchwerBecky ShafferDon & Martha ShearerJoan SimsCarol SmithLawrence SmithMaria StalloAleen StarkweatherJudith SteelMaria StegallLeon StineMark SturwoldWilliam Styer & Anna GerigMary SullivanJohn TaylorDarlene ThompsonWaino TuominenIrma UllrichJerry & Jean WagenerGarry WalczewskiRobert WardJohn WarrenMichael WebbStephen & Susie WellonsRobert WilliamsKristina WindomRobert & Autumn WoolingJean WorthleyBarbara & Albert YandekCharles Yoho
Friends of Blackwater's Wonderful Donors for 2012 - Thank You!
We mourn the passing of Don Gasper & Bob Gates.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is considering issuing the first-ever Incidental Take Permit to a industrial wind project for
endangered Whooping Cranes and threatened Piping Plovers. If FWS grants the permit, the Merricourt Wind Power Project in North Dakota would be protected from prosecution under the
Endangered Species Act (ESA) for killing Whooping Cranes and Piping Plovers.
Comments are urgently needed for three reasons: 1) FWS has failed to give the public adequate notice on an important endangered species
issue, 2) the agency is only preparing an Environmental Assessment for a precedent-setting take permit of significant environmental impact, and 3) there are fewer than 400 individual Whooping Cranes left in the wild.
The Merricourt Wind Project proposes to build 100 turbines within a 22,400 acre project area and build 33 miles of access roads. FWS has advised the project developer that the wetland stopover habitat in the project area is critical to the survival and recovery of the Whooping Crane.
If your group would like to sign on to the comment letter, please visit www.saveblackwater.org for more information.
UPDATES
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February 2013
Name
Address
City, State, Zip
Phone
E-mail
Tell the Monongahela NF to Protect Ginny and our Bats
Allegheny Front Migration Observatory (AFMO) is located at Dolly Sods, Grant County, WV, 10 miles southeast of Davis, high on the top of the Allegheny Front. This was the 55th consecutive year of bird banding at AFMO. A total of 6,218
were banded this year. The 250,000th bird banded in the history of AFMO was banded on September 27, 2012. During the flyover count, Todd
Schnopp, Jeff & Sheila Berry, Tom Fox, Elizabeth Ritter, Maggi Perl, LeJay Graffious, Bob Dean, Joan Pattison and other observers,
counted birds on all but 6 days when the station was closed due to bad weather. Counts were conducted from August 10-October 5, 2012. Thanks AFMO volunteers!
Tucker Community Foundation, in partnership with Tucker County Extension Services, Tucker County Convention Visitors Bureau and the Tucker County Development Authority has hired Kimmy Clements of Davis as Project Coordinator for the Potomac Highlands Food and Farm Initiative (PHFFI), to promote the regional food and farm economy.
Clements, has created gourmet meals at TipTop and White Grass Café from locally grown foods. The food and farm initiative developed through meetings with community developers, business owners, growers, farmers, and educators. Funding for the program includes in-kind support from program partners, funds from Tucker Community Foundation, and a $75,000 grant from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation. The Office for PHFFI is in the “Run For It Headquarters” next to the Friends of Blackwater Office in Davis. Phone: 304-259-5388 or e-mail [email protected].
POTOMAC HIGHLANDS FOOD & FARM INITIATIVE
ALERT: COMMENTS URGENTLY NEEDED TO PROTECT WHOOPING CRANES AND PIPING PLOVERS AT WIND PROJECTBY AMERICAN BIRD CONSERVANCY
We believe The Upper Greenbrier North Timber Project is bad for Ginny the flying squirrel and the fragile bat populations threatened with white-nose syndrome. This beautiful area between Gaudineer Knob and Blister Swamp should remain untouched. LEAVE IT ALONE!!!
ALLEGHENY FRONT MIGRATION, FALL 2012
PETITION:
YOU’RE INVITED!
Kimmy Clements
UPDATES
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February 2013
So hate me. All around me, millions of people are losing electric power as trees and other inappropriate objects crash down on powerlines. It doesn’t matter anymore what storm it is. At least three recent storms of apocalyptic dimensions have slammed into the east coast, and more record-breaking ferocity is being predicted. Traffic lights don’t work. Stores can’t process credit/debit cards. Gas stations can’t pump gas. Roads are blocked and relief supplies can’t get through. Favorite TV reality shows go unwatched as the real world intrudes.
But we don’t miss a show, the husband and I, although in actual fact we usually watch old movies on DVDs as storms thump outside. During the searing heat after last June’s notorious wind that caused power outages for weeks, we sat in the breeze of our little fan. During the various winter blizzards that loaded lines with snow and ice, we sat in the warmth of our gas furnace. And not even Superstorm Sandy turned off our TV.
Instead, time after time, for a few hours to several days as the entire region was paralyzed, the husband and I simply went about our business mostly – an important caveat -- as usual. Powered by seventeen grid-connected solar panels on the roof and eight sealed lead-acid batteries in the basement that instantaneously take over when the grid goes down, we watched news, listened to radio, took a quick shower and read in bed, to the hum of the refrigerator/freezer.
Solar panel costs have plunged by 80% in
SNUG AND SMUG WITH SOLAR POWER:Keeping On The Sunny Side of the Storms by Chris Bolgiano for Bay Journal News Service
the past five years. What the industry calls the “soft costs” of installing and connecting photovoltaic panels has dropped roughly 30% since 1998, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. A 30% federal tax credit applies until 2016, and some states offer additional tax incentives.
When Walmart goes solar, you know it’s cheap: the world’s biggest box store now boasts the country’s biggest business capacity at 65,000 kilowatts, with Costco second and Kohl’s Department Stores third. Maybe such stores can serve as emergency shelters in future storms, using solar electricity to provide drinking water, food and ways to cook it, sanitary disposal of wastes, shelter against extremes of weather, and lots of toys to keep dangerous boredom at bay. They could provide a form of community security unique to our consumerist era.
But I prefer a less centralized approach better suited to the American spirit of independence. Thousands of panels in suburbs and exurbs, neighborhoods and communities, on urban condos and office buildings, farms and businesses, schools and hospitals, retirement homes, community centers, gas stations and quick stops, would make our communities resilient in the face of disaster.
Producing your own power is true independence, but all power has its limits. The limit of solar power lies in batteries, which are still expensive, large, and heavy. Designing a solar system to sustain your household when the grid goes down is a lesson in needs versus wants. These become clarified
when, for example, you are thirsty in a flood, or hungry with a refrigerator full of decaying food.
So, what do you give up to have your basic needs met at home for a reasonable p r i ce dur ing the Duration? Running a heat pump or central a i r cond i t i on ing . Cooking on an electric s tove. Bubb l ing in a hot tub. Any appliance requiring 240 volts rather than
the usual 120 may draw more electricity than is practical to supply.
But you can design a system that will run a household water pump, a gas or oil burning furnace, refrigerator, lights (preferably CFs or LEDs), radio, computers, and TV. You can recharge cell phones and iPods. Not necessarily all at once, but if you time your activities in rhythm with the sun and allow the batteries to recharge, you can not only survive but gloat over your foresight.
Batteries can also be recharged by a gasoline generator if stormy weather persists or night drags on. This uses far less gasoline than if the generator ran the house directly. A gas-powered grill can cook emergency meals. A kerosene heater can keep you from freezing. Multiple backup systems spread out a safety net.
One lesson to be learned from our recent storms is that buildings should be built better and in better places. Buildings of all kinds use nearly 70% of the electricity generated in this country. Solar panels now offer a practicable step toward more sustainable communities with buildings that make, use, and keep some of their own power on site.
Granted, we’re lucky that hurricanes and tornadoes haven’t ripped off our roof. That could still happen, and would put us back to the old stand-bys of bottled water, canned sardines, and the kindness of strangers. In solidarity with those reduced to such a plight, we light a candle as we watch the ongoing coverage of the latest storm on TV.
---Chris Bolgiano has written or edited six books, several of which have won literary prizes. Visit www.chrisbolgiano.com
Chris, pictured at right is a nature writer who lives in the GW National Forest in VA. She supports our High Allegheny National Park Initiative.
Solar panels on Friends of Blackwater’s Davis Office.
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February 2013NON-PROFIT ORG
U. S. POSTAGEP A I D
PERMIT NO. 1409CHAS WV 25301
501 Elizabeth Street - Charleston, WV 25311
Address Service Requested
Canaan Valley’s brand new tubing center is now open. Visitors to Canaan Valley State Park will now be able to enjoy up to 12 lanes for tubing this winter. The new center opened on January 11th and is part of the Park's infrastructure investments, including the expansion of the lodge. Tubing is available in two hour sessions, seven days a weeks during the season; hours depend on the day so please check their website at www.canaanvalley.org. The new center is another great way to enjoy the High Alleghenies!
Goodbye from Ben!Words rarely do an experience justice. When I first drove into Davis with my car full and no idea what I was driving into I hardly imagine the experience I would have throughout the year (I was more worried about finding a warm bed to sleep in on a snowy February night). These magic mountains have taught me many lessons over the past year but there are two that strike home the most; my little car has no business going off road and more importantly that people and not things are what make memories memorable. Though it is easy to think that what makes Tucker Country such a special place is the beautiful scenery, but spend even the slightest time sitting in Mountain State Brewery or out at White Grass and you will quickly find yourself mistaken. The work I’ve done at the North Fork Watershed Project would not nearly be as rewarding if not for the friends I have made along the way. I was immediately welcomed into this crazy area, not without a few tests to make sure I could cut it here, and quickly learned for the first time what a true community is!! THANKS EVERYONE!
Birds and Bats Threatened on the Mon! page 2, petition page 6
Join FOB on Park's Slopes!
Let's Go Tubing!Ken Caplinger, Chief of WV's State Parks enjoys tubing at Canaan
