By Amelia A. Pridemore
Register-Herald Reporter
BECKLEY — The National Park Service has released five New River Gorge National River management proposals, but park officials are still seeking input from citizens before any plan is put in place.
The NPS has conducted open houses in Hinton, Beckley and Fayetteville, displaying five proposed general management plans for the park. Debbie Darden, deputy superintendent of the national river, noted that public comments are still being accepted.
Comments must be received by April 2.
“The park is owned by the people of the United States of America,” she said. “It is your park, so please let us know what you want to see in it.”
Darden explained that officials at all national parks devise plans for parks’ overall directions every 15 to 20 years. Much of the plans revolve around what can be done to benefit nearby residents or visitors.
Citizens’ desires included more trails, specifically ones that are in a loop. They also wanted more river access and more land kept “primitive.”
Park service officials began meeting with consultants in 2005, and the first public meeting was in January 2006, she said.
All five plans allow hunting, Darden said.
A proposed plan called “Exploration Experiences” is the preferred option, Darden said, because much of it is based on public input. It includes a trail that goes through the park’s length. It would start at Hawk’s Nest and end in Hinton. That trail, she noted, would be a “long-term dream” dependent on available funding. The plan, though, enables the park service to ask for that funding.
Other aspects of that plan include preserving primitive areas from end-to-end, dispersing cultural and interpretive resources, allowing visitors to explore communities in the gorge area, building partnerships with “gateway communities” and creating connectors to hiking/biking trails outside the park. Those trails outside the park include ones in the Gauley River National Recreation Area and the Bluestone National Scenic River.
Beckley resident Brian Simpson attended the open house at the Tamarack Wednesday. Simpson, a former whitewater guide, is an avid boater. He and his friends and family frequently utilize the park.
“We boat more than 100 days a year — even when there’s chunks of ice going down the river,” he said.
So far, he said, he is pleased with the park service’s plans.
Simpson said one of his biggest concerns is the federal government possibly limiting river access and charging for its use. There are some state entities elsewhere that do that, plus charge boaters at access points. He was pleased to see that this is not a part of the park service’s plans.
Areas such as ones between Meadow Creek and Sandstone, Simpson said, have very little access. But at the same time, people can camp there without large, noisy crowds. Simpson said developing that area more — but not heavily — is a plus, too.
Proposed trail updates could aid boaters more in emergencies, Simpson said. In an incident on the river, emergency responders could get to the shoreline faster.
Simpson took a CD-ROM with the full plan on it home Wednesday.
“I plan to dissect the disc, but I haven’t seen anything bad (so far),” he said.
Additional information and copies of the plan are available online at www.nps.gov/neri. Limited quantities of print copies and CDs can be requested by calling 304-465-6526.
Printed hard copies can be viewed at the following locations: NPS Headquarters in Glen Jean, Canyon Rim Visitor Center, Sandstone Visitor Center, Raleigh County, Summers County and Oak Hill public libraries.
Sending comments online at the park’s Web site is the preferred method. However, written comments may be sent to Superintendent Don Striker, New River Gorge National River, 104 Main St., Glen Jean, WV 25846.
— E-mail: apridemore@register-herald.com
