The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Local News

November 9, 2009

1,500 Fayette acres sold to conservation group

By Jessica Farrish

Around 1,500 acres on Beury Mountain in Fayette County were sold last Friday to a conservation group, according to Jim Woltz, president of Woltz and Associates in Roanoke, Va.

Located just north of Thurmond, the seven tracts adjoin the New River Gorge National River. Woltz, a real estate broker and auctioneer for the company, declined to name the conservation group Monday because the sale is not yet final.

According to NPS Deputy Superintendent Deborah Darden, the land cannot become part of the park, barring an act of Congress. The park service is bound by the Proclamation Boundary, set by Congress, and may not acquire ground outside the boundary. “The land is outside the boundaries so we cannot acquire it,” said Darden. “The land is going to go into conservation; it’s just not park ownership.”

Darden said she didn’t know which group had purchased the tracts or whether park visitors would be given access to the acres by the new owner.

Local people had raised concerns in the past about possible timbering or development on the acres.

Woltz said the gorge viewshed should not be impacted by the sale. Woltz and Associates will offer more acreage for auction Saturday at Tamarack.

Woltz had already advertised the Beury Mountain tracts for auction when he agreed to sell instead to the conservationists.

“We hope we haven’t inconvenienced any of the potential bidders,” said Woltz. “We typically don’t withdraw any properties once it starts down the advertising road.

“In this case, we felt we should,” he said. “But there are lots of other really, really good tracts left.”

The properties belong to Cranberry Hardwoods Inc. Woltz said around 4,400 acres will be auctioned, including a Fayette County tract near Plum Orchard Lake.

The lots include five tracts of around 583 acres near the Pluto/Bragg exit of Interstate 64 in Raleigh County, which hosts more than 2 million feet of saw timber; four tracts of 475 acres in Greenbrier County, which includes excellent hunting and hardwood timber; two more tracts of 797 and 472 acres with a stream in Greenbrier County; and eight standalone tracts in Fayette, Raleigh and Greenbrier counties, ranging from around 10 to 145 acres.

“All this land is valuable timber land,” said Woltz. “It’s been managed and timbered and probably will continue to be so. A good timber management plan actually produces a healthier forest than one that doesn’t have that.”

Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m. at Tamarack. Potential bidders must bring a driver’s license for identification. The auction will start at 11 a.m.

More information is available at www.woltz.com and at 1-800-551-3588.

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