To join us for any of these outings, please sign up with the trip leader, who can give you more information. Please contact your trip leader and reserve your spot at least two weeks in advance. In doing so, you may learn critical details about the outing. For instance, all available spots may be taken or the trip leader may cancel an outing if an insufficient number of people have signed up.
Our outings vary greatly in difficulty, scenery and type. Groups average between five and ten people, though we have as many as twenty people on some outings. Lower group numbers tend to provide a better experience for everyone. Trip leaders exercise a great amount of flexibility as far as leadership style, foul weather rescheduling, daily route, etc. Please be considerate of your trip leader and follow his/her instructions.
If you are interested in leading an outing please contact Dave Saville, volunteer Outings Committee Chairperson, at daves@labyrinth.net or 304 692-8118
Open Dates: Visit Kayford Mountain south of Charleston to see mountain top removal (MTR) up close and hear. Call in advance to schedule. Julian Martin (304) 342-8989; martinjul@aol.com or Danny Chiotos cell 304-886-3389 ; office 304-205-0920
September 13, 2014 - Red Spruce Ecosystem Restoration, Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Join us as we continue our efforts to restore the red spruce ecosystem in the West Virginia Highlands. This tree planting event will take place on the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge. We will meet at the Refuge Headquarters and Visitor Center at 9 am. Following an orientation about the red spruce ecosystem and our work to restore it we will car pool to the restoration site. Come dressed for the weather, wear sturdy shoes or boots and bring gloves. Lunch will be provided. Please RSVP! For more information, visit www.restoreredspruce.org, or contact Dave Saville at daves@labyrinth.net, or 304 692-8118.
The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy
Initiates a New Public Lands Outing Program
by David W. Saville, Chair, Public Lands Committee
A new Highlands Conservancy program, This Land is Your Land, will be spending a day or more each month in 2013 to explore, and learn more about our public lands.
The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy has a long and rich history of advocating for the protection and wise management of our public lands. That history is equally as rich in giving back to these lands through service projects to protect and restore them. West Virginia is not particularly rich in public lands, but it does have a good diversity and distribution.
Who manages these lands that belong to all of us? What agencies are responsible? What is the difference between the Park Service and the Forest Service? What laws provide guidance to these agencies? How did we acquire these various lands and how can we acquire more of them? What are the current management issues and are they facing any threats? How can the public become involved and engaged in their management? How can we work to benefit them and ascertain a long and healthy future for them?
These are just a few of the questions that the Public Lands Committee’s new program can help Highlands Conservancy members, and the public, discover the answers to. The Program will assemble a dynamic calendar of events, published in the Highlands Voice each month and at www.wvhighlands.org, where we will visit, explore, and discuss the issues facing our various public lands. The events will generally include informational meetings with the area’s managers, and they will also include an outing to explore or restore some of the wonders of that particular area of our land. Some events will include discussions of public lands issues and activities of the Highlands Conservancy’s Public Lands Committee.
Our first event will be a service project at the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, April 20 & 21, where we will be volunteering to help restore the red spruce ecosystem by planting seedlings. Below is the current calendar of events, and more will be added as the year progresses.
Because, from West Virginia’s highest Point, at Spruce Knob, to its lowest, at Harper’s Ferry, This Land was Made for You and Me!
More places to find outings
White Grass Ski Touring Center Events page http://whitegrass.com/events.html.
The Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, http://www.fws.gov/canaanvalley/calendar.html
Coopers Rock Foundation has outings, http://coopersrock.org/events/
West Virginia Botanic Garden events and outings, http://www.wvbg.org/
New River Gorge National River http://www.nps.gov/neri/planyourvisit/events.htm
It’s never too early to start planning those spring time hikes ——
and never too late to plan a winter trek through your favorite snowy
path……Please consider leading an outing and sharing one of your
favorite places on the MON with others.
Contact Dave Saville
daves@labyrinth.net
or 304 692-8118
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