As reported in last month’s Highlands Voice, the four-year-long campaign to protect the 10,000-acre Blackwater Canyon in Tucker County has begun to yield tangible and positive results.

Responding to intense public outcry, West Virginia Governor Bob Wise, in his State-of-the-State address in January, announced the State’s purchase of a crucial 500-acre parcel of land in the Canyon . This purchase will protect 500 acres of scenic river corridor, and will increase the size of Blackwater Falls State Park by one-third.

But West Virginia’s scenic "Crown Jewel" remains at grave risk.

The 2,775 remaining acres of privately owned land in the center of the Canyon could be logged, developed, or subdivided at any time.

This still-threatened land is the ecological and spiritual heart of the Blackwater Canyon: cliffs of weathered stone, covered with windswept laurel, spruce, and hemlock; pure bubbling streams running through moist green glens of maple, birch, and hickory; and perhaps most important of all, more than eight miles of the magnificent Blackwater River, filled with giant boulders and crashing whitewater.

This is a land of deep snows and jewel-like wildflowers – a land of bear, trout, raccoon, owl, shrew, deer, turkey, salamander and newt – and, of course, the West Virginia flying squirrel. This is a land where the hunter, the birder, the kayaker, and the fisherman come to enjoy the glorious web of Creation. The Blackwater Canyon is a sacred landscape – a place to lift and heal the spirit, and to pasture the soul.

Supporters of the Blackwater Canyon come from all walks of life. Two small-town doctors in Princeton, West Virginia are providing postcards in support of the Canyon for people to sign in their office. We hear every week from garden clubs and classes of school children -- wanting to share their love of the Blackwater Canyon.

When Melinda Skaggs’ mother, Wilma Wilcox, passed away, Melinda asked that friends donate to the Friends of Blackwater in her mother’s name. Melinda wrote and shared her memories of family outings to Blackwater with us:

Melinda’s words inspire us every day.

To work full-time on the Canyon campaign, we recently formed the non-profit Friends of Blackwater organization ("FOB"). The founding Board of Directors are Linda Cooper, Paul Hill, Judy Rodd, Sandy Fisher, Sheila McEntee and Jeannie Dalporto. Our FOB Advisory Board includes Rafe Pomerance, Larry Groce, Steve White, Leff Moore, Pat McGinley, Annie Dillard, Mary Moore & Joe Riffenberger, Jason Halbert, Al Karlin, Dave Hammer, Christopher Wood and Deborah McHenry.

With a grant from the Florence Fund, in 2001 FOB created and ran a state-of the art television, print, and direct mail campaign supporting "Special Place" designation for the Canyon. Over 1,500 people responded and made urgent contact with Governor Wise. We created a website and an interactive e-mail system for Blackwater supporters. FOB has begun several projects to protect endangered butterfly populations, to conserve flying squirrel habitat, to enhance historic sites, and to improve stream quality. FOB is partnering with local "green businesses, " and we helped with two stories on the Blackwater Canyon in Wild Wonderful West Virginia, the state outdoors and tourism showpiece. We are working on a program for school children that features the unique ecology of the Canyon.

In 2001, FOB staffers included students Khahn Thai, a Bonner scholar from West Virginia Wesleyan college, and high school student Cary Nyden. Volunteers like Rich Stonestreet, Katherine Stone, Lori Thornton, and Julian Martin did a tremendous amount of office work. Green businesses like Sirianni’s Pizza and the Art Store in Davis, the Purple Fiddle, Whitegrass Ski Center, Highland Scene Trails, Taylor Books, too many bike shops to name, and Pathfinder in Morgantown – all distributed our brochures. Artists Mark Blumenstein, David Smith, Sam McCormick, Joe Charnoff, Wolf Creek Printery, and Carol Jackson donated art for fundraisers and publications. Lawyers Sean McGinley, Jim Zimarowski, and Eric Glitzenstein used their expertise to help protect the Canyon.

The FOB agenda for 2002 is ambitious:

We need to educate West Virginians who don’t know about the crisis in the Canyon and the threats from logging and development -- through media campaigns and direct mail. And we must also educate key leaders about how much the Blackwater Canyon means to the voters, including taking these leaders on tours of the Blackwater Canyon area.

We need to develop and distribute educational packets to school children on the unique ecology of Blackwater Canyon, and we need to coordinate volunteers around the state to contact the Governor through his "Special Places Initiative". We are working on restoration and enhancement projects in the Blackwater area -- including acid mine drainage cleanup, a rare butterfly protection project, interpretive signage for the historic coke ovens at the entrance to the Canyon, and natural history brochures for Blackwater Falls State Park.

And building on our success in brokering the recent 500-acre land deal at Blackwater Falls State Park, we are continuing to meet with foundations and public officials, to put together the funding necessary to acquire the rest of the land in Blackwater Canyon.

Please join with thousands of other concerned people, to preserve what West Virginia Senator Robert C. Byrd called one of the Mountain State’s "most cherished natural treasures" – before it slips away.