The Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition supports the establishment of the Blackwater Canyon National Park and the associated Blackwater Ecotourism Enterprise Training Center.

Blackwater Canyon is symbolic of the wild beauty of our Mountain State. The Canyon has been cherished for decades as a seemingly public resource, world famous for its fly fishing and whitewater kayaking. Hunters treasure the Canyon as a rugged outpost for tracking black bear. Ecologists know the Canyon as a unique ecosystem usually found much farther north, an ecosystem that is home to rare, threatened and endangered species. Hikers, mountain bikers and bird watchers cherish the Canyon’s spectacular landscape. The views from Lindy Point have been shown around the world, inviting travelers to vacation in wild, wonderful West Virginia.

OVEC recognizes the national importance of the Blackwater Canyon. It is one of the most compelling beautiful landscapes in the East, with some of the rarest habitat for a host of species. Economically, once the Canyon is protected, it can again be a boon to tourism in Tucker County and all of West Virginia.

The establishment of the Blackwater Canyon National Park would protect the Canyon’s unique and precious natural resources to the benefit of the species residing in the Canyon, to the benefit of the hundreds of thousands of Canyon visitors and to the benefit of the people of West Virginia. And, the proposed Ecotourism Enterprise Training Center would benefit the people of Tucker County.

OVEC joins with thousands of West Virginians in demanding permanent protection of this spectacular natural resource.