The man said, "...we are just cutting a few trees," he said it twice. That was John Crites, owner of Allegheny Wood Products, which owns almost 3000 acres of Blackwater Canyon, speaking to the United Methodist Annual Conference last summer.

Crites called the proposed United Methodist resolution, which looks into the possibility of making the entire Blackwater Canyon public land , an attack on private property rights. He said to the Methodist Annual Conference that "The resolution on Blackwater Canyon is a direct blow against private property rights. I ask you to reject this primarily because I don't think it is the Christian thing to do."

It now appears that Mr Crites has done the un-Christian thing by not revealing his true intentions to the United Methodists. And he has back-slid on his devotion to private property and free enterprise.

Those "few trees" have grown to 1600 acres that he is logging. He failed to tell the Methodists that he was going to mark off lots on the Canyon rim and exclude the public from the famous Lindy Point overlook. Photographs of the breathtaking view from Lindy Point have long been used by the state to attract tourists to West Virginia. Crites told CBS television that it would be unfair to his family for Lindy point to be in public ownership.

Crites may raise the flag of private property rights and portray himself as a pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps kind of guy. He may see himself as a self-made man who owes nothing to the people of West Virginia but he has not hesitated to ask for and get help from the taxpayers of West Virginia and the nation.

Preston and Randolph Counties authorized Crites to issue industrial revenue bonds which reduced his cost of borrowing on over eight million dollars. He got a $20,000 grant from Governor Underwood’s West Virginia Development office through the Randolph County Commission to "Assist the Allegheny Wood Products water line extension." Crites was approved for loans of $250,000 in 1988 and $450,000 in 1991 from the Development Office.

During the Arch Moore administration, the Appalachian Regional Commission awarded $166,623 to the Grant County Industrial Park. Moore’s press release said "...the Grant County funds will help pay for a 5,000 foot rail extension to serve Allegheny Wood Products." Other sources of funding for the $333,246 rail extension were $128,231 from the West Virginia Railroad Maintenance Authority and $30,272 from the Grant County Commission.

According to the Charleston Gazette-Mail of May 8, 1994 Crites received Super Tax Credits of between $50,000 and $100,000. He has also had a two million dollar loan guaranteed by the Farmer’s Home Administration.

This has been big government helping John Crites save money, not dog-eat-dog free enterprise. West Virginia taxpayers and taxpayers nationwide have helped John Crites all along the way.

Neither John Crites nor anyone else is a self-made person. We have all benefited from the taxpayers and our government whether it be for our education, roads, national defense, flood relief, social security, Medicare or welfare. Crites has been the recipient of corporate welfare. Corporate welfare has helped him succeed. He has not done it by himself.

John Crites has evaluated a 340 acre parcel he would swap with the National Forest at such a high price that it is prohibitive for the Forest Service to trade lands with him. Although he is paying taxes on that land as Managed Timber Land he evaluated it as Recreational Development Land. According to public radio, Crites could make a 400% profit on the land if it is called Recreational Development Land. Crites’ plan would bring him five million dollars for one fourth of the canyon. That is what he paid for the entire canyon! Crites said that he was offended by the Forest Service offer which was based on the land use as managed timberland which is what Crites claims it is for tax purposes.

Last year’s Managed Timber Land bill reduced his taxes from $2.06 an acre to $.60 an acre in the Blackwater Canyon--A gift of $4800 per year, in the Blackwater Canyon alone, from the taxpayers of West Virginia. The assessor of Tucker County (where the Blackwater Canyon is located) told Paul Nyden of the Charleston Gazette that the value of managed timberland went down 71% since that bill passed last year. That means 71% less taxes on that land. Crites owns thousands of acres outside the Blackwater Canyon. He has cleaned up on this tax break

Donna Reckart, Crites’ public relations spokesperson, set an all time low for cynicism in a public radio interview recently. She said, with an ironic tone in her voice, "People are calling this the crown jewel of West Virginia, they are calling it the grand canyon of WV, they are saying it is priceless to the public, so Mr. Crites had to determine what it is worth to our company." Mr. Crites decided it was worth four times what he paid for it two years ago.

. The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy has often referred to the Blackwater Canyon as priceless. Reckart is saying since we think it is priceless, the price just went up. Since we think it is a "crown jewel of West Virginia tourism" John Crites can quadruple his money. Since we have described it as West Virginia’s Grand Canyon, John Crites can ask an exorbitant price for the public to be allowed back in the Canyon. She is saying that it is our fault that he wants more money.

John Crites can make all of this right by selling the 3000 acres in the Canyon at a reasonable price to the National Park Service. The taxpayers helped him make his way to the top. He owes the taxpayers a lot and it is time for him to pay his debt.

You can help by writing to Congressman Alan Mollohan 2346 Rayburn Building Washington DC 20515 and to Senator Rockefeller 109 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510.

Ask them to help create the Blackwater Canyon National Park.