Advocates for the Blackwater Canyon are celebrating the news that West Virginia Governor Cecil Underwood has withdrawn his controversial proposal to give a road through Blackwater Falls State Park to the timber company Allegheny Wood Products. The Underwood park road proposal was challenged in a lawsuit that was filed in Kanawha County Circuit Court in December by the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy (WVHC) . The withdrawal of the road proposal was announced by the Governor’s office on Friday, May 5.

"This is another victory in the growing campaign to protect the entire Blackwater Canyon," said Judy Rodd, Senior Vice President of the WVHC and a leader in the Blackwater Canyon Committee. "Our lawsuit, and the massive public outcry against this ill-advised plan, stopped Governor Underwood’s park road giveaway dead in its tracks."

Attorney Larry George, a member of the Governor’s legal team that was responding to the Conservancy suit, told WVHC members in a meeting on May 5, 2000 that the private roadway through the Park that the Governor had proposed giving to Allegheny Wood Products was legally questionable, due to the passage of time and changed circumstances. The original owner of the Blackwater Falls Park property had reserved a right of way when the park land was donated to the State.

At the same time that Underwood withdrew the road offer, he presented a new proposal whereby the State would acquire 177 acres of land around Lindy Point and Pace Point, located on the north side of the Blackwater Canyon across from the Blackwater Falls State Park lodge. Part of this land would be bought by the State for approximately $50,000 an acre, and part would be donated by Allegheny Wood Products. The state would spend about 1.25 million dollars over four years for the property.

"This proposed purchase only protects a small portion of the 3,000-acre Blackwater Canyon, West Virginia’s scenic Crown Jewel. We intend to see that this is only the first step to protecting the entire Canyon," said Sandy Fisher of the Blackwater Committee. Under the Underwood proposal, two thousand eight hundred and twenty-three acres of the Canyon would remain unprotected.

Judy Rodd further stated: "One part of the Underwood/Crites proposal could actually promote objectionable private development of the unique natural resource lands in the Blackwater Canyon. Governor Underwood wants to give a water, sewage, and electricity corridor on our public land to Allegheny Wood Products (AWP) -- along the road that passes by Blackwater Falls Lodge. This road leads to 130 acres of pristine land overlooking the Canyon for which AWP has filed development plans. The people of West Virginia will never stand for condos on the Canyon rim. This is our sacred place, and it belongs to all of us. It is not a place for private profit."

Rodd stated that the WVHC’s lawsuit will remain in place while the group evaluates the new Underwood proposal.

The Blackwater Canyon Committee is working to protect the entire Blackwater Canyon-- and by purchasing it, to create a Blackwater Canyon National Park. Over twenty thousand people have signed petitions asking that the Canyon be protected. Senator Robert Byrd recently backed a National Park study of Blackwater Canyon. Senator Jay Rockefeller and Congressional Representatives Bob Wise, Nick Joe Rahall, and Alan Mollohan have also expressed their support for the study. Wise, who is running for governor, has stated his support for public ownership of the entire Blackwater Canyon, as have gubernatorial candidates Jim Lees and Denise Giardina.