Ridge and River News Newsletter of the Rockbridge Area Conservation Council (RACC) Summer 2014

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1 Ridge and River News Newsletter of the Rockbridge Area Conservation Council (RACC) Summer 2014 The Story of House Mountain: Twenty-five years and counting Twelve thousand letters went out. Thousands of replies and some $170,000 came back. The two peaks of House Mountain rise from farmland in Rockbridge County (photo courtesy of HikingUpward.com). Volunteers needed on Aug 23 for Community Festival RACC will be hosting a large booth with a transportation (bike-ped) extension at the Annual Rockbridge Community Festival on Saturday, August 23. RACC members will be getting an invitation to volunteer for a work shift. We need help putting up the tent and displays starting around 7 a.m. During festival hours, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., volunteers are needed to staff the booth, talk with visitors, and manage the sales table; afterwards, help is needed to put away the exhibits and tent. The Festival is an annual downtown arts and crafts event that also features local nonprofit organizations, and is sponsored by the Lexington-Rockbridge Jaycees, Lexington Kiwanis Club and the Lexington Rotary Club. All profits benefit Rockbridge Area charities. It is the only festival of its kind in the Rockbridge area. The year was 1988, and hundreds of acres on the two peaks of House Mountain were up for sale. Members of the Rockbridge Area Conservation Council, joined by others, launched Save House Mountain, the fund-raising effort that bought the 876 acres on Big House, Little House and the saddle between them. The asking price was $325,000 and the landowner gave the Save House Mountain Committee six months to get the needed money. The committee swung into action, and before the drive was done, money had come in the tens of thousands from local businesses and residents and from alumni of Washington & Lee and VMI, and by the nickels and dimes and quarters from schoolchildren at Lylburn Downing Middle School. Donations also came from as far away as Asia, as former residents and students kicked in. As the drive progressed, campaign members sought other conservation organization partners, and the Virginia Outdoors Foundation (VOF), a state agency with the mission to preserve and protect in perpetuity the openspace values, generously stepped up to cover the balance, thereby becoming the largest single donor. The House Mountain Preserve was thus created, and a regional landmark was saved from piecemeal development. Under the terms of the innovative Management Agreements signed by RACC and the VOF, the latter would hold the title, and the land was put under the administration of the House Mountain Management WIN A BIKE! See House Mountain, Page 5 Raffle tickets will be available at the RACC tent during the Community Festival on Aug 23 and on the RACC website rockbridgeconservation.org until the Annual Meeting in October. Tickets are $1 each, 6 for $5 or 25 for $20. All profits will be used to put bicycle racks at key locations in the Rockbridge area. 1.

2 News from RACC-affiliated organizations FRIENDS OF BRUSHY HILLS The Friends mission is to preserve the natural integrity of the Brushy Hills, 560 acres of beautiful woodland owned by the City of Lexington, just west of the city, with a system of trails for public use. Visitors will find trail maps at the volunteer-built kiosk above the spring house on Union Run Road. The Friends sponsor nature walks and other events open to the public. In the Invasive Plants Project, volunteers working to control plants that threaten forest health are learning what a joy it is to discover and liberate native trees, shrubs, and flowers. There s plenty more to do and lots to learn, and volunteers are much needed. For more information, contact David Rosher at or davidrosher@gmail.com. The Signs and Trails Committee maintains the trails and the direction posts at trail intersections. The committee welcomes information about the condition of the trails, as well as additional volunteers. Contact Larry Martin at or martinlexington@centurylink.net. For more information about the Friends, contact Alexia Smith, , or friendsofbrushyhills@gmail.com. FRIENDS OF LEXINGTON CEMETERIES The Friends of Lexington Cemeteries seeks to enhance the vitality, natural beauty, and sustainability of our community s historic cemeteries; honor past generations; and provide places of serenity and peace for current and future generations. The FLC plans to address Lexington City Council in the Fall of 2014 and provide a list of organizations, institutions, businesses and individuals who have pledged to support the Spotswood Drive park project. There are opportunities for pledges of monetary, memorial, honorary, and in-kind gifts in order to create a scatter garden, a pet scatter garden, a bell garden, a non-denominational chapel, a fountain in which children can play, and a series of walkways with designed landscaping. There will also be opportunities to reserve niches in columbaria. For more information, please contact Sallie Sebrell onmainstreet@centurylink.net or RIGHTEOUS AND RASCALS OF ROCKBRIDGE The Righteous and Rascals of Rockbridge is conceived as a trail through the streets of Lexington composed of granite pavers commemorating "significant, deceased persons in our local history whose work and deeds have left an important, interesting, and/or colorful mark on the Rockbridge community and beyond." The web site, RRRockbridge.org, gives trail-followers a short bio of each person commemorated and encourages further exploration by supplying maps and information about associated sites countywide. The goal is to provide an entertaining and valuable teaching tool for tourists and locals of all ages. Funds for the project are being raised through the sale of pavers dedicated to candidates who meet the criteria above. To date, 54 candidates have been selected and stones have been underwritten for 35 of them. The Righteous and Rascals of Rockbridge will be featured on the new Visitors Center website coming in Interested persons are encouraged to get involved by nominating honorees and making tax-deductible donations of $25 or more toward the $ needed for each paver. For more information, info@rrrockbridge.org. ROCKBRIDGE GROWN Rockbridge Grown expects to attain 501(3)c soon to become a separate organization. The group worked on the Home Arts portion of the Rockbridge Regional Fair and has been consulting with Doug Jones and the staff at Dabney S. Lancaster Community College as they explore launching a new agriculture program. RG is also looking beyond Rockbridge to explore the feasibility of collaborative agricultural infrastructure projects. For more information, go to 2.

3 RACC committees working for the Rockbridge community Welcome to RACC's annual review of its committees and their activities. Here you will find a broad range of conservation interests, including both current issues in the community and longer term objectives. Find something you care about and use the contact listed for the committee to pitch in. Volunteers are the heart and soul of our efforts! Please contact the indicated individuals or the RACC office, or RACC@rockbridge.net Chessie Trail The Chessie Trail, which was established in the 1970s through the efforts of RACC and the Nature Conservancy, is now under the stewardship of the Virginia Military Institute. It's an exciting time as VMI goes forward with planned improvements and development of the Trail. RACC's Chessie Trail Committee is at the heart of efforts to link various groups interested or involved with the maintenance, supervision and enjoyment of this resource. RACC members frequently lead trail walks in conjunction with the Master Naturalists and other interested groups, and a member of the RACC committee sits on the Friends of the Chessie Trail Coordinating Committee. For more information, contact Lisa Tracy at lisatracybooks@gmail.com or call Transportation The Transportation Committee promotes safe streets for bicycles and friendly sidewalks for pedestrians, including features that support the safety of children walking and riding bikes to school, accessibility for wheelchairs on sidewalks and trails, and driver awareness of bike riders on area roads. The committee also monitors local alternative transportation options (RATS and Maury Express). In response to committee requests, Lexington has installed bike sharrows and awareness signs on city streets. The Bike Group is now working with the Main Street Committee to place bicycle racks throughout downtown Lexington. The committee plans to extend its efforts and welcomes ideas for Buena Vista and the county. Likewise, the Pedestrian Group is creating a Pedestrian Plan. Committee members will be available at the RACC booth at the Community Festival to talk with citizens about their transportation ideas. If you have a suggestion for cycling improvements, please contact Dave Walsh at dapwalsh@gmail.com o r G a b r i e l L e a s u r e, gabrielleasure@hotmail.com. For pedestrian issues or to be added to Bike-Ped Mailing List, contact Joan Manley at jojojoan@comcast.net. Land Use The committee is dealing with a number of important issues. To get involved, please contact the RACC office at or Chris Wise at or jwise@wlu.edu. Green Infrastructure Lisa Beckstrom convened a group to work on a GI plan for Rockbridge County and its cities. The first step is to gather information on the location of historic, cultural, ecologically sensitive and environmentally important lands. Those will be mapped in the county s Geographical Information System to support informed decisions about future development and planning of trails and/or zoning to connect key areas. Corridor Development A number of proposals are pending for development of land around highways in Rockbridge County and along the entrance corridors for Lexington and Buena Vista. The committee is focussing on the role of good planning for successful development; coordination among projects to support a coherent pattern of development; and rational allocation of limited public resources to support and facilitate high-quality commercial development, now and in the future. RACC is applying for a grant to support a public forum on the issues and opportunities arising from these development proposals. The forum will also promote renewed local commitment to strategic planning and help create the political will to implement that planning. Natural Bridge State Park The Friends of the Natural Bridge includes representation from various historic, tourism, governmental and environmental groups (including RACC and the Valley Conservation Council) that worked together to ensure that the Natural Bridge would become a state park. Its success was the result of hard work and incredible cooperation and good will among many different individuals, businesses and governmental units. The Friends continue to be active in planning processes with the Division of State Parks and Kissito, the purchaser of the hotel together with the Bridge and surrounding land that will be deeded to the state. See RACC committees, Page 4 3.

4 RACC committees (Continued from Page 3) Maury River Watershed This RACC committee finds it s charge very broad indeed. Its purview includes all water issues in Rockbridge County, although in fact its scope is limited by the number and availability of volunteers. The committee's current focus remains the Lake Merriweather dam, as we press for accountability on safety and sedimentation issues. After considerable effort, we obtained the current safety plan, and are now pursuing dam management plans. This work involves at least three state agencies as well as the dam's owners and their engineering firm. W&L Law students are gallantly helping us sort through relevant documents, including regulations, consent orders, and freedom-of-information requests. The topic can be difficult to fully grasp, but has real implications for the water quality of the Maury River and possibly sedimentation regulations in Virginia s waterways. If that were not enough, committee members are also following the state's community-wide programs to control pollution, the county's plans to establish a source water protection overlay zone, and local water monitoring projects, among other things. If you have questions or would like to work on any of these issues, feel free to contact co-chairs Daphne Raz at felllowship57@gmail.com or Sandra Stuart at sws.watershed@gmail.com. Wildlife Corridor This committee seeks to promote public understanding of the critical wildlife connection between the Blue Ridge and the Allegheny Mountains that passes under I-81 along Buffalo Creek. They have set up cameras to document the use of the corridor by deer, bear, and other game species, as well as working to preserve the forested and agricultural nature of the land along the corridor. To join in this work, contact Mike Pelton at or mpelton@utk.edu. Maury River Monitors RACC's River Monitors are trained to monitor stream life by the Virginia Save Our Streams Program, which is affiliated with the Izaak Walton League of America. Once trained and certified for the work, monitors are assigned to a site where samples are collected quarterly and sorted to determine a water quality score. This information is submitted to an electronic database maintained by VASOS at and is used by state agencies as an index of the condition of local streams. Citizen monitors may also be asked to demonstrate their methodology and train new volunteers. In recent years, many Rockbridge Master Naturalists have undertaken this training. If you are interested in this outdoor work or in serving as the group coordinator, please contact Barbara Walsh in the RACC office, or racc@rockbridge.net. Zero Waste Advocacy Zero waste is the alternative to resource depletion. The committee advocates for high rates of resource (waste) recovery to support a sustainable economy that preserves or enhances available resources and environmental resilience for the future. As land-fills change from cheap to expensive as a means of trash disposal, we want local governments to consider "pay as you throw" fees, whereby consumers pay the full cost of their trash based on its quantity. Deposit legislation and "extended producer responsibility" are additional policies to build accountability for cost and therefore motivate better solutions. To help us continue this advocacy, contact Eli Fishpaw, or belifishpaw@rockbridge.net. Gas Pipeline A proposed Dominion Power gas transmission pipeline would cross the headwaters of the Maury River. To see a map and links to additional information go to: Deer approach Buffalo Creek in an image captured by one of the Wildlife Corridor's camera traps. 4.

5 House Mountain (Continued from Page 1) Committee (HMMC), a seven-member board composed of one representative each from the four principal institutions involved in the drive to save the mountain (RACC, the VOF, Washington & Lee University, and the Virginia Military Institute) plus two additional members appointed by RACC and one appointed by the VOF. The Agreements also established that the land would remain open to the public; limited allowed activities to the traditional recreational and educational uses; and set the land management goal to maintain the saddle and preserve the forest in its existing state. The Agreements authorized the Rockbridge-based HMMC to set policy and intensity for uses, and to implement and update the Management Plan for the property. The Agreements also granted final approval authority for HMMC decisions to the VOF Board of Trustees, provided an opportunity to propose changes every four years, and stipulated that the title would revert to RACC if the State was no longer able or willing to uphold the provisions of the Agreements. The HMMC has operated successfully by consensus for more than two decades, making decisions and arranging for the resources needed to maintain the Preserve in its natural state and open for a broad range of recreational activities with generous contributions of expertise, labor, materials, and services provided at little or no cost by community members, local businesses and government, and the Management Committee member organizations. Field activities this year, including the creation of a new trail to the top of Little House and restoration of antique apple trees in the saddle, were reported in previous issues of this newsletter. In September of 2013, the VOF notified RACC that revisions to the agreements were needed that would put the Preserve under more direct supervision of state staff members. Since then, RACC has been discussing with the VOF what changes would be needed to address their concerns. The VOF Board of Trustees has said it will accept RACC s invitation to visit Rockbridge County and meet with representatives of RACC and of the original Save House Mountain Committee. RACC remains committed to the principles of the original Management Agreements, honoring the promises made to donors and serving the best interests of the Preserve. Among those fundamental principles are: Limiting uses to recreational purposes only, to include hiking, non-motorized mountain bikes, horseback access, hunting, scientific, educational and aesthetic purposes consistent with the other uses, and primitive camping; preserving the wildlife and plant populations in their natural state in perpetuity; and continuing the role of the HMMC and local community in making decisions about managing the Preserve. For more information about the House Mountain Preserve, to receive HMMC notices or to volunteer to help with management projects, please contact committee chair Larry Evans c/o RACC at racc@rockbridge.net or RACC Annual Meeting October 2014 Date and place to be announced Stay tuned for surprises! Ridge & River News is published quarterly and edited by Sally Nunneley Send suggestions, articles or letters to RACC@rockbridge.net or mail them to the address shown on the cover. >>Printed on 100% recycled paper<< RACC Board Meetings are open to the public Time: 7 p.m., third Tuesday of each month* Place: Community Room, Old Court House, 2 S Main Street, Lexington (use back door) New RACC poster for sale A beautiful, full-color relief map of the area will make its public debut as a poster for sale in the RACC tent at the Community Festival. It will later be sold in the gift shop at the Natural Bridge and at other nearby locations. All proceeds will benefit RACC programs. *Please call RACC at to confirm specific time 5.

6 Rockbridge Area Conservation Council (RACC) P.O. Box 564 Lexington, VA NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID LEXINGTON, VA Permit No. 17 RACC BOARD MEMBERS Co-President, Philip Coulling Co-President, Lee Merrill Vice President, Ed Spencer Co-Treasurer, Larry Evans Co-Treasurer, Bailey Ewing Co-Secretary, Adrienne Hall-Bodie Co-Secretary, Lisa Tracy Gregg Amonette Arthur Bartenstein Bill Blatter Amy DeHart Eli Fishpaw David Harbor Joan Manley Conrad Matiuk Mike Pelton Chris Wise Patte Wood Continuing our Conservation Legacies Members and friends of RACC need little reminding of the important work this organization has done since its founding in Landmark achievements include: Forming the House Mountain Preserve Facilitating the establishment of conservation easements on local farmland Rationalizing commercial corridor development Creating the Chessie Trail Cleaning up dumpsites and roadside trash Monitoring local stream health Supporting the development of Rockbridge Grown and local-food markets Helping the Natural Bridge become a state park Funding for RACC comes from our members in the form of dues and donations, along with occasional grants to fund specific projects. However, we now need to plan for generations to come. RACC is implementing a program to work with individuals and families who wish to support its important work well into the future through bequests and other planned giving. Such gifts may offer tax advantages due to RACC's status as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For more information, call Barbara Walsh at the RACC office,