
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 22, 1993                   TAG: 9312220170
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

NEW RIVER GROUP GETS $52,000

An environmental group that aims to preserve the New River - including pushing for federal scenic waterway designation, which could shift the route of Appalachian Power Co.'s proposed transmission line - has received $52,500 in two separate grants.

The National Committee for the New River received $27,500 from the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation.

Part of the grant will be used to advocate designation of 14.5 miles of the New River under the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Apco's proposed line would dissect that segment, which runs from the state line north into West Virginia.

"New crossings, if they can be avoided, should be," said Randi Lemmon, land trust consultant with the river group. Lemmon added that the group has long supported that stretch for designation because of its exceptional scenic and recreational characteristics.

The House of Representatives has voted to designate the river, and the matter now must go before the Senate.

Lemmon stressed that the National Committee for the New River is "pro-river, not anti-power line."

But opponents of Apco's proposed 765,000-volt line, which would run 115 miles from West Virginia to Cloverdale, hope the designation would stall the project. The federal status generally bars major construction projects from crossing designated rivers.

The river group also will use the grant money to develop a greenway plan along the New River in Giles County, a non-point-source pollution control program for the Little River in Floyd County, and general public education on water quality issues.

The river group also received a $25,000 grant from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, which benefits people of North Carolina, to continue efforts to preserve that state's portion of the New River.

The money will be used for the group's effort to establish land trusts along the river, and to set up workshops for agricultural agencies and Christmas tree growers on how to reduce harmful runoff.

by CNB