Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 25, 1995 TAG: 9501250055
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Park Service last month informed city officials that it's considering buying 850 acres the city owns along the Appalachian Trail in Botetourt and Roanoke counties, but no dollar amount was discussed.
The city-owned land is between Tinker Mountain and McAfee Knob and includes part of the city's protected watershed around the Carvins Cove Reservoir.
The Park Service is seeking to buy the land outright or purchase a permanent easement for it so it can't be sold or developed.
``We think this is really a special section of the trail. The views out over Carvins Cove are really quite spectacular,'' said Pam Underhill, a Park Service environmental protection specialist based in Harpers Ferry.
The corridor is now protected under a longstanding agreement between the city and state, but because that can be voided at the city's option, ``we consider that to be temporary,'' she said.
``The city could decide it doesn't need that land for watershed protection any more ... and sell it,'' Underhill said.
The Park Service notified the city of its intentions in a Dec. 23 letter to Mayor David Bowers. He referred the matter to City Council, which this month asked City Manager Bob Herbert for a report back within 120 days.
Bowers said he doesn't want to prejudge the issue, and that the city's paramount concern is protecting the land that feeds its water supply.
He suggested that if the city decides to sell the acreage to the federal government, at least some of the funds could be designated to a ``greenways trust'' for development of pedestrian and bicycle paths in Roanoke. Proponents of a citywide ``greenways'' system appeared before City Council last fall.
``... This opportunity for additional funding from the federal government may be just what we need to match our efforts in that regard,'' Bowers wrote council in a Jan.3 letter. ``If extra money is derived from the federal government as a result of our cooperation with them, I would like to see that funding go for greenway development in Roanoke.''
The Appalachian Trail runs from Maine to Georgia. Until 1978, its protection was assumed by the states through which it passes. Congress in 1978 shifted that responsibility to the Department of the Interior with passage of the National Trail System Act.
Since then, the Park Service has sought to establish a 1,000-foot corridor around the trail by buying land and easements and, in some cases, through condemnation.
The trail passes across four miles of city-owned land. Several more miles are located on a narrow strip of federally owned land adjacent to city property.
The federal effort ``is extremely important,'' said Jimmy Whitney, president of the Roanoke chapter of the Appalachian Trail Club. ``That strip of [corridor] is at most 3 feet wide in some parts.''
In the past, the city has spurned Park Service efforts to acquire the land or an easement for it, although negotiations never got as far as an outright offer of money.
Kit Kiser, city director of utilities and operations, said the Park Service approached City Council with the idea a few years ago. The negotiations ended after Kiser suggested that turning over the land offered few advantages for the city.
``My reasoning then was that City Council was perfectly able to make the determination on what was best for our water supply,'' he said.
by CNB