ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 1, 1996 TAG: 9604050130
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: SPORTS EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
It is becoming easier for outdoorsmen to savor the leap of a smallmouth bass and the flight of a wood duck, especially when those experiences lie beyond one of the small dams on the Roanoke and New rivers.
A river access program, part of a partnership between American Electric Power Co. and the state of Virginia, is providing canoe launching sites, portages and bank fishing opportunities at 14 spots on the Roanoke, New and James rivers. Started in June 1994, the work has been completed in some areas, including portages around Niagara Dam on the Roanoke River and Byllesby Dam on the New River.
``That is all because [American Electric Power Co.] had the land and the seed money and they have been a really good partner to get the access,'' said Phil Lownes of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. That department and the Department of Conservation and Recreation are the two state agencies in the partnership with AEP.
It is an arrangement Lownes would like to see extended to other companies.
``We want it to be a model,'' he said. ``We have been talking with Westvaco and we will be approaching Virginia Power. This can be a great benefit to sportsmen.''
When AEP began renewing federal permits for several of its oldest hydroelectric projects the need for water access, which had been identified in a state survey of outdoor sportsmen, became a priority. The power company contributed $165,000 and two parcels of land, which was matched with state and federal funds to provide a total of more than $500,000 for river access, Lownes said.
The project calls for four sites on the James River from Lynchburg through Campbell and Amherst counties; eight on the New River in Carroll and Wythe counties; and two on the Roanoke River in Roanoke County. One of the points is a canoe put-in and take-out in the Explore park, but that site has been slower than others to be identified, Lownes said.
Beyond this project, Lownes is working with officials in Roanoke and Roanoke County to provide canoe-kayak access upstream from Niagara so river users can float to the Explore park. There is no access at Niagara, and the nearest access point downstream is the boat ramp on Smith Mountain Lake at Hardy.
``We want to use the river more than we have in the past, both for fishing and boating,'' said Rupert Cutler, Explore's executive director. Bank fishing has been prohibited in the park, but that is expected to change when a fishing access program is scheduled to be announced in mid-April.
In several instances, the 14 access areas tie in with existing or planned recreational facilities that include camping, said Mike Thacker, a spokesman for AEP. The Mount Rogers National Recreation Area operates a campground between Byllesby and Buck dams, and the New River Trail State Park follows the river.
A planned access point at Foster Falls on the New River will tie in with recreational facilities proposed along the New River Trail State Park, Lownes said.
``We are trying to provide access where sportsmen need it to set up their floats, to set up their day trips, so they are enjoyable and safe,'' he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: staff. color. Graphic: map by staff.by CNB