West Virginia Wilderness Bill

“The bill for new wilderness on the Monongahela National Forest should be introduced in the House in June or early July. Included are Dolly Sods North, Roaring Plains (three parcels divided by the road and pipeline), Seneca Creek, Cranberry addition, Cheat Mountain, and a few choice parcels in the south. The Upper Shavers Fork was dropped, along with North Fork Mountain and a couple of minor parcels in the south.

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito represents the district in which Seneca Creek Falls, and she is apparently still on the fence over Seneca Creek, which is about the only real concern. We expect the remainder of the areas will pass easily. Reps. Alan Mollahan and Nick Rahall II are behind all the still actively considered areas, and Sens. Byrd and Rockefeller will likely push the bill through the Senate.

The Seneca Creek parcel runs from Spruce Knob all the way over to Gandy Creek and includes the Seneca Creek Backcountry trail system. It's a prime area, with beaver dams on some of the tributaries in the upper Seneca Creek area. It includes Judy Springs, the upper falls, and trail leading from Judy Springs to Spruce Knob, also the trail atop Allegheny Mountain.

Anyone wishing to write to Capito to back Seneca Creek can contact her:

The Honorable Shelley Moore Capito
US House of Representatives
1431 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC, 20515 or go to www.house.gov/writerep/”

“That website will take you to a form that includes Zip Code plus 4. I am using the zip for Seneca Rocks: 26884-0001”

“Is here a link to a map of the proposed areas?”

“Lookin' good, Geo!”

“There is a map but it includes some of the areas that have been dropped. The two most notable are North Fork Mountain and Shavers Fork. And the map is a PDF.

http://www.wvwild.org/documents/MNF%20web%20map.pdf”

“Thanks Geo for encouraging folks to contact the WV delegation in support of wilderness on the Mon! It is very timely and important that they hear from people that care about these places

I work with the West Virginia Wilderness Coalition on getting this legislation introduced. I wanted to be clear that no commitment has been made by our congressional delegation to introduce legislation at this point and no decisions have yet been made on what areas will be included or when a bill will be introduced. As a coalition, we are still hopeful that all areas in our proposal will be included. We've been in regular contact with our members of congress and are hopeful that legislation will be introduced during this congress.

Your contacting these folks will help them do the right thing!

Cheers,

Matt Keller
Steering Committee Member
West Virginia Wilderness Coalition”