New River
Key People
Patrick Woodie is executive director of New River Community Partners (NRCP).
NRCP is a new watershed-based nonprofit organization that is coordinating American
Heritage River activities in the 21 counties in three states that make up the New River watershed.
Patrick is the former director of the Alleghany County Chamber of Commerce, and
was very involved in the nomination and designation of the New as an American
Heritage River.
Ben Borda is the New River Navigator. Ben is the resource evaluation branch
chief with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Huntington District Office.
He is a landscape architect, a native West Virginian, and has a wife
and two children.
Sue Fender is director of administration. Sue will provide administrative
support and fiscal management for NRCP and eventual satellite offices.
Legislative Action
West Virginia's Senate and House of delegates passed
resolutions in support of West Virginia's participation in the American Heritage
Rivers Initiative. Executive Orders are being sought from all three state governors,
to help strengthen state agency participation in the Initiative.
Cultural Resource Preservation
The village of Todd was recently visited by a
team of experts from HandMade in America and the N.C. Division of Community Assistance.
The "resource team" members are helping with a community assessment and inventory
of historic structures in this former railroad "boom town." The Todd Ruritan Club
recently received a $1,000 grant from the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources and a
$2,000 donation from the Ashe County Historical Society for costs associated with
nominating the Todd Rural Historic District to the National Register of Historic
Places. A consultant has been hired, and the National Register nomination should
be complete by October 1.
Education
The American Heritage Rivers Interagency Task Force arranged for
NRCP representatives to meet with Mario Moreno, assistant secretary, and other key
Department of Education staff to identify funding and assistance programs that can
be applied for, to implement education projects. NRCP is working with Congressman
Rick Boucher (Virginia) to cosponsor a one-year progress report conference with special
educational workshops.
Sustainable Agriculture
The AHR Interagency Task Force also arranged for NRCP
leaders to meet with U.S. Department of Agriculture Assistant Secretary Jim Lyons, and
Sustainable Agriculture
program staff to identify funding and technical assistance programs to help implement
the headwater counties' sustainable agriculture projects. NRCP also met with Adela
Backiel, USDA's director of sustainable development, regarding funding and technical
assistance programs to support the 20-plus sustainable agriculture/forestry projects
in the headwaters work plan. The New River is involved in discussions with a number
of federal agencies and national organizations about a pilot rural sustainable
development initiative.
Funding Received To-Date
Kathleen Price Bryan Family Fund: $30,000
in private foundation funding for
start-up and operating support for New River Community Partners.
Clean Water Management Trust Fund: $92,500
in planning funds to prepare a
GIS map/database; provide landowner contact and outreach about voluntary
conservation methods; and prepare an alternative wastewater treatment
feasibility study.
Clean Water Management Trust Fund: $384,000
in state funding for streambank
restoration in the town of Boone. We hope to leverage matching funds (on a 65%
federal; 35% non-federal basis) from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Clean Water Management Trust Fund: $1,030,000
in state funding to clean up an
abandoned copper mine in the Peak Creek sub-watershed. We hope to leverage U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers matching funds (on a 65% federal; 35% non-federal basis).
EPA: $40,000 in
federal funding for planning/outreach and GIS data collection
for 18 counties in Virginia and West Virginia. American Heritage River Initiative
work plans are being developed with these funds.
EPA: $10,000 in
federal funding for riparian buffer/streambank planting on
2,500 linear feet of riverfront farmland in the Outstanding Resource Waters of the
New River headwaters. The landowner has donated a 50-foot-wide buffer along the
streambank, valued at approximately $11,000; and AmeriCorps volunteers will plant
the materials.
Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation: $100,000 in
private funding for two-year operating
support of New River Community Partners' North Carolina programs and projects.
Federal Emergency Management Agency: $250,000
first-year request for a
watershed-wide all-hazards mitigation plan is being considered, with an option
to request $150,000 for the second year. Matching funds are being sought
from state agencies and private foundations for hazard mitigation project implementation.
Appalachian Regional Commission: $200,000
in federal funding for community
education and capacity-building; and for economic development activities that
include a feasibility study/business plan for a virtual business park,
tourism development masterplan for the Virginia Creeper Trail, and downtown
revitalization masterplanning.
North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center: $65,000
from this private,
non-profit that serves North Carolina's rural counties, for a demonstration
project in rural sustainability and the development of the civic infrastructure
of rural communities.
Funding Requests Currently Under Consideration
Clean Water Management Trust Fund: $2,050,036
in state funding for local land
trusts to protect almost 12 miles of riverfront properties in the Outstanding
Resource Waters and High Quality Waters of the headwaters.
Steele-Reese Foundation: $150,000 in
private funding over three years to support
an integrated aquaculture and hydroponics training program that serves middle-school
and high school students, as well as farmers interested in alternative crops and
sustainable agriculture to provide supplemental income.
EPA Environmental Education Program: $20,100 in
federal funding for teacher
training workshops and environmental education materials, provided by New River
(North Carolina) State Park.
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation: $50,000
from joint Bass Pro Shops and NFWF
funding program, for riparian buffer planting and streambank restoration
National Coal Heritage Area: $125,000
proposal to prepare management Work Plan
for the eleven counties in West Virginia comprising the National Coal Heritage Area.
Watershed Planning and Outreach
To date, approximately 1,000 agencies, organizations,
and individuals have participated in 24 meetings throughout Virginia's 11 counties,
North Carolina's 3 counties, and West Virginia's 7 counties; and 334 priority
projects have been identified. The final, integrated watershed-wide work plan
was distributed on July 26, 1999 at a New River conference held at New River
Community College in Dublin, Virginia. The conference was cosponsored by
Congressman Rick Boucher of Virginia. The work plan contained over 300
projects distributed under the categories of economic revitalization,
natural resource protection, historic and cultural preservation, ecucation
and training, agriculture and transportation and trails.
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