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Land Resources / News / West Virginia
Forestry preservation program at last on right track
Source: Charleston Daily Mail, by Justin D Anderson
After years of management turnover and one false start, the state Division of Forestry is finally about to seal deals on two tracts of forestland slated for protection.
Since 2003, West Virginia has been a part of the federally funded Forest Legacy Program, which gives private landowners money in exchange for a conservation easement that prevents any kind of economic development on their property.
July 16, 2007 A conservation easement is a restriction landowners place on the deed to their land that assures it will remain forestland. Over the past four years, four of the state program's directors have come and gone at the division, delaying action on the forestland. John Rowe, the fifth program director for the state, took his position in Sept. 2006. He said the program is getting back on track and is finally about to close on two of the first easement projects. "It's not an overnight process," Rowe said. Closing on a conservation easement usually takes about two years, Rowe said. Turnover in the administration didn't hasten the work, pushing the timespan on the first easement to four years and the second to three. One of the former program directors retired, two took jobs in other states and one was filling in on a temporary basis, Rowe said. "I've been able to give the program some stability," Rowe said. "We've also hired a contractor to help me administer certain parts of the program." The state's first try at administering the program fell through. The first round of federal money the state received was in 2004 when it got $174,000 for an easement on 154 acres at Cooper's Rock in Preston County. "The original deal for Cooper's Rock fell through because the landowner wanted more money for the value of the property than the Yellow Book of appraisal said it was worth," Rowe said. After the Cooper's Rock deal dried up, the state got $494,000 in 2004 for a tract of forest in Hampshire County. Over the next two years, another $2.2 million came in from federal funds for the Potomac River Hills project in Morgan County. Rowe said the easements on these tracts should be completed within the next three months. Beyond that, Rowe said program officials are working on a bundle of forest tracts along the southern branch of the Potomac River near Romney and Moorefield for which the state was preliminarily awarded $750,000 in federal money this year. A round of public hearings was held last month to help process applications from landowners in Pocahontas, Summers, Berkeley, Hampshire, Hardy and Grant counties who vying to be part of next year's program. Since the program started, 48 applications from landowners have been accepted for possible funding. Usually, a regulatory board of directors for the program selects the top three of the dozen or so applicants each year and submits them to the U.S. Forest Service in a competitive bid for money, Rowe said. The program area right now spreads along the eastern part of the state around the Cheat and New rivers, Potomac Highlands and the Allegheny Mountains. Rowe said the population migration west from the Washington, D.C. area was the deciding factor in determining where to focus. "Those are those parts of West Virginia that are most threatened by development," Rowe said. Rowe said program officials will determine next year whether any western areas should be included. The program area is reviewed every five years. The Forest Legacy Program originally grew out of the 1990 Farm Bill passed by Congress. The federal government picks up 75 percent of the cost for the easement rights. The remainder comes from the landowner or other private sources. Gov. Bob Wise authorized the program in West Virginia in 2001 and put the Division of Forestry in charge. The division started administering the program in 2003. Some controversy boiled up early on when a handful of lawmakers complained the program sounded like a kind of reverse eminent domain. Forty-six states and U.S. territories currently are enrolled in the program, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Five more are in the planning stages. As of May, 1.4 million acres of private forestland has been protected from development through the program. Contact writer Justin D. Anderson at justin@dailymail.com or 348-4843. Read the complete article from Charleston Daily Mail » |
