FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway helps environmentalists, government leaders and developers combine efforts to work for a common cause.
It’s a sunny Saturday morning in early November and the fall leaves are changing colors a bit later than usual, splashing the Southern Appalachians with a rainbow of reds, browns and bright golden ambers. Up on the Blue Ridge Parkway, near Roanoke, Va., cars are rolling along casually as their passengers take in the majestic views of fall’s last gasp.
Congressman Bob Goodlatte (maroon shirt) and Frank Radford (white shirt with tan hat), developer of Mason’s Crest, come together with volunteers at the parkway planting in November.
PHOTO BY BROADDUS FITZPATRICK
In a hay field separating “America’s Favorite Scenic Drive” from a new residential community, there is a most unlikely gathering – land developers and environmentalists, U.S. Congressmen and Girl Scouts, high school teenagers and aging Kiwanis and Civitan members.
They’ve all shown up with shovels and gloves, ready to take on the task of planting more than 500 trees (not seedlings).
“I’m so proud of our community,” says Richard Wells, president of FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway, the organization responsible for this event, called a “viewshed planting.”
“We have more than 100 volunteers from all walks of life here today for one reason – we love our mountains, and we love the Blue Ridge Parkway and want to preserve it for our children and their children.”
Let’s step back for a moment. In early 2004, Scenic America, a national non-profit concerned with the nation’s natural beauty, designated 28 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway near Roanoke as a “Last Chance Landscape.” The goal was to focus national attention on the impending loss of this pristine rural American road because of encroaching development. The distinction had the desired effect, sparking local groups to action.
Faced with the realization that the Parkway represented not only an irreplaceable natural asset, but that it also contributed mightily to the economic development of the largest metropolitan area along the 469-mile corridor, “tree huggers,” developers, local governments and community leaders saw a common enemy. The protection of scenic vistas along this 28-mile stretch around the Roanoke Valley would be a priority.
“FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway, along with the Western Virginia Land Trust, Roanoke County and the Blue Ridge Parkway management team created a plan to buffer the most critical areas where new residential and commercial development threatened the views,” Wells says, “and in the last year we’ve planted close to 1,000 trees in two of the worst areas.”
As remarkable as this accomplishment is, however, even more remarkable is the involvement of developers and their generosity that made it possible.
“The land we’re planting on today,” said Wells that Saturday morning, “was donated to the Parkway by the developer, Len Boone. And across the Parkway behind us, Frank Radford has donated 60 acres as a buffer between the Parkway and his new community, Mason’s Crest. Rather than being in an adversarial position with the park service, Radford became part of the solution.”
For Radford it’s more than just business.
“As far as developers are concerned, it’s simply good business sense to preserve a natural resource, and the Blue Ridge Parkway, of course, is basically an endangered species,” he says. “It’s probably more important to me and my family personally. Our family reunions are held up there, and all my children grew up spending weekends and outings on the parkway.”
In addition, Radford has taken his parkway preservation pledge a step further by promising that, with the sale of each of the 300-400 homes in his community – none of which will be in view from the parkway – he is going to give each new homeowner a free membership to FRIENDS and the Western Virginia Land Trust.
Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts join with other volunteers to plant for a brighter tomorrow. To date close to 1,000 trees have been planted as a result of the viewshed preservation program.
PHOTO BY BROADDUS FITZPATRICK
While environmentally conscious developers like Radford are beginning to realize the role they can play in the preservation of the parkway views, the task grows more serious with each federal budget.
Current parkway funding is so low that there are 42 NPS positions vacant that cannot be filled due to lack of funds. Between 1980 and 2003, the National Park Service budget increased 82 percent while the Parkway budget lagged behind with only a 25 percent increase. Each year more jobs are lost and the Parkway falls farther behind.
Non-profits like FRIENDS are trying to fill this gap. They have taken on trail maintenance and viewshed plantings in North Carolina and Virginia and help provide more than 50,000 volunteer hours annually to the park service. As a small, volunteer based non-profit organization, funding through memberships (7,100) and individual and corporate donations is essential to their mission. Volunteers are always needed.
For more information about how you can support efforts to help preserve this national treasure, visit FRIENDS at www.blueridgeFRIENDS.org or call them at (800) 228-7275.
