OUR RIVER IS UNDER ATTACK!

The magnificent Greenbrier is one of the few major rivers in the United States that has not had its free course tampered with by an ill-advised dam. Although the river is seen as serene here, in 1985 and in 1996 it was a roaring force that wrecked havoc with structures within its natural floodplain. Although these were natural occurances, there has been a clamor for a dam from those who have placed themselves in the way of God's natural creation.

I made this photo while I was sitting on Naked Man Rock which is a mile or so from the southern end of the Greenbrier River Trail. I have heard that the name originates from a story that claims that folks on a passing train saw a man sunning himself on the rock.

There are at least three good reasons for not building the dam.

First, it is not fair to ask the people of this country to pay the twenty million dollars, that has been the estamted cost of building a main stream dam, for the benifit of so few people.

Second, our tourist industry in this state is booming, and will more than likely become West Virginia's leading industry. The benefits that a main-stream dam would bring to those living or operating a business in the flood plain, would greatly be offset by the benifits that the Greenbrier would bring in its natural beautiful state through the tourist industry.

Last, because of the nature of the topography of the area, building a dam in the proposed location would be relatively ineffective. Most of the tributaries of the Greenbrier flow in valleys that run parallel to the main Greenbrier Valley and, even though they drain areas north of the proposed dam, they enter the Greenbrier River below the proposed dam. The area affected by the dam would be a very small precentage of the area actually drained by the Greenbrier.

Leaving the Greenbrier in its free state will be much more financially productive in the long run, and we will be preserving its beauty for future generations.