APPALACHIAN TRAIL PURCHASE PROTECTS THE VALLEY'S SCENERY
Date: Tuesday, July 11, 2000
Section: EDITORIAL
Page: A8
YEARS INTO the future, hikers striding the Appalachian Trail will benefit
from the vision of a retired minister and the Appalachian Trail Conference in
preserving a breathtaking mountain landscape that has made McAfee Knob in
Roanoke County one of the most popular stops along the 2,000-mile trail.
The conference's purchase of a 72-acre forest tract in Botetourt County, the
heart of the panorama seen from the knob, from the Rev. Clyde Carter also
reinforces the importance of state involvement in preserving vanishing farm
and wilderness lands.
Thanks to a $12.4 million boost in its biennial appropriation from the 2000
General Assembly, the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation - never adequately
funded for its mission - did have enough money to give the conference half the
property's $87,300 price. That enabled the conference to act quickly and to
attract private donations. including $20,000 from the Bierne Carter
Foundation, to save land whose development would have represented an
irretrievable loss.
The hard work and generosity of the Appalachian Trail Conference's members
and volunteers also were crucial. An initial fund-raising letter to conference
members raised almost half the $24,000 remaining on the purchase price.
The land's preservation is also a tribute to Carter, its former owner and a
retired Church of the Brethren pastor, who appreciated the spiritual dimension
of his land and the nearby trail. By offering his land to the conference,
rather than developing it, he ensured that others will savor the wilderness
serenity that he and his children so enjoyed.
Future generations will stop and admire this expanse of wilderness, unaware
that it is the thoughtful result of combining the dollars and energies of a
private conservation group, a local family, the state and its taxpayers - and
hikers like themselves who opened their wallets for love of a local landmark.
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