FreeLists / va-richmond-general / [va-richmond-general] Alert: Emails needed Wed, attendance Thurs

["Eileen Rowan" <erowan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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NEED YOUR EMAILS ON WEDNESDAY, PLUS SOME FOLKS IN RICHMOND ON THURSDAY
TO PROTECT STATE PARKS

Folks, I hate to bug you right after my park bond email, but we need
your help in sending an email before 5pm tomorrow, Wed, and/or your
attendance in the audience for an important meeting in Richmond this
Thursday from 9 to about 11.  

Virginia Audubon Council is extremely concerned about a state draft plan
to give a portion of a state park away for a private golf course, which
will set a major precedent.  Master plans for all state parks are being
developed by committees of local volunteers around the state.  These
committees tend to be dominated by local business representatives who
are pressing for a wide variety of giveaways of public natural areas to
further private economic interests.   A decision this Thursday to bow to
local pressure and give away a critical and sensitive portion of
Occoneechee State Park on Kerr Reservoir to a private golf course
concern could open the floodgates on remaining park master plans
throughout Virginia.

A coalition of statewide groups is fighting this, including Audubon,
James River Association, Sierra, James River Association, Virginia
ForestWatch, and the Occoneechee Tribe.  We met with the Richmond
Times-Dispatch editorial staff, which resulted in an excellent and
supportive op-ed piece:

http://timesdispatch.com/editorials/oped/MGBW7JKZU7D.html

The deciding meeting will be this Thursday Nov 7 in the General Assembly
Building at Capitol Square in Richmond 10AM in House Room C.  There may
not be enough room so we need to get there by 9 if at all possible.

Our opponents have organized hundreds of letters and are busing in
people; it is important that we get out last minute emails and make a
good showing at the meeting.

This is being pushed by the town of Clarksville as needed economic
development; this is a highly flawed argument as was pointed out in the
Times-Dispatch piece.  Clarksville already has one lakeside golf course,
and reports show that Virginia has a glut of golf courses.  Golfing
interest is stagnant, while wildlife watching grows by leaps and bounds.
Regardless, commercial ventures should stand on their own and not
require government subsidies.  We should not be giving away park land
two days after asking taxpayers to pay for additional park land. 

For the several holes of the golf course, 28 acres of mature hardwood
forest will be bulldozed nearly to the lake, intercepting the lake's
northern shore wildlife corridor, cutting off camping and nature
education areas from exposure to much of the wildlife that makes the
park special.  This is important bald eagle foraging area and habitat
for several state species of special concern or WatchList species.

This golf course is proposed as a part of the Occoneechee State Park
Master Plan that comes before the advisory board of the Virginia
Department of Conservation and Recreation on November 7th.  The Board
and staff need our support to help them oppose the sizable political
pressure they are facing.

SEND EMAIL LETTER:  Whether or not you can attend, please send an
emailed letter (with your name and address) before 5pm tomorrow,
Wednesday to:

     Joseph Maroon, Director, VA Dept. of Conservation and Recreation
jmaroon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

FOR MORE DETAILS:  Please go to:
http://www.winwinworld.net/golfcourse/

                                                  

Thanks as always for your help.

Eileen Rowan

Coordinator, Important Bird Areas Program

Audubon Virginia

P.O. Box 1089 (114 N. Railroad Ave.)

Ashland, VA 23005

804/752-5850, 752-5882 fax, 339-3216 cell

email: erowan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 




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