Most Bolar Mtn Recreation Area Campgrounds Remain Closed
Warm Springs, VA – Three out of four campgrounds remain closed in Lake Moomaw’s Bolar Mountain Recreation Area. Campground renovation work resumed in March in Campgrounds 1, 2, and 3 at Lake Moomaw after a long delay due to winter weather. These campgrounds will remain closed until new a bath house and shower facilities are completed. Reservations are postponed until we are certain when the contractor will finish work and a reopen date is known.
Meanwhile, Sugar Ridge Campground at Lake Moomaw is open and accepting reservations at www.recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777. Hidden Valley Campground opened for the season in late March. Blowing Springs and McClintic Point are open year round.
Trail crews will begin trail maintenance work on National Forest trails by the end of May. The Recovery Act is providing funding for temporary employment in the Alleghany Highlands of Virginia in 2010. The Student Conservation Association (SCA), a long time partner of the Forest Service, is the employing company and has hired people to accomplish trail maintenance work on National Forest trails in Alleghany, Bath, and Highland counties.
Three trail teams are formed, one for each county, and will begin work in mid-May. The purpose of this program is to provide employment opportunities, stimulate local economies, and accomplish meaningful work in our national forests.
The U.S.D.A. Forest Service has issued the Notice of Intent (NOI) in the Federal Register to prepare the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Revised Plan for the George Washington National Forest. The federal regulations which guided the planning have changed. The NOI begins a 60-day comment period in which the public has an opportunity to further refine issues to study in the environmental analysis. A series of public meetings were held in April – additional public meetings are planned for June.