Work Resumes On The George Washington Forest Plan

Warm Springs, VA – A draft revision of the George Washington Forest Plan is scheduled to be released in March 2011. Public meetings will occur to answer questions and take additional public comment during the spring and summer of 2011. A final revision of the George Washington Forest Plan is set for January 2012. Evaluations, analysis and information discussed at previous meetings are available on our website.

Repair work that added new decking and rails to the Walton Tract Bridge were completed by Tri County Construction. Funding for this project was available from The Recovery Act. The Walton Tract bridge repair was the last of the Recovery Act projects in our area. A total of $4.1 million dollars of Recovery Act projects were funded on the George Washington Forest.

The elevation of Lake Moomaw is approximately 16 feet below full pool or normal levels. The lake was 23 feet below full pool last November. Pulse releases are continuing on a trial basis over the next 12 months.

The pulse releases simulate natural storm flows in the Jackson River and are designed to better transport impurities downstream in the river system. These pulse releases have not affected lake levels by more than 6 inches which was the original agreement between the Forest Service, Army Corps of Engineers and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Hidden Valley Campground will open on March 25 this year. Campground 1 at Lake Moomaw will open on April 1. Campgrounds 2, 3 and Sugar Ridge at Lake Moomaw will open on May 23. McClintic Point and Blowing Springs Campgrounds remain open year round.

Story By

Heather Niday

Heather is our Program Director and Traffic Manager. She started with Allegheny Mountain Radio as a volunteer deejay. She then joined the AMR staff in February of 2007. Heather grew up in the Richmond, Virginia, area and now lives in Arbovale, West Virginia with her husband Chuck. Heather is a wonderful flute player, and choir director for Arbovale UMC. You can hear Heather along with Chuck on Tuesday nights from 6 to 8pm as they host two hours of jazz on Something Different.

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