West Virginia has 1,021,921 acres of National Forests. The last wilderness designated in West Virginia was in 1984, Mountain Lake.
Media Campaigns
This media campaign ran in several West Virginia papers to hilight how diverse supporters of wilderness are, illustrating that wilderness is our common ground. Click each photo to view the respective print ad (PDF), or visit the campaign page [4].
Bills
Monongahela National Forest
- Bill title:
- The Wild Monongahela Act
- Bill number:
- H.R. 5151 / S. 2581
- Sponsors:
- Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV), Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-WV), Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
- Summary:
- On January 29, 2008 Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) introduced legislation that would designate 47,000 acres of wilderness in the Monongahela National Forest. This bill was co-sponsored by Representatives Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Alan Mollohan (D-WV), and companion legislation was introduced in the Senate by Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV).
- The Wild Monongahela Act would expand three existing wilderness areas, Cranberry, Dolly Sods and Otter Creek and also create four new wilderness areas: Big Draft, Cheat Mountain, Roaring Plains west and Spice Run, and would become the first new wilderness in the state in 25 years.
- The potential wilderness areas contain some of the greatest hunting, fishing, hiking, backpacking, and birding in the state.
- More info:
- West Virginia Wilderness Coalition [5]
Roaring Plains; © jonathanjessup.com