This news story originally provided by americanprogressaction.org

July 5, 2006

War between scenery and jobs never an even one

Among the most wild and wonderful parts of Wild Wonderful West Virginia is its coldwater streams and rivers. Flowing mostly in the Potomac Highlands and, surprisingly, in the southern coal counties, they not only are beautiful, but also are home to one of the most popular gamefish—trout. Each year, anglers from West Virginia and other states pursue this pleasure and contribute to the state’s economy.

Now, however, it appears that the West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection wants to strip dozens of these streams from what little protection they have and make it easier for extraction activities and development to take place in their drainage areas. According to an Associated Press story last week, the division has proposed to drop Tier 2.5 protection from 141 of the 444 streams under this designation because of technical issues. Tier 2.5 protection allows limited development in a stream’s drainage area, but is a step down from Tier 3 protection, which allows no degradation.

The Tier 2.5 designation was a legislative compromise passed in 2001. It provided a level of protection to coldwater streams outside of the designated wilderness areas between the more restrictive Tier 3 and Tier 2, almost no limits to degradation.

Stream protection in 2001 was a highly charged debate between those who wanted more protection and those who favored less. Tier 2.5 was a compromise that favored development. Apparently, however, not enough. Of the 141 streams slated for removal, 35 were taken off due to coal reserve development, while 20 were removed because of planned or ongoing development. The rest were removed because of technical reasons —the absence of documented trout reproduction.

Many of the delisted streams are not anonymous brooks running through a backwater area. Many fisherman will recognize Glady Fork, which had all 31 miles in Randolph and Tucker counties delisted, a 9-mile stretch of the South Fork of the Cherry River east of Richwood and a 6-mile stretch of Glade Creek that flows through the New River Gorge National River in Raleigh County.

West Virginia always has fought a battle between the need for jobs and its beautiful, rugged scenery. It has never been a fair fight because the people who favor recreation and beauty have neither the money nor the power of the other side. This is evident when proponents for less restrictions can influence a state agency to water down what was a compromise in the first place.