The National Park Service will be holding another meeting regarding Gauley River Access and other issues. The meeting is being held on Thursday, February 12th from 7-9 pm, at the Midland Trail High School in Hico, WV. The NPS has now proposed 3 alternatives on how to improve access to the Gauley and Meadow Rivers and is seeking public comment on the proposed alternatives.
If you are interested in paddler access to the Gauley or Meadow rivers please read the most recent newsletter from the NPS at :
http://www.nps.gov/gari/graphics/garidcp_news_feb2004.pdf
After reading the meeting notice and description of alternatives either attend the public meeting or file comments via email, phone or on paper.
The NPS has proposed 3 basic alternatives which can be viewed on maps in the newsletter. These alternatives are:
A. No Action: This is a standard alternative for all such studies.
B. Dispersed River Access: Seeks to make most existing access areas publicly accessible
C. Concentrated River Access: Major Public Access areas are built only at Tailwaters (already in place), Woods Ferry, Lower Swiss, and Meadow River at Hwy 19. A minor access area would be provided at sugar Creek.
American Whitewater supports responsible and unobtrusive public access that is adequate for trips on the Upper, Middle, and Lower Gauley, as well as the Meadow. We therefore consider Alternative A unacceptable, Alternative B acceptable, and Alternative C unacceptable. It appears that some compromise between Alternatives B and C would meet our minimum interests in river access. We hope the paddling community will offer the NPS their ideas and interests.