May 17, 2021

New River Gorge — the newest national park.

Posted by Ann Althouse at 6:45 AM
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2 comments:

Ann Althouse said...

K writes:

""It's a day's drive from half the US population." Yes, but that day's drive is only a hundred miles, a hundred miles that take a day to drive on those scenic, winding, narrow roads. I exaggerate a bit but I've driven in West Virginia. I loved it; the place is even more beautiful as the show suggests but scenic, winding and slow are synonyms when we talk about roads in West Virginia. And don't get me started on "in the rain", "in the fog," or "driving on a series of interweaving, unnamed blacktops with night coming on." I'll just say that "country roads/take me home/to the place where I belong" took on a whole new meaning as I struggled toward DC or even Wheeling. Without GPS, I might still be there. Which wouldn't be so bad."

Ha ha
So I've heard
Well, now there will be even more traffic on these harrowing roads as everyone gets in the car and heads out for the newest nat'l park

5/17/21, 7:44 AM
Ann Althouse said...

Christian writes:

'm interested in what seems to be the unlimited potential for the federal appropriation of state land for the purposes of tourism, mostly under the guise of "conservation". I had to dig around a bit to find this quote of local opposition, and I imagine there are many if not a majority of local residents unhappy:

"“I’m pretty disgusted about this whole thing, and there ain’t a damn thing on God’s green earth I can do about it,” said Larry Case, a hunter and outdoor writer who lives in the gorge.

"I spent a few days rafting along the New River as a youth and loved it. Better experience than the Grand Canyon for me. But if the locals didn't want a National Park and the State didn't make it a priority, why do we celebrate the fact that the federal government can seize land that wasn't being polluted or developed and then build a massive tourism industry around it, bringing in more development and accompany pollution.

"Indeed, the numbers show fewer people are visiting the area than in times past. So in order to preserve it and the surrounding area, we're going to develop it with campgrounds, parking lots, trails, toilets, restaurants, hotels, roads, expanded landfills and flood it with more people?"

The internal quote is from this article in The Guardian.

5/17/21, 11:14 AM

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