Conservation Groups Disappointed in Thrasher Response to State Park Logging Bill

Representatives from groups involved in the SOS Parks initiative met with Commerce Secretary Woody Thrasher on Thursday to present a list of credible alternative funding sources that may allow the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources to repair and maintain our state parks without opening them up to commercial logging.

The coalition, which includes the groups Christians for the Mountains, Eight Rivers Council, Friends of Blackwater, Friends of the Cheat, Kanawha Forest Coalition, Mountain Lakes Preservation Alliance, WV Chapter of the Sierra Club, WV Environmental Council, WV Highlands Conservancy, WV Rivers Coalition, WV Wilderness Coalition, WV Scenic Trails Association, and West Virginians for Public Lands, has been actively opposing SB 270 and HB 4182 since the Governor’s had the bills introduced early in the legislative session.

The bills would allow logging in state parks to fund a parks bond. SOS Parks groups presented eight of their nineteen funding ideas to encourage Secretary Thrasher to withdraw the Governor’s logging bill, which has been met with stinging public criticism, including from within the Governor’s own party. On Tuesday, Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt became the most prominent Republican to speak out against the bill.

The funding ideas include increasing the state park’s share of purchase card rebates and apportioning some state lottery proceeds to park capital projects. Another proposal is a modest surcharge on accommodations in the parks. The parks host 700,000 overnight guests each year. With the proposed bond focused on improving facilities, a small capital improvements surcharge could be added to fees or reservations at state park lodges, cabins, and campgrounds.

Unfortunately, the Secretary rejected discussion of the initiatives out of hand, at least until after the legislative session is over. That means these bad bills are still making their way through the process, although we’ve yet to see either make their way onto a committee agenda.

We’ve seen Division of Forestry director, Barry Cook making his way through the halls to push for passage of this bill, which endangers the very small percentage of public land that is protected from logging. West Virginia’s best chance to see the complex ecosystem that is an old-growth forest is to keep timber trucks out of our state parks.

Rumor has it, the bill may end up running through the House first. On that side, it’s referenced to the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Committee on Government Organization. We will need lots of calls and emails to the members of the Ag/Natural Resources committee in the next few days.

This list of email addresses for the committee can be copied and pasted into an email address field to send an email to all committee members:

george.ambler@wvhouse.gov,bill.anderson@wvhouse.gov,martin.atkinson@wvhouse.gov,scott.brewer@wvhouse.gov,moore.capito@wvhouse.gov,roy.cooper@wvhouse.gov,jeff.eldridge@wvhouse.gov,allen.evans@wvhouse.gov,michael.folk@wvhouse.gov,bill.hamilton@wvhouse.gov,roger.hanshaw@wvhouse.gov,jason.harshbarger@wvhouse.gov,ken.hicks@wvhouse.gov,shirley.love@wvhouse.gov,chad.lovejoy@wvhouse.gov,dana.lynch@wvhouse.gov,riley.moore@wvhouse.gov,john@overington.com,ralph.rodighiero@wvhouse.gov,roger.romine@wvhouse.gov,isaac.sponaugle@wvhouse.gov,joe.statler@wvhouse.gov,amy.summers@wvhouse.gov,robert.thompson@wvhouse.gov,danny.wagner@wvhouse.gov

Complete contact info – name, party, district, capital address, phone, and email. The complete mailing address for any committee member is:

Room #, Bldg. 1
1900 Kanawha Blvd. E.
Charleston, WV 25305

George Ambler Vice-Chair Natural Resources	R	42	Room 203E	340-3129	george.ambler@wvhouse.gov
William Anderson	R	8	Room 200E-C	340-3168	bill.anderson@wvhouse.gov
Martin Atkinson III	R	11	Room 208E	340-3185	martin.atkinson@wvhouse.gov
Scott Brewer	D	13	Room 231E	340-3146	scott.brewer@wvhouse.gov
Moore Capito	R	35	Room 220E	340-3340	moore.capito@wvhouse.gov
Roy Cooper	R	28	Room 203E	340-3119	roy.cooper@wvhouse.gov
Jeff Eldridge	D	22	Room 230E	340-3113	jeff.eldridge@wvhouse.gov
Allen V. Evans Chair Agriculture	R	54	Room 216E	340-3399	allen.evans@wvhouse.gov
Michael Folk	R	63	Room 229E	340-3350	michael.folk@wvhouse.gov
Bill Hamilton Chair Natural Resources	R	45	Room 216E	340-3167	bill.hamilton@wvhouse.gov
Roger Hanshaw	R	33	Room 408M	340-3252	roger.hanshaw@wvhouse.gov
Jason Harshbarger	R	7	Room 225E	340-3195	jason.harshbarger@wvhouse.gov
Kenneth Hicks Minority Vice-Chair Natural Resources	D	19	Room 150R	340-3155	ken.hicks@wvhouse.gov
Shirley Love	D	32	Room 233E	340-3337	shirley.love@wvhouse.gov
Chad Lovejoy	D	17	Room 151R	340-3280	chad.lovejoy@wvhouse.gov
Dana Lynch	D	44	Room 6R	340-3916	dana.lynch@wvhouse.gov
Riley Moore	R	67	Room 225E	340-3248	riley.moore@wvhouse.gov
John Overington	R	62	Room 242M	340-3148	john@overington.com
Ralph Rodighiero Minority Chair Natural Resources	D	24	Room 2R	340-3297	ralph.rodighiero@wvhouse.gov
William R. Romine Vice-Chair Agriculture	R	6	Room 210E	340-3226	roger.romine@wvhouse.gov
Isaac Sponaugle Minority Chair Agriculture	D	55	Room 258M	340-3154	isaac.sponaugle@wvhouse.gov
Joe Statler	R	51	Room 442M	340-3900	joe.statler@wvhouse.gov
Amy Summers	R	49	Room 215E-A	340-3139	amy.summers@wvhouse.gov
Robert Thompson Minority Vice-Chair Agriculture	D	19	Room 150R	340-3355	robert.thompson@wvhouse.gov
Danny Wagner	R	47	Room 226E	340-3398	danny.wagner@wvhouse.gov