Bill to protect additional 50,000 Blue Ridge Parkway acres introduced by Va. and N.C. lawmakers

Blue Ridge Parkway.

U.S. Senators Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) have joined with North Carolina Senators Kay R. Hagan (D-N.C.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) to introduce legislation authorizing the National Park Service to acquire up to 50,000 acres of land surrounding the historic roadway.

The Blue Ridge Parkway Protection Act will authorize $75 million over five years to allow the National Park Service to acquire and preserve high-priority land surrounding the Blue Ridge Parkway.

In the House of Representatives, Congressmen Rick Boucher (D-Va.), Tom Perriello (D-Va.), Heath Shuler (D-N.C.), and David Price (D-N.C.) introduced companion legislation.

"We are so very happy about this legislation being introduced by the four senators, North Carolina and Virginia," said Blue Ridge Parkway Deputy Park Supervisor Monika Mayr. "It's authorizing legislation, so it gives us permission to acquire those acres, and we're hopeful that the appropriations will follow."

The plan to introduced legislation was announced on Jan. 26 in the Shenandoah Valley by Sen. Webb's office. The appropriations include $75 million over five years to purchase up to 50,000 acres of land.

“The Blue Ridge Parkway is one of the Commonwealth’s most significant tourist attractions, providing economic benefits to communities in Southwestern Virginia,” said Webb. “As a longtime supporter of natural and cultural landmark preservation, I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate to pass this legislation.” The Blue Ridge Parkway’s 75th anniversary will be celebrated in September.

Specific areas of land to be purchased have yet to be determined, as the bill's purpose is to direct the National Park Service to determine and negotiate land acquisition. No land is to be acquired through eminent domain.

Although the Parkway exists as a very narrow, 469-mile strip of land, visitors driving through the park often experience what appear to be endless Mountain views. Those unique views are what over 90 percent of the park's visitors come to see, according to Mayr.

The park currently works with over 4,500 landowners to preserve the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway vistas, many of which have been threatened by development and the disappearance of the farm and grazing lands that create a visual buffer zone along the park boundaries. Mayr said that one of the main goals of the committee formed to promote the Parkway's 75th anniversary is to connect with surrounding communities by promoting their local events regionally on www.blueridgeparkway75.org.

"Our goal is to have visitors to the Parkway, then to the communities, then back to the Parkway, just a wonderful vacation experience, like the Parkway is designed to be," she said.

The Blue Ridge Parkway has been feeling the effect of the economy on the ability to properly maintain the park. Mayr says that, since 2001 the park's maintenance budget has not kept pace with inflation and staffs are now smaller. But she added that the Economic Stimulus program, implemented through both the Federal Highway Administration and within the Park Service, provides about $84 million dollars worth of work that is either approved or currently underway this fiscal year.

Construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway began in 1935 near Cumberland Knob, N.C. It currently attracts nearly 20 million visitors per year, making it the most visited site in the National Park Service, generating an estimated $2.3 billion in North Carolina and Virginia annually.