ICYMI: McAuliffes make case for state parks

Key quote: “The governor’s grand circuit brings to the fore the virtues of Virginia’s scenic and historic places as the park system celebrates its 80th-anniversary year. That’s a most worthy goal, and we applaud the McAuliffe family for working hard to meet it.”

Editorial: McAuliffes make case for state parks

The Free-Lance Star
By the Editorial Page Staff of the Free Lance-Star
April 7, 2017

IT’S rare that any region of Virginia has a governor come calling two days in a row. But so it was last weekend with Gov. Terry McAuliffe here in the Fredericksburg area. The reason: parks.

He came in last Saturday to christen the trails at Crow’s Nest Natural Area Preserve in Stafford County. And returned the next day to Lake Anna State Park in Spotsylvania County to dedicate two new lodges that will open this spring.

The different experiences highlighted by his visits—from the lakeside’s modern cabins with plenty of creature comforts to Crow’s Nest’s rustic wilds—speak to the range of possibilities that visitors to Virginia’s parks and preserves can explore. (A side note: Spring break is a great time to do that yourself: Through April 23, all 37 Virginia state parks will offer self-guided and ranger-led programs to help visitors enjoy and learn nature. For details, see dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/park-events.)

In Stafford, McAuliffe opened eight miles of hiking trails to the public that were years in the making. Officials dedicated the 2,872-acre preserve on the Potomac Creek nearly a decade ago, but couldn’t persuade state legislators to put gravel on a 1.6-mile dirt access road off Raven Road. Thanks to some creativity by Stafford supervisors, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and the state Department of Transportation, that work got done.

Now visitors can reach the main part of this high, narrow peninsula, which preserves 60 percent of the marshes in the county. It also includes 2,200 acres of hardwood forest, including two globally rare types, according to the Conservation Department’s Natural Heritage Program. The land also figured significantly in Virginia’s Colonial and Civil War history.

Protecting Crow’s Nest had long been among the highest land conservation priorities for Stafford and the commonwealth. Threatened by modern development and decades-old zoning, it could have become a giant subdivision that would have destroyed wildlife habitat and fouled tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay.

Instead, adding Crow’s Nest to the Virginia Treasures initiative has provided McAuliffe with another selling point as he works to lure major employers to the state. International food and beverage maker Nestlé S.A.—which recently announced it will move its U.S. headquarters from Glendale, Calif., to Rosslyn—told him those preserves are an attractive feature to prospective companies.

Virginia needs to protect such assets across the commonwealth, McAuliffe said. Last year, 10 million people visited the state parks. The 1 million of them who came from out of state spent $97 million here, he said.

Putting visitation in context, Conservation Department spokesman Jim Meisner Jr. noted that legislators provided $19.86 million in general-fund money for state parks last year, while park visitors paid $19.6 million in tax revenue.

“For every dollar appropriated for state parks by the General Assembly last year, Virginia received 99 cents in tax revenue,” Meisner told us Thursday. “That’s a fantastic return on investment.”

Last Sunday, the governor and the first lady, Dorothy, relaxed a bit at Lake Anna, having lunch with park staff members, taking a hike with their dog Guinness, and surprising two longtime park supporters by naming one of the new lodges after them. The cabin’s moniker honors Johnny and Jo Finch, a Spotsylvania couple who gave years of their lives to create the Friends of Lake Anna State Park and the Virginia Association for Parks, which advocates for state parks.

Earlier, the McAuliffes reminisced about some of their own state-park experiences to Free Lance–Star columnist Rob Hedelt. Clearly, the couple appreciates these natural resources, having spent many weekends and nights in the parks, and relishing their range of accommodations. They and their children have hiked, canoed, kayaked, ridden horses and mountain bikes, shot arrows, panned for gold, eaten s’mores, learned a lot of history, been taught to make moonshine, and searched for wild ponies.

And soon, Gov. McAuliffe will have visited every one of Virginia’s 37 state parks, keeping a promise he made a while back—rather like when he toured every Virginia community college in 2013 while running for the state’s highest office.

Lake Anna was the 34th park visited by the chief executive, who some call “the promoter-in-chief.” On April 17, he aims to see the last three on his list: Staunton River Battlefield State Park, Staunton River State Park and Occoneechee State Park.

The governor’s grand circuit brings to the fore the virtues of Virginia’s scenic and historic places as the park system celebrates its 80th-anniversary year. That’s a most worthy goal, and we applaud the McAuliffe family for working hard to meet it.