Chris Schulz, Author at West Virginia Public Broadcasting

West Virginia’s Dolly Sods Wilderness Seeking Volunteers For Unique Experience

Outdoor enthusiasts have a new way to help maintain West Virginia’s natural beauty for future generations.

Created in 2021 as a response to a large influx of visitors during the pandemic, the Dolly Sods Wilderness Stewards aim to assist the Monongahela National Forest with managing and protecting the wilderness character of Dolly Sods.

Stewards serve as a resource for visitors entering the backcountry to understand the unique nature of the wilderness, what to expect and how to prepare for the experience of a primitive area. Opportunities to help with other projects such as trail maintenance are available.

No specific background or experience is required to apply, and there is no minimum time commitment. Those who live far away or who can only occasionally volunteer their time are welcome.

The program is a partnership between the USDA Forest Service and the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy.

The next training for Trailhead Stewards is tentatively planned for late May.

For more information or to sign up, go to www.wvhighlands.org or https://bit.ly/3pBjiyV.

Comedy Festival Brings Morgantown Laughs For Days

On March 31, the Red Eye Comedy Festival will bring three days of laughs to Morgantown.

When you think of West Virginia, many things come to mind. But comedy is probably not the first or even second on the list.

Cody Cannon is a Morgantown comedian. He works in the restaurant industry by day, but he’s passionate about what he does. He’s also passionate about where he does it.

“I want comedians to want to come to West Virginia, I want there to be more exciting things happening in West Virginia and I like festivals,” Cannon said. “To create one of my own is kind of like a dream come true almost.”

But that dream was almost never realized, said Noah Basden, another Morgantown comedian.

“This festival was scheduled for 2020 like right before COVID really popped off. It was like it was go time,“ he said.

Alas, a festival in mid-April of 2020 was just one of countless live performances that were hastily canceled as the world adjusted to the emergent coronavirus pandemic. While in-person events have started to recover over the past year, nascent comedy communities across West Virginia definitely took a hit.

“There aren’t as many people, which is a bummer. I really want to see more people coming out to the scene,” Cannon said. “It’s just not the humongous diverse crowds we’re getting right before the pandemic. Now we’re starting to slowly build up steam.”

That steam is culminating with a festival. On March 31, the Red Eye Comedy Festival will bring three days of laughs to Morgantown.

“Red Eye Comedy Festival is a combination of local artists, musical and comedic, and also national acts.Three days, three different venues, three different shows,” Basden said.

Basden spent years working as a comedian in Chicago before moving back to Morgantown. There, he hosted shows in his house under the moniker of “The Potion Castle.”

A festival is certainly a step up from “Do it Yourself” house shows, or even the popular open mics in downtown Morgantown that Basden helped create.

Cannon has been plugging away to create an environment for comedy in Morgantown, too. He’s attracted national names like Myq Kaplan and Joyelle Nicole Johnson to do shows there, often their first time performing anywhere in West Virginia.

For the festival, he has helped to attract touring headliners Aminah Imani and Dave Ross.

Ross will headline Friday’s show, alongside the folks of the satire website “The Hard Times.” Ross came up in the punk and alternative scenes that the site lampoons, with the same kind of DIY ethos that comedy in West Virginia requires.

“I’m really excited to go to West Virginia,” Ross said. “It’s impressive to build a comedy scene from nothing. And that’s a big reason I feel privileged to be booked on this festival. And to be thought of, and why I’m so excited to do it.”

While touring comedians might be a major draw, the upcoming festival aims to highlight local talent. The festival is packed with mostly West Virginia comics, and not just Morgantown’s deep pool of standups. One such comic is Alexandria Runyon of Huntington.

“It’s really exciting for my first participation in a festival to be a West Virginia festival, you know, that was put together by West Virginians,” she said.

Runyon, who works part time as a producer for WVPB’s Inside Appalachia, has been part of Huntington’s comedy scene since she was in college. She sees the festival as a step in the right direction for a region ready for a new way to tell its stories.

“I hope that the future of comedy in the state is just abundant,” Runyon said. “I know that there are so many people here in West Virginia who are storytellers. And I think oral storytelling is a trademark of Appalachian people. And I think comedy is just a very natural way to present those stories.“

That’s a sentiment Cannon can get behind, and drives his desire to see this festival and others like it succeed.

“I want this state to do well. It breeds incredible artists, constantly popping up with incredible talent. And one thing I’d like this thing to do, I only want it to grow,” he said.

Whether the festival will be a success and have a chance to grow remains to be seen later this month, but those involved are giving it their all to ensure some laughs after a difficult few years.

Morgantown Symposium Takes Aim At Fentanyl

Federal and state stakeholders met in Morgantown Thursday to identify solutions to the state’s substance abuse crisis.

The West Virginia Fentanyl Symposium brought together experts in drug enforcement, prevention and treatment from across the country to present to the state’s prosecutors, sheriffs and police chiefs.

Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated there were over 100,000 drug overdoses in the United States. Of those, 64 percent involved synthetic opioids like fentanyl.

“Fentanyl is the most concerning drug that we’ve seen in decades, if not ever,” said Vic Brown, the director of the Appalachian High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. The organization sponsored Thursday’s event in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Northern and Southern Districts of West Virginia.

“It takes every aspect of the community to address this problem. It’s not just a law enforcement problem,” he said.

Presenters included the Drug Enforcement Administration and the CDC, as well as treatment specialists and researchers with firsthand experience in the substance abuse crisis.

Monongahela National Forest Burns On Schedule

Residents around parts of the Monongahela National Forest may be smelling smoke this week thanks to the Forest Service’s spring prescribed burns.

National Park Service employees burned more than 1500 acres of park land Tuesday north of White Sulfur Springs to improve forest health and reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfires.

Per a press release from the Monongahela National Forest, the controlled burn will improve wildlife habitat by re-establish fire’s natural role in the forest ecosystem and creating conditions that favor oak reproduction, as well as open fields and brushy habitat.

Traditionally, controlled burns have helped maintain West Virginia ecosystems, but their use declined significantly in the 20th century. According to the National Association of State Foresters and the Coalition of Prescribed Fire Councils, prescribed burns have increased 28 percent from 2011 to 2019.

The Monongahela National Forest plans to conduct prescribed burns on nearly 3000 acres in Greenbrier and Pendleton counties from March through June, weather permitting.

Burn areas will be closed to the public on the day of the burn and may be closed for several days after to ensure public safety.

Residents and forest visitors may see and smell smoke for several days. Park service employees caution drivers, when they encounter smoke on the highway to slow down, turn on your vehicle’s lights and drive appropriately for the conditions.

Clarksburg and Lewisburg airports will continue to offer flights by SkyWest Airlines

SkyWest Airlines has decided to stop operating out of two regional airports in West Virginia. The decision would have stopped all flights from and to Lewisburg, but a federal agency has stepped in to prevent any interruption in service.

The U.S. Department of Transportation blocked SkyWest Airlines from ending service to 29 airports across the country including North Central Regional Airport in Clarksburg and Greenbrier Valley Airport in Lewisburg.

In their filing of intent to terminate essential air service, SkyWest representatives moved to terminate service on or before June 10 and citied “pilot staffing challenges across the airline industry.”

Monday’s ruling from the DOT blocked the termination until a replacement carrier can be found.

SkyWest operates in West Virginia under United Airlines and serves as an Essential Air Service to connect regional airports to the National Air Transportation System via hubs like Chicago O’Hare and Washington Dulles.

In a letter sent to Sec. of Transportation Pete Buttigieg Friday, Sen. Joe Manchin placed the economic impact of Lewisburg’s airport at $91 million, and Clarksburg at $1.1 billion annually. He claimed losing SkyWest’s services would cause irreparable harm to local communities.

Manchin also highlighted local efforts to help ease the national pilot shortage at Marshall University’s newly opened flight school, as well as Fairmont State’s existing school.

West Virginia National Guard Draws Down COVID Support

The West Virginia National Guard completed its hospital support mission on Friday as COVID-19 cases across the state continue to decline.

This is part of a larger draw down of the number of guard members providing support for COVID-19 response in West Virginia. Federal funding is set to run out at the end of the month, although an extension through June is possible.

Sunday marked the two year anniversary of Gov. Jim Justice mobilizing the West Virginia National Guard to assist in COVID-19 preparedness and response.

Since January, more than 300 Guard members provided nonclinical support to dozens of hospitals across the state to alleviate staffing shortages.

Maj. Gen. William Crane took time during Monday’s COVID-19 press briefing to praise the health care workers who worked alongside Guard members.

“It was just real humbling to go through and see what it is that they have been dealing with,” Crane said. “It’s great to see how we can come together, both the hospitals and the guard, because we are so service oriented and do the great work that needed to be done to help support and save lives in West Virginia.”

A job fair will be held this week to help guard members find employment after their service.

“It’s really important as we draw this thing down, as our members are coming off of their COVID orders, to make sure that they have good employment post the pandemic response,” he said. “In some cases, some of them actually say that they may go into the hospitals and want to continue to do some of that work.”