An Urban Agriculture Law Ruffles Feathers in Morgantown

Tracey Lea Frisch loves her pet chickens, which she keeps in her yard on the side of her house in the Hopecrest neighborhood in Morgantown. 

 

“This is Pudding and Vanilla and Mr. Looster and Lucky and Star and Moonlight and that’s Roadrunner, and that’s Fluffy – the big one,” she said as she fed them grapes. “I have one broody; she’s pretending to have chicks. It’s not going to happen.” 

 

But last fall, thirty of Frisch’s neighbors sued her, alleging that the chickens smelled bad, were noisy, ran wild and brought down property values. Locally, the chickens have become a sort of cultural phenomenon. They are now known as the “Hopecrest Chickens” – some dedicated community members have even created a Facebook page and a Youtube channel on their behalf.  Fun aside, the issues brought up in the case represented a larger discussion about growing vegetables and fruits and raising livestock in cities, a practice known as urban agriculture.

More cities in the U.S. are experimenting with urban agriculture, by growing crops on roofs or indoors with the help of LED lighting. Rick Snuffer, the state executive director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency, said that the USDA’s push for urban agriculture isn’t only fueled by aesthetic and environmental concerns, but by a sustainable one too. As the country’s population grows, there’s less land on which to grow food to feed them. 

 

Credit Jodie Rose
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Morgantown residents Jodie Rose and Jonah Katz dressed up as the Hopecrest Chickens for Halloween in 2015.

  

“There are six million dollars in food that has to be brought into West Virginia every year that could be grown here in West Virginia,” he said. “It’s imported from other states or countries. And, that’s one of the things the Commissioner of Agriculture is very concerned about – how can we create more of those crops at home?” 

 

Yet urban agriculture is rare in West Virginia, and in Morgantown, a proposed urban agriculture ordinance combined with the Hopecrest Chicken lawsuit has sparked a prolonged debate between neighbors about who can garden what and where. The ordinance first entered the public’s eye in April 2015, and was modeled after an urban agriculture ordinance passed in Charleston. 

 

“It was viewed as an opportunity to put land into productive use that was otherwise sitting vacant, and to encourage home gardeners and others to practice some of their own food production,” said Jim Kotcon, a professor of plant pathology at West Virginia University who also serves on the Morgantown Municipal Green Team. He helped draft the original version of the ordinance. “Given the long-running desire for fresh vegetables and fruits, and the ability to promote local foods, it was viewed as a positive opportunity and many viewed it as such at that time.”

Then, a couple of months before the Hopecrest Chickens lawsuit was served, city council discussed a more restrictive draft of the ordinance. It would put tighter limits on how much livestock residents could own, possibly require permits to build structures like doghouses or trellises and restrict how close those structures could be to the neighbor’s yard. Though some gardeners believe that this ordinance discourages urban agriculture, others appreciate some restrictions.

 

“They haven’t mowed. They have not weeded at all,” said Kevin Downey, a longtime Morgantown resident, of his neighbor’s front yard. “You can see the watermelons has grown through there so you can’t get a lawn mower in there. The trellis – you can see it’s made out of pipes, metals, plastics, pieces of wood, pieces of anything. I don’t know, personally I don’t think it belongs in the front yard.” 

 

Credit Anne Li / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Axel Anderson, 10, picks raspberries from his mother’s garden in Morgantown.

 

Kotcon says the issue of who gets to garden what isn’t a petty one at all. On a global scale, being able to self-sustain is important to a country’s national security. On the backyard scale, he thinks gardening is a radical act, and being able to grow one’s own food especially resonates with young people. 

 

“It is the fundamental right of each person to wrest a living from the land, free of any corporate control, working with nature to create their food and perhaps a surplus for sale and profit,” he said. “That is something inherently American.” 

 

It’s unclear when Morgantown’s proposed ordinance will return to the city council agenda. But until then, some residents will continue doing what they love best – growing and eating the food they grow in their own backyards. 
 

WVU Parkersburg Aims to Get More Vets Farming

West Virginia University at Parkersburg is joining a statewide effort to bring more veterans into farming or a related agribusiness.

The West Virginia Department of Agriculture says Parkersburg is the first college to participate in the Veterans and Warriors to Agriculture project.

Started in 2009, the program is aimed at helping veterans feed themselves and their neighbors. Since then, the program has grown to more than 100 West Virginia veterans who are now farmers or involved in agribusiness.

Veterans and Warriors is already partnering with beekeepers and educational farms.

The idea behind the program is to ease the emotional stress of veterans through farming.

WVU Parkersburg has an agricultural program leading to a one-year certificate or two-year associate degree.

Farmers Exempt from New Tank Law, But is Water Still Protected?

It’s well-known what happened in the Kanawha Valley on January 9, 2014. A massive chemical leak into the Elk River left tap water unusable for 300,000 West Virginians for as many as ten days. The 2014 legislative session had just begun, and in response, lawmakers passed a bill that would require all aboveground storage tanks in the state be registered and regulated under the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.

Over the next year, tank owners began to grow frustrated with the regulations, and in the 2015 legislative session, lawmakers reevaluated the bill. Senate Bill 423 was approved on the final day of the session and made some considerable changes that take effect Friday.

Doug Stolipher and his son, Mark are cattle farmers in Jefferson County. Mark was one of many farmers who were frustrated with the original tank bill. He says it heavily regulated farmers who were already under regulations with the Department of Agriculture. He owns a 9,000 gallon diesel fuel tank on his farm.

Credit Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Mark Stolipher’s 9,000 gallon diesel fuel tank.

“I generally order 2,000 gallons at a time, and we burn about 7,000 gallons of diesel fuel a year,” Mark explained, “and by buying it in the larger quantities, I get a better price on it and everything. So I like my larger tank, but with the regulations, I would’ve had, I couldn’t, you know, 1,320 gallons is as large as it could be before you fell into the regulations, and you can’t manifold’em together, so each tank, I’d had to have a couple, two to three tanks, and each tank would’ve had its own pump in it, cause you can’t hook’em together. Cause once you hook’em together, combined capacity, over went the gallon threshold for regulations.”

Mark says it would’ve been cheaper for him to purchase those smaller tanks rather than pay the regulation fee to the DEP and have his 9,000 gallon tank inspected routinely. But at the same time, he says he still would’ve lost a lot of money because he wouldn’t be buying that fuel in bulk anymore.

Senator John Unger, a Democrat from Berkeley County, oversaw the writing of the 2014 bill as the Chair of the Legislative Oversight Commission on Water Resources. This commission was created in response to the chemical spill.

“It started out they were exempt,” Unger noted, “and then that exemption was taken out through the legislative process. That was the whole push for this new legislation in order to address that and exempt farming.”

Unger says Senate Bill 423, the bill approved in 2015, amended and reworked the first bill so farmers using tanks for agricultural purposes would be exempt again. But he says other rules were placed in the new bill as well.

Rule for the 2014 tank legislation:

  • Held 1,320 gallons or more of liquid.
  • 90% or more above ground.
  • 60 days at a fixed location.

It was estimated to affect as many as 80,000 tanks used in a variety of industries and for a multitude of purposes. Under this law, all tanks were registered and all tanks were regulated.
Now, that rule has changed.

Scott Mandirola, the deputy cabinet secretary and director of the Division of Water and Waste Management with the DEP, says under the new law, there are two levels owners of tanks need to worry about. Everything else only needs to be registered on the DEP’s website.

Rule for the 2015 tank legislation:

  • Level one – Zone of Critical Concern
  • 5 hours upstream from a public drinking water intake.
  • Holds 50,000 gallons or more of liquid.
  • Contains a hazardous substance.
  • Level two – Zone of Peripheral Concern
  • 10 hours upstream from a public drinking water intake.

Senator Unger says he’s concerned the new legislation won’t protect everyone.
“Now we have legislation that protects major metropolitan areas, but the vast majority of West Virginia, they don’t live in major metropolitan areas, they live in small rural communities, and the question is are they protected? All we’re doing is protecting the municipalities, the cities, and the towns. These smaller communities, that’s still on well water, they’re not being protected at all, and their water supplies is not being protected,” Unger said.

Mark, the cattle farmer, says he’s happy the new bill exempts agriculture from the regulations, but he says he wishes things had been thought out better down in Charleston.

“I think the state needs to regulate the really hazardous materials, whatever they’re calling the class one and everything need to be regulated,” Mark explained, “The fuel side of things, I don’t feel the need, you know, they’re not as hazardous as some of these other chemicals, so I’m hoping, you know, I hope we get a little bit of both, you know. Things get eased up, they’re willing to work with us instead of just throw something out and get us all into compliance with everything, and make everything safer.”

Senate Bill 423 goes into effect Friday, June 12, and all tanks must be registered with the DEP by July 1.

Lewis County Lavender Farmer Worried About Fracking

At the end of a 2 and-a-half-mile, single lane road, sits La Paix Herb Farm. Owner Myra Bonhage-Hale is a retired social worker in her 70’s. She and her son Bill live here, in a brightly painted, purple homestead that dates back to the 1800’s. The house, formerly called the May-Kraus home, is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Bonhage-Hale grows a variety of herbs that she distils into essential oils and hydrosols. She makes about $8,000 a year selling her herbal products and doing herbal workshops on her farm. She lives in the unincorporated community of Alum Bridge, and she doesn’t own her mineral rights. She’s worried that she won’t be able to keep energy companies from drilling for natural gas near her home.

“I am terrified that I am going to lose this farm to Marcellus Shale Drilling,” said Bonhage-Hale.

Credit Roxy Todd
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Myra’s son Bill and her granddaughter Aijah, who is describing her school project she has been working on upstairs
Credit Roxy Todd
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Aijah, standing in front of her garden on La Paix Herb Farm
Credit Roxy Todd
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To release gas from the Marcellus Shale rock formation deep underground, companies blast water and chemicals deep into the ground at high pressures.  Bonhage-Hale is worried that at tonight’s meeting she and her family are going to find out that these types of hydraulic drilling well pads are coming to Alum Bridge. She is scared for her health and worried that her well water and the air on her farm will be contaminated.

She points to neighboring farms in Doddridge County, which has seen tremendous gas and oil development in the last few years. 

“They’ve had beautiful farms, they’ve got fracking pads next door, they’ve lost all their property value. And they can’t move, cause there’s nowhere to go. And that’s very much gonna happen in Lewis County,” Bonhage-Hale said.

Exactly what is going to happen in Lewis County—that’s still unclear.

Lewis County Commission president Agnes Queen, says she’s been told most of the new development will be in the part of the county where Bonhage-Hale’s farm is located. “We know that in one area, they are anticipating 288 wells, in the Western part of the county.”

Queen said that lots of citizens are excited that drilling could bring new jobs to Lewis County.

“Many many many of our citizens currently work in the oil and gas industry, but possibly work out of state. A lot of those folks are excited because they’ll be able to work at home for awhile,” Queen said.

78-year-old Bob Shear lives just over the hill from Myra Bonhage-Hale’s farm. He feels bad about her situation. But unlike her, he owns most of his mineral rights. He’s benefited from 14 conventional gas wells on his property.

“For the hydraulic fracturing, in my case, it could make me a fortune,” said Shear.

Still, Shear is not sure yet if he would welcome fracking operations on his land.

“If it was in an out of the way place where I didn’t think that it could ever contaminate my water system, I might be agreeable.,” said Shear.

Back over the hollow at Bonhage-Hale’s Lavender farm, Myra, and her son Bill, and her granddaughter, Aijah, are out in the garden. 9-year-old Aijah has discovered three tomatoes that she planted this spring.

Bonhage-Hale fears that this idyllic scene will be lost, along with her farm’s customers, if hydraulic fracking comes to Alum Bridge.

“And I feel so badly that I spent so much time, and I grew to love something so much, that we’re all gonna lose,” said Bonhage-Hale.

If fracking plans go ahead, Bonhage-Hale is considering buying property in Maryland. But she knows that even there, she might not be able to escape the development of natural gas drilling, which could include fracking in the future.

On Tuesday, hundreds of people crowded into a tight assembly hall at Jackson’s Mill to attend a public forum, hosted by CONSOl energy. Though many people, including Myra Bonhage-Hale, were anticipating a presentation, energy company representatives instead spoke to people one on one to people. For a report on this meeting, click here.

Credit Department of Environmental Protection
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Department of Environmental Protection
Screen shot from West Virginia DEP’s interactive oil and gas wells map. Horizontal wells are marked red.

The latest figures from the Department of Environmental Protection indicate that there are upwards of 400 horizontal well pads in West Virginia. How many more will there be? Want to learn how you can navigate the DEP’s interactive Gas Well Map? Click here.

 

Program is Turning Warriors to Farmers Across W.Va.

As the country continues to struggle to help its military members returning from war, one fledgling program in West Virginia isn’t wasting any time tackling the issues veterans face. 

From transitional job training to psychological therapy, members of the Warriors and Veterans to Agriculture Program say they’re discovering they can help West Virginia veterans in more ways than they ever anticipated.

The program stemmed from an idea James McCormick had in 2009. He’d returned from war with multiple gunshots wounds, suffering from PTSD, and found solace in working with the dirt.

He started his own farm, supplying sorghum to a local festival, and began connecting with other veterans who were interested in starting farms of their own.

By 2014, McCormick had drummed up support from veteran groups and the newly elected Agriculture Commissioner Walt Helmick. He took his group to the statehouse to start shaking hands with lawmakers to get a bill passed, but said he made those visits not as a lobbyist, but as a constituent asking his legislators for their support.
 

Credit Ashton Marra / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
One of the most popular programs the state offers for veterans is beekeeping.

The bill was passed with little opposition during the 2014 legislative session, but without funding. McCormick has worked to get local grants, money from universities and has partnered with the Department of Veterans Assistance and the West Virginia Women’s Coalition to provide supplies and necessary training to interested veterans.

One of those veterans was Eric Grandon who says the program has helped him in two ways.

0724VetstoAg2.mp3

Financial:

Grandon is a 20-year Army veteran who suffers from PTSD and is disabled, unable to qualify for a job in the physical therapy field for which he was trained.

Grandon lives on his family farm in Clay County that, until he got involved in the program, was just a small garden, but working with program director James McCormick has become his lifeblood. Grandon sells his produce at area farmers’ markets and even supplies food to Clay County Schools as a part of their Farm to School program.

Farming has given him a second chance, Grandon said, helping him provide for his family while he reaps other benefits.

Credit Ashton Marra / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Warriors and Veterans to Agriculture provides veterans with two bee hives, a smoker and a protective suit. Veterans must then purchase the bees themselves. Between what the program spends and the veterans, two beehives can total about $750 to start.

Therapy:

Another ancillary benefits is therapy. Since increasing the size of his farm, Grandon says he has stopped having to meet with VA therapists to deal with his PTSD. Instead, he works with his plants and tends to his two new beehives, provided by the Warriors to Agriculture Program earlier this year.

Grandon’s experience though, isn’t unlike many who participate in the program according to BethAnn Earl, a Navy vet who runs an urban farm in Huntington.

“I actually had a veteran say to me, he said when he picked up the dirt and he rubbed it all over his hands and arms, he said it wasn’t until then that the blood came off his hands,” she said.

The Warriors and Veterans to Agriculture program is averaging about seven to 10 applicants a week and has trains veterans in planting and maintain row crops, bees hives and livestock.
 

Mapping Appalachia's Food and Farm to Table Destinations

Agri-tourism is not a new concept to Jennifer "Tootie" Jones. A fifth generation farmer, she raises grass fed beef on Swift Level Farm in Lewisburg. She…

Agri-tourism is not a new concept to Jennifer “Tootie” Jones. A fifth generation farmer, she raises grass fed beef on Swift Level Farm in Lewisburg. She was one of the farmers who attended yesterday’s event at the Capitol Market. She sells beef to 14 West Virginia restaurants and several retail stores, some of which are featured on a new online map, called Bon Appétit Appalachia, a project by the Appalachian Regional Commission. There’s also a print map, which lists 283 food destinations across the region, including:

  1. Capitol Market, Charleston
  2. The Wild Ramp, Huntington
  3. South Side Depot, Parkersburg
  4. The Custard Stand, Webster Springs
  5. Swift Level, Lewisburg
  6. Thistledew Farm Proctor
  7. The East End Bazaar, Charleston

The map was distributed to tourism agencies and ran in a magazine called Food Traveler. The premier of this map was celebrated at an event yesterday at the Capitol Market in Charleston.

Jones’ Swift Level Farm is featured as a destination on the Bon Appétit map. “We love people of all ages coming to the farm, and we have activities for children. They can feed the chickens and collect eggs and feed the pigs and run free in the grass, and not worry about anything except having fun,” says Jones. 

Credit Roxy Todd
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Pickens Maple Syrup and Homemade Bread from Jeff’s Bakery in Frankford

The movement to promote regional food could help give farmers like Jones a boost by helping them establish their farms as tourist destinations.

Yesterday’s event also celebrated the work of farmers and chefs who have been behind the local food movement in West Virginia for some time.

“My name’s Dale Hawkins. I’m one of the owners of Fish Hawk Acres in Rock Cave. We believe local food is important for the economy of West Virginia because it’s going to keep the money as opposed to sending it out of state.” Fish Hawk Acres is also featured on the Bon Appétit Appalachia Map.

At the event Hawkins displayed local breads, homemade ramp mustard, and one of West Virginia’s most iconic local foods—Pickens Maple Syrup.

According to Mandala Research, nearly 80 percent of all leisure travelers list dining and other culinary activities as a top priority. As local food movements across the country begin to take root and the term foodie has emerged in urban areas, Appalachian festivals, farms, and farm to table restaurants could benefit by promoting the region as a tourist destination.

Credit Roxy Todd
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Granola made by Fish Hawk Acres in Rock Cave

The Appalachian food map features businesses and events from 13 states, with events like a Green Bean Festival in Georgia, a Pawpaw Festival in Ohio, and a Liver Mush Festival in North Carolina.

Although the Mountain State is known for its many festivals, only the East End Bazaar in Charleston is listed as an event for West Virginia on the printed map. Other events, like the West Virginia State Fair, are included on the online version, which has about 300 more destinations than the printed map.

Governor Earl Ray Tomlin joined ARC federal co-chair Earl Gohl and state Commissioner of Agriculture Walt Helmick and officials from the West Virginia Division of Tourism to announce the maps.

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