Tag: Kanawha State Forest

April 6, 1938: Civilian Conservation Corps Establish Camp Kanawha

On April 6, 1938, the Civilian Conservation Corps established Camp Kanawha at the mouth of Shrewsbury Hollow, about seven miles south of Charleston. Over the next four years, CCC workers transformed the site, which had been heavily mined and timbered, into Kanawha State Forest.

The CCC removed abandoned houses, coal tipples, and other structures no longer in use and built roads, a superintendent’s residence, an office, a maintenance building, and picnic shelters. The superintendent’s residence and picnic shelters were made from native chestnut logs that had been felled by the recent blight. The CCC also built a dam across Davis Creek to create a small lake.

Today, the 9,300-acre Kanawha State Forest is a wildflower haven, with at least 574 species, and about 65 tree species. The forest also provides a nesting habitat for 19 species of wood warblers, which draws birders from as far away as Canada.  Recreational facilities include numerous hiking trails, a swimming pool, stables, picnic sites, playgrounds, a shooting range, and a campground.

The Kanawha State Forest Historic District, including the CCC-constructed buildings, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

W.Va. Permanently Halts Coal Mine by State Forest

West Virginia environmental regulators are ordering a company to stop mining permanently at a surface coal mine near Kanawha State Forest.

Keystone Industries LLC signed the consent order with the Department of Environmental Protection last month to permanently halt Kanawha County mining operations near Marmet.

The Kanawha State Forest Coalition has fought the Keystone Development No. 2 mountaintop removal mine for more than two years. 

DEP spokeswoman Kelley Gillenwater says Keystone requested the agreement to address multiple patterns of violations.

The company previously faced cessation orders and violations that halted mining, but left a possibility for mining to resume. Gillenwater says the site hasn’t been mined for a year or longer.

Keystone must backfill and regrade the permitted area within nine months.

W.Va. Regulators Halt Mine Near Kanawha State Forest

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protect has closed down a mountaintop removal mine site located near a state forest in Kanawha County and is now blocking the mine operators from receiving new permits anywhere in the country. 

The DEP issued the cessation order Friday after 13 months of mining at the KD Mine #2. It’s located adjacent to the Kanawha State Forest outside of Charleston. 

A release from the agency said after a series of violations, they have also entered the mine’s operators- Revelation Energy and Keystone Development- into the national Applicant Violator System. The national database will prevent the companies from ever holding another mining permit in the United States.

In a news release, the DEP said since the mine began operating in May 2014, the agency has issued 20 violations for various problems at the surface mine, including failure to meet monitoring and sampling requirements and exceeding both blasting and water quality discharge limits.

“Our mining program has been very diligent about monitoring this site,” DEP Secretary Randy Huffman said in a written statement. “Because of the close proximity to the forest, we have gone above and beyond the normal regulatory requirements for both permitting and inspection enforcement.”

Revelation and Keystone could have their names removed from the national database that forbids them from mining, and have their cessation order at the KD #2 site lifted, if they submit and the West Virginia DEP approves a plan to abate the violations and reclaim the site.

A spokesperson for the DEP said in an email Friday the company was already in “reclamation mode,” but had recently removed all of their equipment from the site.

“The failure to abate CO is a formal declaration from DEP that no activity at the site can occur without approval from this agency,” DEP spokesman Jake Glance said. 

Program Encourages a W.Va. Hike to Start 2015

Four West Virginia state parks have scheduled New Year’s Day hikes to encourage people to get outdoors.

Participating in 2015 are Kanawha State Forest, Blackwater Falls State Park, Cacapon Resort State Park and Pipestem Resort State Park.

The national First Day Hikes program works to start Americans down on a healthy path in 2015. Last year, more than 27,000 people hiked around 66,000 miles on 885 hikes in state parks across the country.

Massachusetts began offering First Day Hikes in its parks more than 20 years ago, and the National Association of State Park Directors has issued a challenge to other states. Officials say 50 state parks across the country are set to participate.

Judge Won't Halt Mining Near Kanawha State Forest

  A judge has rejected a petition seeking to halt further operations at a surface mine near Kanawha State Forest.

Kanawha County Circuit Judge James Stucky’s decision came Wednesday in a petition filed by the Kanawha Forest Coalition and other opponents of the Keystone Development No. 2 mine. The petition had sought to block a state permit issued to the mine.

Opponents say in court filings that the mine’s continued operation threatens residents’ health and safety and the habitat of endangered bats. They also say the mine disrupts the forest’s viability as a recreational site, nature preserve and visitor attraction.

The opponents also have asked the state Surface Mine Board to revoke the permit. The board is expected to issue a ruling within the next several weeks.

DEP Says Not Enough Evidence Will Harm Appeal Against Kanawha State Forest Mine

The Department of Environmental Protection’s Surface Mine Board has finished hearing testimony in the appeal of a mine located next to the Kanawha State Forest.

In the second day of hearings, board members heard testimony from the Director of the Division of Natural Resources, employees of the DEP and a consultant who helped write the mine permit, among others.

Director Frank Jezi0ro testified forest visitors will be impacted by the surfacing mining taking place just a few hundred feet from the forest’s boundary, but the land itself will not be impacted.

Due to the off site activity, there will be what people would consider an impact due to the noise or the closure of a hiking trail while there was blasting going on,” Jezi0ro said. “Those were the impacts that we saw.”

DEP attorney Jason Wandling said there isn’t enough evidence to prove the appellants claims that harm is being done to the forest, among other things, and there is no legal basis for the board to revoke the permit and stop the mining.

Last week, the appellants called witnesses who testified the mining would impact their ground water, adversely effect plant and wildlife, and prevent visitors from using many of the trails and shooting ranges at a time not being specified.

Board members are expected to make a decision in the next few months.  

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