Published April 1994 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
Byrd's-Eye View By U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd West Virginia's Sylvan Treasure
Recently, I helped dedicate the newly completed "Falls of Hills Creek Trail," a scenic 114-acre delight located near Richwood, Nicholas County, in the Monongahela National Forest. I added more than $800,000 in federal funds to make this site more accessible and tourist friendly. This is money well spent. Included in this development are three waterfalls, one of them -- at 63 feet -the second highest in our state, as well as a series of improved pathways, boardwalks, and stairs to better accommodate hikers and other visitors. The nearly one-million acre Monongahela National Forest serves multiple uses as a massive watershed for the Ohio and Potomac Rivers, as one of the world's finest timber stands, and as the site for great outdoor recreation areas for camping, hunting, fishing, and tourism. Annually, an estimated 2.2 million people visit sites in the Monongahela National Forest and surrounding areas, such as Spruce Knob -- the highest elevation in West Virginia-- Seneca Rocks, Cranberry Glades, the Canaan Valley, Blackwater Falls, Dolly Sods, and Smokehole Canyon. Significantly, these visitors -- many from outside West Virginia-- add dollars to West Virginia's economy through motels and hotels, restaurants, and other tourist-oriented enterprises. Recognizing the value of tourism to our state's economy, throughout my Senate career, I have promoted efforts to strike a balance between enhancing the Monongahela National Forest as a tourism resource and protecting its natural beauty and tranquility. In the past 2 years, I provided $3.4 million to initiate replacement of the busy Seneca Rocks Visitors Center, which had been destroyed by fire in 1992. In 1989 alone, an estimated 144,000 tourists visited Seneca Rocks, while authorities estimate that more than 10,000 climbers annually attempt to scale this unique rock formation. In response to such popularity, in 1990, I helped dedicate a new Seneca Shadows Campground, for which I had provided more than $2 million in federal funds to replace a• prior facility destroyed by flooding. This camping facility can accommodate 550 campers and contains a 200-seat amphitheater. My aim is that the Monongahela National Forest will play an important role in our state -- combining the preservation of natural wonders with the benefits of tourism dollars. April 20, 1994