Private Sector Works to Preserve Parkway Views

         
    The first tree plantings on the Blue Ridge Parkway by a private organization will take place Saturday, April 7, at 10:00 a.m. at milepost 106.9, just south of the U.S. 460 intersection, east of Roanoke.   Ferrum College is working with the National Park Service and the Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway in their continuing effort to preserve and protect the Blue Ridge Parkway’s pristine vistas. 
 
    John Paul Woodley, Jr., Secretary of Natural Resources of Virginia, will provide opening remarks for the ceremony.   Dr. Caroline Thomas, Professor of Environmental Sciences and Biology at Ferrum College, will provide environmental information as part of the program.  Environmental science students at Ferrum College will act as mentors for elementary school children who will take part in the planting of about 10 deciduous and evergreen trees, donated by Home Depot.  
    Millions of people are drawn to the Blue Ridge Parkway for its scenic drive and overlooks, but as development in the valley increases, those views are changing from rural to commercial in many areas.
 
    “We appreciate that new businesses in Southwest Virginia are bringing economic growth and jobs to our area, but we are trying to maintain the views from the Parkway as well,” says Thomas.
           
    The Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway work with business owners in the viewshed of the Parkway to try and find ways to keep the views aesthetically in line with the rural feeling of the Parkway itself.  
           
    “When visitors are on the Parkway, they should not feel like they are on Interstate 81 or Route 220.  The counties along the Parkway are experiencing growth in population far above the national average, and we need the trees to act as a buffer between the natural environment of the Parkway and growing suburbs and commercial development in our valleys,” says Dr. Susan Mills, Executive Director of Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
 
    Not only was the Blue Ridge Parkway built to give jobs to young men in the days of The Great Depression, but it was designed to maximize the scenic views over mostly rural lands.  As our economic landscape has changed, so have those views.
 
    “We need to look at our natural surroundings as a potential source of jobs instead of trading the beauty of our area for economic sources that are environmentally destructive,” says Thomas.
 
    Ferrum College has been a driving force in many efforts in the region to retain the area’s natural resources and beauty.  Thomas also heads the Smith Mountain Lake and Claytor Lake Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Programs to keep close watch on how lake traffic affects water quality and fish. 
 
    The planting was originally scheduled for November, but was postponed until April because of the late fall drought.
 
    Ferrum College’s Environmental Science (ES) program is the second oldest undergraduate program in the United States.  Ferrum ES majors are widely recruited in Virginia and throughout the United States.
     
    Ferrum College is a four-year, private, co-educational, liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church.  Ferrum offers a choice of nationally recognized bachelor’s degree programs at a cost well below the national average for private colleges.  To learn more about the College, call 1-800-868-9797 or visit www.ferrum.edu.
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