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    Blue Ridge

    Parkway NC,VA

  • PLEASE EXCUSE TALL GRASS

    Due to a Maintenance employee fatality on May 7, 2012, all mowing and vegetation removal operations have been suspended until a complete safety review can be completed. This is a temporary situation, and we anticipate regular operations will resume soon.

Park Seeks Input for Roanoke Area Trail System

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Date: August 16, 2011
Contact: David Anderson, 828 348 3435

The Blue Ridge Parkway (Parkway) is seeking public input, through September 12, 2011, on an Environmental Assessment (EA) for a trail plan for the Roanoke Valley section of the Parkway. The purpose of this EA is to describe the affected environment and analyze potential impacts associated with a no action alternative and two action alternatives.Recommendations within the EA to be implemented would impact the Roanoke Valley trail system within the lands administered by the Blue Ridge Parkway.The intent of this project is to determine whether development of an integrated trail system that would provide critical linkages between the Roanoke Valley Greenways trail network and the Parkway is appropriate after consideration of project impacts.This trail system would provide the public with a greatly enhanced range of trail opportunities as well as provide the Parkway with rehabilitation and general maintenance assistance from the Roanoke Valley Greenway Commission and associated trail groups.

Those who wish to review and comment on this document may do so by visiting http://parkplanning.nps.gov/roanokevalleytrailplan. Even though using this website is recommended, written comments may also be submitted to:Blue Ridge Parkway, ATTN:Suzette Molling, 199 Hemphill Knob Road, Asheville, NC 28803.Comments must be sent by September 12.Ideas and concerns expressed by those who comment will be used to prepare the final proposal and impact analysis.

Comments are typically treated as a public record and made available for public review.Individuals may request that the National Park Service withhold their name and address from disclosure.Such requests will be honored to the extent allowable by law.

Comments will also be accepted at a Public Meeting to be held on Thursday, September 1, 2011. The public meeting will be held from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Virginia’s Explore Park Visitor Center Auditorium, Milepost 115.1 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Members of the public may stop by at any time during these hours to meet with Parkway staff and provide comments.

Did You Know?

Catawba rhododendron at Craggy Gardens

There are twenty six tunnels on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but only one in Virginia. This is primarily because the North Carolina mountains are more rugged than those in Virginia.