Dear Friends of the Cacapon River,

It’s been a while since I’ve sent out a general information letter or newsletter. You should all have received the recent mailing about the proposed power line route along the west slope of the Cacapon Mountain between Largent and Great Cacapon. I hope you sent the post card to the power company. There is a lot of activity going on to stop this route. Please keep informed about what you can do through newspaper articles and our online newsletter at www.cacaponcurrent.org as well as two new sites addressing all the proposed routes in Morgan County, www.Citizensagainstpath.org and www.stoppath.org . There are petitions to sign at each of these sites. We must act fast since the power company will be making decisions in October! Right now go to: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-path-in-cacapon-river-country ("click on" or "copy-and-paste in.")

We have also been involved in activities related to the "landmen" who are trying to get property owners along the river in the Marcellus shale area (much of the Cacapon River valley) to sell their natural gas rights. Several ad hoc groups are getting started to better inform property owners of their options and to educate them about the potential environmental damage associated with extracting natural gas from over 9,000 feet down in the Cacapon River valley. Our website, www.cacaponcurrents.org,  will address this issue.

I am sad to report the unexpected death of Board member Barbara Tufty. She was one of founders of the Friends of the Cacapon River and was fully devoted to the protection of the river. She loved to spend time at her beautiful cabin on the river near Fisher’s Bridge. At the time of her death she was leading our effort to survey property owners along the river with assistance from West Virginia University. Addresses for the study are being compiled from the Morgan County property books and from the electronic files of Hampshire County. Hopefully the survey will go out this fall and will help us plan future activities. If you live along the river, look for it. Barbara was also working on a book compiling information on the flora and fauna along the river. We will make every effort to complete this project as a memorial to her. Go to our online newsletter www.cacaponcurrents.org for more information about Barbara.

We have been doing our usual activities this year, including annual river clean-up as part of the WV Make-It- Shine program, Adopt-a-Highway clean-ups, our booth at the Morgan County Fair, the Apple Butter Festival(Oct. 11 &12), and Cacapon Bridge Days (Oct.18), monitoring the health of fish, monitoring water quality thru the WV Save-Our-Streams program that counts little bugs in the river, attending related meetings, including one on the endangered river plant, harperella, and addressing special concerns of people along the river, such as boating access points and frequent reports of cows in the river. Check our web sites for more on our activities and programs. I am pleased to report that almost $700 was donated to the FCR at my annual cabin party last month. We will be producing a new CD of the music from the party. "Live on the Cacapon River," music from the 2001 cabin party has sold out raising over $1000 for the FCR and the Paw Paw Band Boosters.

Hope to see you on the river or the Apple Butter Festival.

Ron Wilson, President

 

 

 

P.S. If you are reading this on one of our web sites, look for a mailing soon that will include our annual river raffle tickets.