June 24, 2008
Mr. Gordon Burgess of Reedville is a green pioneer. He has installed a wind turbine to generate electricity for his home. In addition, he has solar panels on his roof and uses geo-thermal energy to heat and cool his house. After a year-long study performed by James Madision University that used an anemonmeter to study the average wind speed at his property, it was determined that his site exceeded the “fair” conditions necessary to run the wind turbine. He jumped the necessary hurdles to have the permit granted in the county and now his meter is making more electricity than he can use. Because he is hooked to the grid, netmetering allows him to sell back the additional energy to the electrical company. It’s a win-win situation. The environment wins and the Burgess family wins! Superintendent Clint Stables wants Northumberland County Public Schools to follow the example of Mr. Burgess and demonstrate that wind energy is a viable alternative source of energy on the Chesapeake Bay. Whether the school decides on a tilt-up system like the one in Reedville or a self-supporting stand like at JMU, the prospect of Northumberland County leading the way in alternative energy is exciting!
June 23, 2008
The Reedville Fisherman's Museum in Virginia will bring The Spirit of 1608, its reproduction of Capt. John Smith's "discovery barge," to the Avalon area of Patapsco Valley State Park June 28 and 29 as part of the 400th anniversary of Smith's exploration of the Chesapeake Bay. The vessel will be docked near the Avalon Visitor Center parking lot on South Street, Halethorpe. Volunteer re-enactors accompanying the vessel will offer historical interpretations from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. both days. Information: 410-465-32
June 21, 2008
The Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries are beautiful, but you can't get to them easily.
Currently, only 2 percent of the shorelines of the Maryland Chesapeake offer public access.
"Along the Anacostia River," says environmentalist Robert Boone, "there are only two boat ramps along 8 miles of tidal river." The Potomac, "other than along the C&O Canal tow path, does not have much access either."
Anne Arundel County also has limited access for boaters. There are just two full-fledged public boat ramps, one at Truxtun Park in Annapolis and another at Sandy Point State Park. The county government is working on putting one in Pasadena.
On Maryland's Eastern Shore, there is a shortage of waterside parks and boat ramps. Veteran kayaker Clarence "Doc" Kuntz points out that there is "very little Talbot County shoreline open to the public. Fifteen narrow boat ramps with minimal parking provide the only access points. Only the strand in Oxford offers a pleasant public shoreline in Talbot."
A similar dearth of Eastern Shore access points prevails on the Wicomico River and along the Nanticoke River. This makes it very difficult for canoeists and kayakers to enter the tributaries and have enjoyable experiences. Launching a canoe from a sloping shore at a local bridge is an option, but is not what many people have in mind when it comes to access.
The situation is worse in Virginia, observes environmental planner Stuart McKenzie. In the counties of Virginia's famed Northern Neck, where he works, only 1 percent of the shoreline is available to public access for kayakers, fishermen and birdwatchers.
Despite the recent downturn in real estate, waterfront parcels are at a premium and cost from $250,000 to $400,000 per waterfront acre, Mr. McKenzie adds. At these prices it is difficult for counties and municipalities to purchase a typical site consisting of two acres for a boat ramp and picnic area and one acre for parking.
Public access issues come at a time when the balance between the private and the public realm has shifted significantly, with personal property rights ascending over community access to landscape and seascape. Increasingly litigious landowners in riparian and coastal areas see themselves as an entitled class of second home or holiday homeowners who feel little obligation to open their property to bird watchers and canoeists.
One bright spot in the public access story is the Chesapeake Bay Program. Since 2000 the bay program has acquired sites for its Public Access Program and access has increased in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. The Chesapeake Bay Program is currently 91 percent of the way toward its goal of 805 public access sites by 2010.
Today there is also increasing public interest in the expanding network of water trails like the Capt. John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail and land trails like those that connect the National Park Service's Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network.
When it comes to improving public access to Chesapeake waters, Jim Rapp of Delmarva Low Impact Tourism Experiences in Salisbury is optimistic.
"Our organization is scoring notable success with county governments and the hospitality industry in the region in recognizing the importance of eco-tourism. Kayakers, canoeists, fishermen and bird watchers all come to the region and spend significant sums of money," Mr. Rapp said. "We will have greater access to Chesapeake waters in the future "because people want a better quality of life."
Mr. McKenzie's experience as a planner on Virginia's Northern Neck prompts him to believe that it will be the developers themselves who will spearhead public access to the Chesapeake.
"They see the need for increased amenities for inland tidewater homeowners," he says.
He foresees them buying pieces of shoreline as set asides for boat ramps and water park access that will be available to their homeowners and to the public through tax rebates.
Whether environmentalists like it or not, notes Mr. McKenzie, "if they want more access to the Chesapeake, they will have to partner with developers."
The only alternative concludes Mr. McKenzie, will be to wait for bridges to be realigned so that old structures can be used as fishing piers - and that promises to be a long wait.
John R. Wennersten is the author of numerous books on the Chesapeake Bay and regional environments in the Mid-Atlantic. This column is distributed by Bay Journal News Service.
June 20, 2008
History envelops Westmoreland State Park like a thick fog off the Potomac. Human history surrounds it. Natural history is buried in it.
Westmoreland's 1,299 acres are the "X" on the treasure map of the Northern Neck's past. George Washington's and Robert E. Lee's birthplaces bookend the riverfront state park along Route 3. On Fossil Beach, treasure hunters regularly unearth 15 million-year-old shark's teeth, whale vertebrae and other ancient remains that have eroded out of Miocene-age sediments in the nearby Horsehead Cliffs.
A recent trip revealed all this but also treasures of a more immediate variety: a secluded fishing pond, near-empty trails and a chameleon-like ability to surprise visitors with varied habitats that seem as if they can't possibly exist there. These riches were as welcome as a fossil find and more surprising. Washington and Lee would have to wait for another day. Westmoreland has more than enough to keep the nature-lover busy.
After a tour from Park Manager Bill Jacobs, my wife, Jess, and I and our two dogs parked in a lot overlooking the mighty Potomac. Across the river, here a couple of miles wide, was Maryland's Cobb Island, the mainland and, farther south, Calvert Island.
The cliff we stood on was more than 100 feet above the river. In places, Jacobs said, it's as high as 150 feet. That's the first surprise Westmoreland offers. This is no coastal plain bottomland. Topography abounds. We discovered this as soon as we took off down the Big Meadow Interpretive Trail.
On both sides of the sandy path, the hardwood forest dropped off steeply. We hiked down to Fossil Beach, where park goers sifted the sand for fossils. Digging isn't allowed, but keeping serendipitous finds is.
The theory goes that about 15 million years ago, a shallow inland sea reached as far as Richmond. Aquatic critters such as sharks, whales and others died and were buried in what now is the sediment that makes up this area. Because towering cliffs are exposed, those remains constantly are being exhumed by wind and water.
From Fossil Beach, we hiked along Turkey Neck Trail next to a swampy area called Big Meadows. The trail was blissfully primitive and looked as if it doesn't get much traffic. We didn't see another hiker, though many people were down by the water at the park's two beaches.
Turkey Neck Trail eventually climbed out of Big Meadows through a stand of soaring white oaks, yellow poplars and hickories. Jacobs said parts of the park were logged not long before it opened to the public in 1936. This area clearly was not one of them. Jacobs pegged the white oaks' age at more than 250 years.
Westmoreland offers numerous options for outdoor-loving Virginians. There's a swimming pool, a snack bar and bait and tackle shop and kayaks for rent to explore the shoreline. Cabins and lodges are available to rent, and a few sites allow tent camping.
On the day we visited, kids and parents swarmed the pool and the nearby beach area, but it was the drive down there that was truly remarkable. Mountain laurel and ferns lined the steep hillsides sheltered from the sun by a high hardwood canopy. A creek ran alongside the road on one side. On the other, moss coated a stone wall built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. If you were blindfolded and placed on this road with no warning, you'd think it was somewhere in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
After a snack overlooking the river, Jess and I rigged up the fishing rod and hiked to Rock Spring Pond. Jacobs said the pond was stocked with bass and sunfish years ago. More recently, catfish were added to help control the burgeoning sunfish population. The pond is not stocked regularly, however.
Lily pads come up to the banks of Rock Spring Pond on all sides, but the water was clear in the middle. I threw a couple of rubber worms around downed trees and other submerged objects, but the bass weren't taking. We stayed for a while, enjoying the relief from Richmond's heat and humidity. Even in the sun, it wasn't bad. In the shade, it was downright comfortable - another surprise we weren't expecting from Westmoreland.
By the time we got back on the road to Richmond, there was no time left to explore the area's human history. That was OK, though. We were more than satisfied with a day of hiking in solitude, fishing secluded ponds and watching eagles soar over 150-foot cliffs. It won't come as a surprise to anyone who's been there, but Westmoreland's place in Virginia history continues to be written today.
Contact Andy Thompson at (804) 649-6579 or outdoors@timesdispatch.com.
June 19, 2008
BETWEEN coming back from National Guard duty in Iraq in 2004 and taking a job at Northern Neck State Bank not long after, Chip Jones of Montross found himself driving trucks for a time.
And he began to notice license plates.
"It struck me how many speciality plates I'd see for regions like Virginia Beach or the Eastern Shore," said Jones, 30.
The lifelong Westmoreland County resident said the more plates he saw, the more a sentiment grew in him about his beloved home territory, the Northern Neck.
"As much as any of these regions, the Northern Neck is certainly worthy of having its own license plate," he said.
This week, Jones, Northern Neck legislators and the Northern Neck Land Conservancy announced a grass-roots campaign aimed at making that happen.
Jones took the idea initially to Westmoreland Del. Rob Wittman, now in Congress. State Sen. Richard Stuart took up the issue and put in a bill in this year's General Assembly to create a a plate promoting tourism and conservation on the Northern Neck.
Some legislators expressed concern about the number of new tags being suggested.
To see that a specialty plate would sell enough to cover its costs, the DMV and legislators want any new request to arrive with at least 350 paid applications.
So, the folks behind the Northern Neck tag started a campaign to get pre-applications rolling in.
A kick-off rally was scheduled to take place last night at Lancaster Courthouse.
Jones said he thinks getting the 350 applications will be easy, partly because Northern Neck residents and others with ties to the peninsula are proud of their region and its heritage.
And partly because the proposed tag looks pretty good.
The proposed plate has a Chesapeake Bay deadrise fishing boat on the left side. At the bottom of the plate will be a simple tag line: NORTHERN NECK.
The annual surcharge for the specialty plate will be $25. If someone wants to personalize their specialty plate, the charge would be $35.
After setup costs are covered by the sale of the first 1,000 plates, $15 per plate would go to the Land Conservancy.
Jones said it took him a while to pick the Land Conservancy to receive proceeds from the plate.
"The work they do to preserve natural and open land in the Northern Neck serves all residents here," he said. "And it preserves what we love so much about this place."
Jamie Tucker of the Land Conservancy said the group is about the plate.
She said the group thinks the plate will spread knowledge of the Northern Neck and the Land Conservancy's preservation work.
Current plans call for the pre-applications and money for the Northern Neck plate to be processed by Land Conservancy until the license plate becomes official.
If the plate is approved during the 2009 General Assembly session, backers hope that plates would become available in the second half of the year.
Jones is uncomfortable with credit for the idea, but he said he thinks the plates will show up on cars throughout the state.
"There are many people in Northern Virginia and all over who have cottages or connections in the Northern Neck," he said. "I think many of them will want to have this plate on their car."
Rob Hedelt: 540/374-5415
Email: rhedelt@freelancestar.com
June 10, 2008
Forrest Gump said that somethings go together like peas and carrots.
I guess that could be said about the Miss Ann and Tides Inn.
The following is from the Times Dispatch.
By LAWRENCE LATANE III
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
The Miss Ann, an 82-year-old yacht whose elegance reflected the refinements of a Northern Neck resort and the tastes of the guests who stayed there, has been sold.
The Tides Inn in Irvington sold the 120-long steel-hulled vessel last week for an undisclosed price.
The resort listed it with a Florida broker for $1.2 million last winter after wrestling with the decision for more than two years.
Brothers Frank Schroff of Colonial Beach and Guy Schroff of Herndon bought the Miss Ann, said Tides Inn manager Gordon Slatford. Neither could be reached for comment. Slatford said the two plan to put the vessel to work on the Potomac River, running cruises out of Washington.
Slatford said rising operating costs and marine-safety restrictions rendered the vessel — which burns about 40 gallons of fuel an hour — impractical.
The inn wants another "character vessel," Slatford said, but preferably one with fewer maintenance and fuel demands.
May 31, 2008
The Virginian-Pilot
© May 29, 2008
WILLIAMSBURG, Yorktown, Monticello, Mount Vernon. Those historic sites and others are immediately recognizable to millions of Americans. But mention Virginia's historic Northern Neck region, and you're likely to draw a blank stare.
The region's charms may soon become better known. Sens. John Warner and Jim Webb recently joined a long-running legislative effort, taken up several years ago by the late Rep. Jo Ann Davis and others, to declare the peninsula between the Rappahannock and Potomac rivers a National Heritage Area.
The congressional designation is intended to draw travelers' attention to regions that played substantial roles in U.S. history. Just as importantly, the designation creates a framework for local residents and government leaders to collaborate with state and federal officials to preserve historic resources and promote tourism.
There are currently 38 National Heritage Areas. The most recent addition, part of legislation signed earlier this month by President Bush, is The Journey through Hallowed Ground NHA, a string of historic sites stretching from Gettysburg to Charlottesville.
The lesser-known Northern Neck region is deserving of the extra attention and preservation work, too. The rural, five-county area, explored by Capt. John Smith in the early 1600s, was the birthplace of three presidents, George Washington, James Madison and James Monroe.
It's also home to Stratford Hall, where the only brothers to sign the Declaration of Independence - Richard Henry and Francis Lightfoot Lee - lived and where Gen. Robert E. Lee was born.
The federal designation, by itself, cannot ensure that the region's many historic homes and rich Chesapeake Bay traditions will survive. But the special focus improves those chances, as well as the likelihood that more Americans will become familiar with the region's contributions to the nation's heritage.
May 22, 2008
The displays also include information on how chicks were kept warm, the way mature chickens roost and the way meat is salted.
The last provides Welch the chance to tell a story about a farmer who lived near White Stone and one day noticed hams missing from his smokehouse on the shore.
"He set up one night behind a tree near the smokehouse and eventually heard the sound of a boat being rowed in," said Welch. "When the farmer saw a man sneak inside and come out with a ham, he let go with that gun. Missed the man and hit the ham, but it scared him off.
"Do you think he ever came back? I don't think so. And I believe it's a true story."
It's all part of the farming stories to be told at the Northern Neck Farm Museum.
nnfarmmuseum.org
Rob Hedelt: 540/374-5415
Email: rhedelt@freelancestar.com
May 13, 2008
Excerpt from Free Lance Star
On the Northern Neck, the lower Rappahannock was full of personal watercraft yesterday morning, according to Richmond County crabber Russ Messick. "There were so many Jet Skis and Sea-Doos out there that it looked like a race. The odd thing was that nobody was on any of them," he said. The extreme high tide that launched many unmanned boats and set them adrift in the lower Rappahannock and Potomac rivers also threatened the low-lying community of Lewisetta, said Northumberland County Administrator Kenneth D. Eades. The tide there was about 2 feet above normal, he said. "The only way in was by truck. The fire department went door-to-door offering to evacuate residents to a shelter, but no one took us up on it," Eades said. High winds downed power lines to hundreds of homes in the Northern Neck, but the only serious damage reported yesterday was a pickup crushed by a falling tree in Colonial Beach.
May 12, 2008
Copied from Free Lance Star
SOME SAID they got into the winery business after carefully researching the business of growing grapes, making wine and struggling to make a profit.
Others at a special reception launching a video on "The Vineyards and Wineries of the Northern Neck" said their businesses grew out of hobbies.
One newcomer even "blamed" the jump into the wine business on a home kit purchased at Kmart, that grew from a basement operation to a garage-filling experiment to a full-fledged vineyard.
"I'm just surprised that so many people want to lose so much money these days," joked veteran Doug Flemer of Ingleside Vineyards, hosting the event for the video that highlights stops on the relatively new Northern Neck Wine Trail.
Flemer said that when his family got into the wine business in Westmoreland County's Oak Grove in 1980, there were eight wineries in Virginia.
"I think the latest count is 150 wineries in the state," he said. "And the number is still growing."
Flemer and Patty Long of the Northern Neck Tourism Council, which coordinated the making of the video, said they hope it will become an effective marketing tool.
Long, whose position was recently discontinued by the Tourism Council due to funding shortages, said the video on the vineyards and wineries grew from a different idea.
"Initially, we had talked about making a DVD that could be used to market the entire Northern Neck," Long said.
When it became clear that might be too much for one video, the Tourism Council and video producer Mark Huffman of Northumberland County, decided to split the subjects up.
One video includes museums and historic attractions, and has sold out all but a handful of its first run.
Huffman, who got his start in radio, said making a video featuring the interesting operations on the Northern Neck Wine Trail was a natural.
Included on the video are Athena Vineyards and Winery in Burgess, Belle Mount Vineyards in Warsaw, Ingleside Vineyards in Oak Grove, Oak Crest Vineyard and Winery in King George, Vault Field Vineyard in Kinsale and White Fences Vineyard and Winery in Irvington.
Also on the trail are Potomac Point Vineyard and Winery in Stafford and New Kent Winery.
Huffman said the video came together nicely, and features different aspects of the business–types of grapes, equipment used, how to taste wine and personal stories of those starting the vineyards.
"One of my favorites is a whole section on how to correctly taste wine, done by one of the wine-makers known to all," Long said. "I never knew so much went into tasting wine the right way."
Flemer said most people outside his industry don't know how important tourism and marketing tools like the wine trail are to small wineries like those featured on the DVD.
"It's so important to get people to visit the wineries," where they can buy wines directly, he said. "We are never going to be a force in the open market. There is too much competition for shelf space from the big companies and conglomerates."
Others agreed, noting the many ways they welcome visitors for tours, tastings or to enjoy the natural beauty of their properties.
The DVD is being sold for $12.95 at the vineyards and wineries, at Northern Neck museums and historic attractions and through the Wine Trail Web site.
www.northernneckwinetrail.com
Rob Hedelt: 540/374-5415
Email: rhedelt@freelancestar.com
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