麻花视频

鈥淲e are afraid of how it would change 鈥� that thing of loving it to death,鈥� the Botetourt County resident said.

Stadtlander, a professional wood sculptor, moved his work and family from Ohio five years ago to find a more peaceful, out-of-the-way living experience. But in January, he was alarmed to learn that a former railroad bed running next to his new residence was the site of a planned 26-mile hiking, biking and horseback-riding trail. He spent much of the months since then digging into what little information is available about the proposed Craig Botetourt Scenic Trail, and rallying opposition to it through a group he helped form called DeRail the Trail.

Discussed off and on for decades, the proposed trail between New Castle and Eagle Rock was largely out of the limelight until the start of the year.

That鈥檚 when a burst of publicity accompanied the announcement that the Commonwealth Transportation Board allotted $1 million for what was termed preliminary planning on the project.

Public information meetings about the trail are scheduled for Sept. 20 at Eagle Rock Elementary School and for Sept. 21 at Craig County High School. Both meetings are set to run from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Last week Stadtlander spoke to the Botetourt County Board of Supervisors, expressing frustration about his attempts to learn why the trail project, discussed in the 1970s and 鈥�90s, was revived. He thumped down a bundle of 250 pages gathered through a Freedom of Information Act request and said he thought that supervisors could have made residents more aware of what was coming.

Since the county contributes money to the regional 麻花视频 Valley Greenway Commission, an advisory board that Stadtlander described as a trail advocate, it would only be fair to also fund the DeRail group at an equivalent rate, he said.

Stadtlander presented supervisors with a 鈥渂ill鈥� for $14,710. They made no comment.

Later, however, Supervisor Richard Bailey, whose Fincastle District includes Stadtlander鈥檚 home near Oriskany, responded to a reporter鈥檚 email by writing that the proposed trail will be 鈥渋n the early study phase鈥� for probably at least another year. He advised checking a Virginia Department of Transportation web page on the project for new information as it becomes available.

鈥淎s one would expect there are people opposed and in favor of the proposed trail,鈥� Bailey wrote. 鈥淎gain, it鈥檚 very early in the process with lots to learn. In time there will be enough details to develop opinions based on facts.鈥�

The state highway department official coordinating the trail project could not be reached late last week.

According to the state webpage about the trail, it is to mostly follow the route of the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad鈥檚 long-vanished Craig Valley Branch. In 1961, after rail operations ceased, the Western Pocahontas Corp. donated the right-of-way to Virginia.

Some parts of the former train route became little more than paths through the woods, roughly following Craig Creek and used as driveways by people who lived nearby. Other sections became public roads, like the narrow, gravel-covered Virginia 817, also called Old Rail Road, that Stadtlander lives along.

The highway department site states that about 9 miles of the trail would use 鈥渓ow-volume secondary roads 鈥� in a 鈥榮hare the road鈥� scenario.鈥� Trail opponents say that 11 miles of road, not nine, would be included in the trail and that these roads are the only access to 190 or more properties, some of them residential and others used for agriculture or woodlands.

On Thursday, Stadtlander opened a gated section of the former rail route and talked about how crowds of trail users could change the character of wide sections of two counties. The state put up the gates to limit trespassing and property damage, he noted. Residents were given keys. But a trail could effectively unlock the entire route.

Virginia 817 presently is so little-traveled 鈥� the highway department says it sees 43 vehicles per day 鈥� that it does not even have a bridge at one of the places it crosses Craig Creek. Instead, vehicles must drive through the creek. Stadtlander said that the route often become impassable even to larger trucks when it rains.

While the ford is not on the section of the road proposed for the trail, it is very close to it. And it demonstrates potential problems with even well-meaning visitors, Stadtlander said.

Craig Creek is popular with kayakers and canoeists. Boaters often mistake the gravel slopes where Virginia 817 enters the water for an official put-in, and paddle away leaving their vehicles parked in the middle of the public road, Stadtlander said.

On Saturday, Stadtlander and more than a dozen people in DeRail the Trail T-shirts held a Walk for Awareness in downtown Buchanan, carrying signs along sidewalks in the historic district. Participants expressed a range of reasons for opposing the trail, from personal safety to wider concerns about taxes and democracy itself.

Stadtlander carried a sign that read, 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want it, Terry,鈥� a reference to Del. Terry Austin, R-Buchanan, who in January called the trail a potential economic driver such as the Virginia Creeper Trail between Abingdon and Damascus.

Standing among the DeRail protesters Saturday, Dwayne Martin described the proposed trail as a 鈥減layground for criminals.鈥�

Martin said he鈥檇 spent much of his life in Botetourt County and though now living elsewhere, still often visits family property near Eagle Rock. He said he thought that Austin and the all-Republican Board of Supervisors could face a political reckoning.

鈥淭his area has always voted red. Because of what鈥檚 going on with the trail 鈥� all the residents are turning blue and independent,鈥� Martin said.

Lewis Hopkins called the trail emblematic of a larger problem, saying county residents should be allowed to hold a specific vote about such a large project. Handing a brochure to a man walking past, Hopkins said that he was standing up for the Constitution.

鈥淲e the people, we don鈥檛 live in a democracy, we live in a dictatorship,鈥� Hopkins said. 鈥溾�� Do you want your tax money spent on a recreational project we don鈥檛 need?鈥�

The man he鈥檇 given the brochure to said that he鈥檇 rather the money be spent improving roads and said that he would call Supervisor Billy Martin, who lived near him.

When the sidewalk was empty, Hopkins said that he also had a more personal worry about the trail 鈥� he鈥檇 moved from 麻花视频 to Oriskany 18 years ago for a more country way of life and now wondered if trail-planners might see part of his property as a good spot for a parking lot.

The area around Oriskany is 鈥渓ike you鈥檙e stepping back a hundred years in time. There鈥檚 not very many places like that,鈥� Hopkins said.

Vickie Graham called the possibility of having to drive a narrow, curvy road among crowds of bicycles, horses and hikers 鈥渞eally scary for those of us who live there鈥� and 鈥渏ust accidents waiting to happen.鈥�

Mary McDaniel, who said that she raised beef cattle along both sides of Craig Creek, and both sides of the proposed trail, guessed that trail-users would bring more litter than business to the area, and also might increase liability concerns for property owners.

McDaniel said that she already went through a lawsuit with neighbors who had an access to cross her land to the creek, and who sued her over a tree-cutting project. The lawsuit went nowhere, McDaniel said, but still cost her $8,000 in attorney fees. Would there be a similar situation if someone left the trail and crashed their bicycle on her land, she wondered.

Jeremy Parr said that his family has owned land on Craig Creek since the 1850s and has had problems for years with people who already use the former railbed as a path for horses and four-wheelers.

鈥淭hey walk right past posted signs and steal gates,鈥� Parr said. He estimated that about once each spring and fall, he or a relative confronts someone they find trespassing. The people always leave and usually say they didn鈥檛 see any signs 鈥� but the signs are all around them, Parr said.

Parr said that he agreed with others at the protest that public money would be better spent maintaining existing parks. Facilities at the Fenwick Mines Day Use Area near New Castle and the Roaring Run trail near Eagle Rock, both overseen by the U.S. Forest Service, need repairs and seem little visited, he said.

鈥淲hy are you going to create a new one,鈥� Parr asked, 鈥渨hen people aren鈥檛 using the ones you have?鈥�

No overall cost for the Craig Botetourt trail is listed on the state website, but Parr said that it would have to be expensive because the trail would cross bridges that may not have been maintained since their railroad days.

Larry Drummond, who said the trail would come right in front of his porch, said the trail would cross six bridges in all, including some already used for roads.

In an email written after Saturday鈥檚 event finished, Stadtlander called the opposition to the trail 鈥渘ot about Democrat, Republican, etc. It鈥檚 about right and wrong, treating people properly, being honest, truthful, transparent, smart with money, smart growth, with good conscience, protecting liberties, freedom, values, and so on.

鈥淎nd I keep forgetting to say this: We are not against all trails,鈥� Stadtlander continued. 鈥淧eople hear 鈥楧eRail the Trail鈥� and think we hate all trails. Absolutely not true. We are against this one for the many reasons you have heard.鈥�

For more, see the state highway department web page on the trail project: www.d DeRail the Trail鈥檚 site: www.