February 22 will be a day of change for our National Parks. As of that date rules prohibiting the possession of loaded and accessible firearms that date back to 1897 will be overturned. Due to a rider attached to the Credit Card Holders Rights Bill (Public Law 111-24, Section 512) the National Park Service and Department of the Interior will no longer have the authority to regulate the possession of firearms in National Parks. The carrying of firearms will now follow those of states and local governments. This brings about several possible points of confusion for park visitors and administrators.
No longer will there be one set of regulations pertaining to the possession of firearms in National Park Service Areas. Visitors will need to be aware of the regulations of the state where the park they are visiting is located. It becomes even more complex when parks are in more than one state or regulations and ordinances are not uniform throughout a state. Read more »
A Special Letter from The Blue Ridge National Heritage Area
June 12, 2009
Dear Heritage Partners,
We have just become aware that the North Carolina state budget passed by the North Carolina House Tuesday night would eliminate all but one of the Heritage Development Officer (otherwise known as Tourism Development Officer) positions in Western North Carolina (“Western North Carolina” being defined as everything west of Interstate 77).
We currently have five Heritage Development Officers in the 25-county Blue Ridge National Heritage Area region: Helen Ruth Almond, Leesa Brandon, Frankie McWhorter, Kaye Meyers, and Tom Holder. Another position, which was originally filled by Ron Ruehl and later by Jerry Tate, has been vacant for all of 2009. Read more »
I have just had time to review the promotional video for the proposed “Blue Ridge America” project that Florida-based developer Larry Vander Maten is planning for a site just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, at what has for the last decade or so been known as Virginia’s “Explore Park.” This site, unlike other locations developers might be eyeing, is favored with a special access road that connects it directly to (and really makes it part of) the Parkway.
While the Roanoke Times initially reported that the proposed project was warmly received by Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority board, which controls the Explore site (and has leased it to Vander Maten), and the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors at a presentation on April 28, I was relieved to see that an article two days later noted that some questions were being raised about this preposterous and overinflated plan. Comments on the newspaper’s discussion board also included a number of critiques. Read more »
(The following piece was written with my husband, David E. Whisnant, and was first published on October 12, 2008 in the Raleigh News & Observer.)
Recent reports have brought welcome news that the state of North Carolina will purchase about 2600 acres of the spectacular Grandfather Mountain for protection as a public park. It’s about time.
The first effort to make Grandfather a park came in 1917 when owner Hugh MacRae tried to give 1400 acres at the top to the new National Park Service. NPS director Steve Mather rejected the donation, judging the acreage insufficient to protect the park from adjacent development by MacRae’s Linville Improvement Company. Read more »
Sorry I have been offline for a while — I was traveling to the midwest, where I visited Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, Mammoth Cave National Park, and the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace. But now back to the Blue Ridge Parkway!
In some recent posts, I’ve been trying to give a historically-informed analysis of the “preliminary alternatives” announced back in the spring for the public’s consideration and commentary to help the Parkway staff write a General Management Plan for the park. Today’s topic? The comments I submitted in response to Question 3. Read the spring 2008 GMP newsletter and learn about the preliminary alternatives here. Read more »
