MAY 14, 2009 ISSUE
Blowing Rock Continues Push for Land Exchange with Parkway
Bill Supporting Trade Currently in U.S. House Committee
After more than a decade in the works, a proposed land exchange between the Town of Blowing Rock and the Blue Ridge Parkway could finally take place if a bill authorizing the trade passes Congress.
The town is requesting 21 acres behind the Shoppes on the Parkway owned by the National Park Service that includes the Blowing Rock Reservoir. In exchange, the town is willing to provide a 192-acre tract of land—also known as the China Creek Thunderhole tract—that is adjacent to Park Service and U.S. Forest Service property on either side, said Blowing Rock Town Manager Scott Hildebran.
The Blowing Rock Reservoir currently consists of about seven acres of water, Hildebran said. Years ago, the Moses Cone estate granted the Town of Blowing Rock an easement to acquire water from the property. The Cone family then willed the property to the Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital in Greensboro, and the hospital in turn transferred the property to the U.S. government for use as a park.
The town would like to eventually have the option of doubling the reservoir’s capacity, but because the property is currently federally owned, the town would encounter a lot of red tape if it wanted to make any substantial changes to the reservoir, Hildebran said.
“It’s administrative issues. We want the opportunity to control our water supply and manage it,” he said. “We’ve been receiving that water before the Park Service was even there.”
The only way to acquire property from the federal government is to exchange property—the federal government does not sell property, Hildebran explained. In 2000, the town and the Park Service identified the 192-acre tract desired for the Parkway and the town purchased the property in 2003. Since that time, several local representatives have tried to get a bill authorizing the exchange through the U.S. Congress.
Last year, Rep. Virginia Foxx introduced the bill to authorize the trade, but it died when the session ended. Foxx re-introduced the bill, H.R. 1121, in February. The bill is titled the “Blue Ridge Parkway and Town of Blowing Rock Land Exchange Act of 2009.” The bill is co-sponsored by the entire North Carolina House delegation.
The bill was referred to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, a subcommittee of the House Committee on Natural Resources. Hildebran was among several people speaking in favor of the bill at a subcommittee hearing held on April 23.
If approved by the House, the bill will then go before the U.S. Senate.
At Tuesday night’s monthly Blowing Rock Town Council meeting, Wayne Green of Vilas spoke to the council regarding the proposed land exchange. Green, who owns property in the Blowing Rock area, said he feels the exchange has not been publicized well enough. He also expressed concerns about not being able to hunt on the land if the Park Service owns it.
“No one is trying to stop the trade—we just want to hunt on it,” Green said.
On Wednesday, Hildebran said the proposed land exchange has been discussed in public meetings for more than a decade, and that the council voted to purchase the 192-acre tract in open session and has discussed the issue every year at its annual retreat.
The China Creek Thunderhole property is currently a tract of wilderness. Years ago, people hunted on the land, but no hunting is permitted on Blowing Rock property. The property is adjacent to land owned by the U.S. Forest Service, which permits hunting, but the Park Service has indicated it would not allow hunting on the Blue Ridge Parkway property, Hildebran explained.
In another action to increase the Town of Blowing Rock’s water supply, an interconnection with the Town of Boone’s water system looks to be about 45 days away from bidding, Hildebran said. An environmental impact study and an easement to cross under the Blue Ridge Parkway have been completed, and Hildebran said the town hopes to begin construction sometime this summer.
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