Subject: Reject Amendment to Senate Bill 700 item 381 and Amendment to House Bill 1400 item 381

Dear Legislator:

The citizens of Virginia are strongly opposed to giving away land in our state parks to private businesses for personal profit.  Senator Frank Ruff and Delegate Tommy Wright are introducing legislation in the house and senate with budget amendment item 381 (SB700 and HB1400), which sets a precedence of, in essence, giving our state park land away to private companies for personal profit.  This push by Ruff and Wright has been going on for some months now and their latest twist is a land swap.  If they are successful in one park the precedent is set and more state park land is in jeopardy. 

Now, with Item 381, Ruff and Wright are proposing swapping a pristine and sacred piece of Occoneechee State Park property for a piece of property owned by the town of Clarksville.  The Town of Clarksville owns no land that is equivalent in “value” to the 23 acres in Occoneechee State Park because value is measured more ways than dollars.  The following is additional value that Clarksville cannot possibly replace with a swap:

·        Cut the Park in Half:  Losing the 23 acres in Occoneechee State Park will completely cut the park half.  Presently the park is made of a continuous forest. Item 381 would put a business right in the middle of the park, bisecting the entire width of the park — in essence breaking the park in half.  There is not another piece of land that can make the park whole again, once the 23 acres are clear-cut for a business.

·        Sacred Land:  The 23 acres is sacred land to the Occoneechee-Siouan Indians.  Indians in Virginia and North Carolina strongly oppose the presence of a private business on the 23 acres in Occoneechee State Park.  The Virginia Council on Indians, which represents all recognized tribes in Virginia, has sent a letter to the Department of Conservation and Recreation and Governor stating their opposition to a business on the 23 acres of sacred land.

·        Natural Mature Forest:  The 23 acres is made of 100-year old hardwood trees. It is a natural and mature forest.  The land that Clarksville is offering to exchange is made of scrub pines, having been clear-cut and artificially planted in the past decade or so.  It would take 100 years and a significant monetary investment to make the swapped land equivalent, from a mature forest perspective, to the present 23 acres of Occoneechee State Park land.

·        Bald Eagle Habitat:  The 23 acres is habitat for endangered bald eagles that routinely hunt in and are seen in the 23 acres.  We cannot force the eagles to begin using the swapped land once their habitat is clear cut and destroyed.  And the land swap could jeopardize their further recovery in Mecklenburg County. 

·        Lake Front Property:  The town of Clarksville does not own 23 acres of “lake front” property that could be exchanged.

There are other problems with the item 381 land swap including:

·        State Park Precedent:  Allowing a land swap to facilitate the opening of a private business in a state park sets a terrible precedent for Virginia State Parks.  Virginia’s state parks are ranked as the best in the nation.  This precedent would jeopardize the success that we currently have.

·        Bypassing Established Systems:  Amendment #381 would in effect bypass the proper decision-making process already stipulated in SB249, thereby supplanting the public will, public scrutiny and current public policy.  The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is tasked with being the steward of our state park land and doing the will of the people. Bill #381 attempts to remove the DCR from the decision-making process.  The public has given the DCR overwhelming input regarding their opposition to the private business in Occoneechee State Park and the DCR is in the process of making their decision.

·        Pollution:  If a land swap is made the twenty-three acres of lakefront property will have no buffer of trees to prevent runoff from the private business going directly into the largest lake in Virginia.  Tons of pollutants will run off into Kerr Lake.

The following are groups and businesses documented as being opposed to the private business on 23 acres of Occoneechee State Park:

·        Over 4,000 Southside Virginians and Virginians with letters and documentation to Governor Mark Warner and Department of Conservation and Recreation opposing the 23 acre business in Occoneechee State Park.

·        Mecklenburg County Citizens for Democracy and Prosperity

·        NAACP Chapter of Mecklenburg County

·        Virginia Council on Indians 

·        Brunswick County Historical Society

·        High Plains Saponi Indians of Halifax, VA.

·        Richmond Times Dispatch

·        Audubon Society

·        Virginia Forestry Watch

·        Southside Concerned Citizens

·        Sierra Club of Virginia

·        Southside Virginia Native American Descendants Association

·        Occoneechee Town Trading Post in Clarksville, Virginia

·        Carter’s Construction of Boydton

·        Virginia Native Plant Society

·        The Daily Progress of Charlottesville Virginia

·        Native American Chiefs

Please read the comments from a few of the people that have signed our online petition.  This is a mere fraction of the total people who have written, called and email the DCR regarding the golf course in Occoneechee State Park. 

Barry Carter

Clarksville VA Business Owner