Rahall seeks to add Elk to Wild and Scenic River study list

Geoff Hamill
Staff Writer

Representative Nick Rahall introduced a bill in Congress on July 7 to add part of the Elk River to a list of rivers to be studied for potential designation as National Wild and Scenic rivers.

The bill was referred to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands on July 9.

The US government enacted the Wild and Scenic River Act (WSRA) in 1968 to preserve and protect wild and scenic rivers in America, including their immediate surrounding environment, for the benefit of present and future generations.

In West Virginia, only a portion of the Bluestone River has been designated a Wild and Scenic River since the Act was passed. 167 rivers or portions thereof have been designated nationwide.

The Act includes a provision whereby additional rivers may be studied for possible designation as Wild and Scenic rivers. Six West Virginia rivers have been added to the study list: the Cacapon, Bluestone, Gauley, Greenbrier and portions of the Birch and New Rivers.

Rahall’s bill would add an approximate five mile stretch of the Elk River in Pocahontas County to the list of rivers to be studied. The west bank and a portion of the east bank of this stretch are public lands.

Inclusion on the list does nothing automatically. The government must first appropriate funds to study a specific river. After a study is completed, a river can be rejected or designated under one of three categories – wild, scenic or recreational.

Wild rivers are defined as “those rivers or sections of rivers that are free of impoundments and generally inaccessible except by trail, with watersheds or shorelines essentially primitive and waters unpolluted. These represent vestiges of primitive America.”

Scenic rivers are defined as “those rivers or sections of rivers that are free of impoundments, with shorelines or watersheds still largely primitive and shorelines largely undeveloped, but accessible in places by roads.”

Recreational rivers are defined as “those rivers or sections of rivers that are readily accessible by road or railroad, that may have some development along their shorelines, and that may have undergone some impoundment or diversion in the past.”

Commercial development projects, which might in any way affect the wilderness, the scenery and the purely recreational use of the rivers, are restricted after designation.

Wild and Scenic Rivers are managed by the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service.

These agencies are given the mission to reduce conflict between conservation and commercial interests and to incorporate local values with the planning and management of protected rivers.