Thursday, December 06, 2007
Editorial: Safeguarding Carvins Cove
A series of conservation easements will protect this valuable nature reserve.
From the RoundTable blog
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Roanoke plans soon to protect the most vulnerable ridges of Carvins Cove by placing 7,000 of the 12,000 acres under a conservation easement. In time, the remaining acreage should follow.
The Western Virginia Land Trust had asked Roanoke City Council to safeguard all of Carvins Cove, and council appears willing to oblige. An agreement in principle makes this seem a simple undertaking. The stickler, though, is always in the details.
First, not all conservation easements are alike in the types of things they will or will not allow. For example, some are so restrictive that no alteration of the land can take place. Others provide for more liberal recreation uses, such as trails, campgrounds, shelters, swimming beaches and fishing piers, and agricultural uses such as timber harvesting.
Second, the vast preserve of Carvins Cove already hosts varying uses; few people venture on the steep slopes, yet visitors often frequent the water's edge and the 41 miles of trails.
City officials could have attempted to write a conservation easement that recognizes the different zones outlined in the city's land-use plan for Carvins Cove and anticipate future uses. The zones -- mainly 7,000 acres of mostly slopes and ridges that border the Appalachian Trail, a swath of land near the water's edge and a buffer between the two -- are outlined in a land-use management plan. City officials developed the plan with cooperation from state and federal officials and by asking the public what it wished to see at Carvins Cove.
But writing one conservation easement for 12,000 acres of varied use could easily become bogged down and stall the momentum to protect immediately the ridges.
To get past this hurdle, Roanoke officials have hit upon a workable solution: Write separate conservation easements for the varied zones.
City council is expected this month to start work on the first conservation easement that will safeguard the ridges and slopes.
Roanoke deserves commendations for moving forward on preserving this natural treasure and encouragement to continue until all of Carvins Cove falls under protection.
