FOSTER FALLS - Thousands of annual visitors who come to the banks of the New River in Wythe County to enjoy its natural scenic qualities may be shocked next year to find a 40-acre Yogi Bear Jellystone Park campground there.

Development along the river is an increasingly contentious topic along the waterway's three-state length, and the prospect of rows of recreational vehicles on the riverbank - much less an RV park backed by a cartoon-themed miniature golf course and other amenities - has long alarmed preservationists. Others feel that places for visitors to stay overnight or longer and more things for them to do can improve the tourism experience.

Wythe County officials and residents around the proposed park site are among those who welcomed the plan.

"Anything that would increase tourism over there on the New River Trail would be a positive move," said Wythe "Bucky" Sharitz, chairman of the county board of supervisors.

The developers are a family from Georgia who have Virginia ties. The Whitesides three years ago bought properties on either side of the New River Trail State Park, a few miles east of park headquarters at Foster Falls.

The Jellystone Park chain has franchises in 24 states and Canada.

Some 85 recreational vehicle sites are planned beside the trail along the New River. The other side of the planned park is more mountainous. This part of the property would include 30 to 40 cabins, a miniature golf course, a heated swimming pool, and trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding. Shuttles would take customers to the river for tubing, canoeing and rafting.

Not everyone is eager to see this kind of commercial development in a region where the tourism theme is rural and natural.

"It's going to completely change the nature of the New River," said Liza Field of Wytheville, who has been active in preserving acreage in Wythe County in its natural state for outdoors folks. Building one cartoon-themed park will lead to similar developments, she fears.

Most preservationists contacted in recent weeks said they do not know enough about the project, which, although under way for three years, has not been publicized. "It's news to me," said Lynn Sharp of Blacksburg, who is on the board of Friends of the New River.

"We're certainly watching the situation," said Jeffrey Scott, executive director of the National Committee for the New River, an organization with headquarters in North Carolina. "Any project that harms the viewshed would be of concern."

The project is on hold for now, pending a plan to connect the two properties across the New River Trail. The state has an easement that does not allow commercial crossings.

"Yeah, that's the big kicker," said Dusty Whiteside, who would oversee the park with his sister, Stacy Whiteside.

The Jellystone Park was scheduled to open next spring, but could be delayed until the summer of 2006 or later until accommodations are worked out with the state.

The New River Trail is a 57-mile linear park on a former Norfolk Southern Corp. rail bed winding through Wythe, Carroll, Grayson and Pulaski counties. The connection would have to bridge over or tunnel under the trail.

"If we couldn't cross the trail, it would change the complete layout of everything and we'd have to go back to the drawing board, for about the 100th time," Dusty Whiteside said.

"We're not trying to do anything that's an eyesore. We're trying to work to keep it natural and keep it looking good."

"We're working with them as far as getting a crossing," said Mark Hufeisen, park manager. "A lot of people don't realize we're only 8 feet wide."

The crossing method could not be one that would change the natural look of the corridor, the reason it is popular with visitors. "You don't want something sitting there that doesn't look like it belongs," Hufeisen said.

"They are looking at doing a bridge over the trail, over the state park," said Gary Waugh, public relations manager for the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation in Richmond.

"We have met with them, have talked about some of the requirements we would need to see in the bridge. We've also talked about some of our concerns about landscaping, about screening, that sort of thing," he said.

The state is awaiting a proposal from the owners. But there is another hurdle even if the state gives its approval.

"We have to pass that along to the National Park Service and they would have to approve the bridge concept, because there is land and water conservation fund monies in the park and they would consider this a conversion of use," Waugh said.

The Whitesides, backed by their parents, say they have already invested too heavily in the project to back off now, even if the configuration ends up having to be changed.

Stacy Whiteside is already taking job applications for some of the planned positions, including park manager. The Whitesides estimated that once the park opens, they will have 30 employees most of the year.

They worked with Appalachian Power to relocate one of the towers for the Wyoming-Jackson's Ferry power line project within a 1,000-foot corridor approved by the State Corporation Commission, said power company spokesman Todd Burns.

The family is also sharing costs 50-50 with the Virginia Department of Transportation to upgrade a section of Virginia 608 leading to where the entrance to the park would be on the mountain side of the New River Trail. That grading and paving is under way.

Residents along that road were more than willing to give a few feet off their front yards for the widening and improving. "I'm looking forward to the road, I really am," said Louise Mabry, one of the residents. As for the park, she said, "I think it's going to be a good thing."

Sharitz, chairman of the Wythe supervisors, said the county has not been involved in the project. The county has no zoning ordinance and was not required to give permission.

Kathy Whiteside, mother of Stacy and Dusty Whiteside, said the camp buildings will not be garish and won't clash with the scenery.

"They won't be bright colors, they'll be brown and green," she said. "We want to protect the trail, too."

An avid hiker, she said she felt Jellystone and the New River Trail could benefit each other by bringing in more visitors for both. "I think it's going to be good for tourism for Virginia."

News researcher Belinda Harris contributed to this report.

The developers

Clarence Whiteside made his money in the construction industry, in C.L. Whiteside Construction, which was involved in constructing high-rise buildings in urban parts of Georgia and elsewhere. His wife, Kathy, went to Sullins College in Bristol and has friends in Virginia.

Their children also went to college in Virginia. Dustin "Dusty" Whiteside is a business management graduate of Emory & Henry College, and has remained in Virginia since enrolling in the school nine years ago. Stacy Whiteside, who will be the park's recreation director, is a graduate of Randolph-Macon Woman's College. As Five Friends Properties Inc., incorporated in Florida and North Carolina, they bought some 800 acres last July from John Michael Turman of Turman Lumber and Wanda Turman, in addition to about 20 acres purchased two years earlier from Thomas and Lois Ann Viars.

They bought the land originally for timbering, Kathy Whiteside said. When they saw it, they decided it would make an ideal RV park.

"And that just started the wheels turning," she said. "We just didn't know we were going to have so many snags along the way."

Five Friends Properties later changed its name to the Whiteside Group.

Stacy Whiteside is taking job applications by e-mail at jobs@newriverjellystone.com, fax at (276) 228-4689 or mail at Camp Jellystone, 1618 Foster Falls Road, Foster Falls, VA 24360.