W.Va. residents say: Protect Allegheny

By Anne Adams • Staff Writer

MARLINTON, W.Va. — West Virginia landowners near the proposed Virginia wind energy project are concerned this week, not about their own views or property values, but about Camp Allegheny — the national landmark battlefield in Pocahontas County.

Richard Laska and his wife, Marcia, own about 200 acres, with an interest in another 500, adjacent to the Civil War site.

"We own a tiny piece of the Allegheny Battlefield," he said. "The battle in December of 1861 was unique during the Civil War. It was the highest fortification attacked in that conflict. The battlefield itself is owned half by the Park Service and half by a private landowner. It is in pristine condition. Dozens of trenches are still clearly visible, as are eight-foot-high gun emplacements and passageways. The only human impact you can see today are the graveyards of the men who died in that conflict."

He said the condition is unique among similar sites. "In every direction the view is the same seen by Civil War soldiers: High ridges and mountains, some open fields, some covered with trees. The unobstructed view includes the highest mountains in the Mountain State. Not one human construction intrudes on the horizon. Not one.

"Soon, because of our neighbors in Highland County, several 400-foot high wind generators will loom over the battle ground. They will destroy what 150 years of care for the land, and respect for our history, has preserved," he said. "The public interest is in preserving an important part of our history. I strongly support the development of wind energy as an important part of America's future. But it makes no sense to build our future by destroying our past."

Dawn Baldwin Barrett, another nearby landowner, agrees. She and her family have an off-the-grid home on about 200 acres down the old Staunton-to-Parkersburg Turnpike from the Laskas.

"I am very much in favor of wise alternative energy development," she said this week. "By 'wise development,' I mean that which takes into careful consideration the costs and benefits to the community. By this measure, Highland New Wind Development's proposal to build a 38-megawatt wind energy utility in an area of Virginia and adjacent to an area of West Virginia both nationally renowned for their pristine natural beauty, is not wise development.

"What Pocahontas and Highland Counties share, besides a border, is common interest in preserving our environment as a living asset, an asset that only grows more valuable with every passing year. I cannot see how this interest is anything but ill-served by HNWD's proposal."

Barrett explained the Tamarack Ridge array of the proposed utility is adjacent to the battlefield where Confederate troops were encamped from August 19861 to April 1862, and where a short battle was fought the morning of Dec. 13, 1861. "The Camp Allegheny Battlefield has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1990 and long-recognized as one of the bestpreserved Civil War sites in the nation," Barrett said. "As a result of HNWD's proposal, the Civil War Preservation Trust placed Camp Allegheny as one of the top-15 at-risk sites in their 2009 list of Endangered Civil War Sites. The 12-mile portion of the old pike that runs along the battlefield, and extends from Bartow, W.Va. to the Virginia state line was designed by Claudius Crozet, Napoleon's chief engineer, and built in 1840. It is a National Scenic Byway."

The Highland County Chamber of Commerce years ago proposed the old turnpike be recommended for scenic highway status on the Virginia side, but Highland supervisors did not take action to do so, fearing such status would prevent future road improvements to existing U.S. 250.

"Once the turbine towers are up, it will be too late to preserve the battlefield," Laska added. "Nobody is going to be interested in protecting a once remote site which is compromised by industrial development. The developers of the wind project would be more honest if they just bulldozed the graveyards and paved over the fortifications. That, at least, would display their true character.

"Until Highland County decided to destroy the view from the battlefield, there was little urgency to preserve it. The half which is owned by the federal government is already preserved, or so we thought. The other half is owned by a family which does not want the land harmed. Until two weeks ago, we were led to believe that the wind turbines would not be visible from the battlefield. We did not realize that we were being lied to," he said.

"What shocks me," Barrett added, "is that the elected officials in Highland County have completely lost sight of this bigger picture and bigger duty. Their decision to approve HNWD's site plan doesn't just impact a few unhappy landowners in Virginia — it impacts the entire nation. By approving a project that will permanently mar a National Historic Place and deface a National Scenic Byway, they have stolen something from the nation that belongs to every citizen. I'd like to know how the Highland County Commission came to have so much power."

Laska said he doesn't know whether the towers will be visible from his property, but said, "My personal view is not the issue. The problem is that a few of the turbines will utterly ruin the view from the most historic site in this county. That is all anyone needs to know."

Because final site plans were submitted only recently — July 23, and revised again twice by Aug. 6 — neither Laska nor Barrett were fully aware of the impacts to the battlefield.

"Before that, the only information we had was misdirection, speculation and half-truths," Laska said. "The misinformation campaign was a well orchestrated and very expensive public relations effort. It worked. Money re-wrote the rules … The first I heard that the wind generators would tower over the battlefield was two weeks ago. It appears that Mr. McBride couldn't care less about our history. We are insignificant to him."

Laska said he doesn't think the McBride property adjoins his, "but the property line, like the state boundary, seems to change at whim. How am I to know if my land touches his?"

The industrial wind industry, he said, looks like other exploitive industries. "Coal mining and clear cutting have scarred or leveled our mountains and worn out our people to make a few non-residents very rich. It sounds like the same thing all over again.

"I am totally in favor of the development of wind energy resources," he added. "Small-scale wind generators — units which don't extend much beyond the tree tops — are great. They fit comfortably into the environment. Industrial scale wind farms are a different matter. They should be located on already disturbed areas or areas without serious cultural, environmental, or economic concerns, or offshore near the cities which need the energy."

Laska hopes commissioners in Pocahontas can intervene to protect the battlefield before it's too late. "Like everyone else, the county (Pocahontas) just recently saw the final site plan and became aware of how the wind turbines would tower over the battlefield. At least they are doing something to stop the desecration of the land. It may not be enough, but they are doing something. Everyone else seems to have been beaten into submission by a well-funded juggernaut," he said. "Pocahontas County has good officials. They listen to all sides of an issue and work hard to come up with a compromise that all can live with. They don't just cater to one interest group. The people of this county worked hard to improve their government and to elect good officials. On most issues, two of our three commissioners are solidly on the side of the people they represent.

"Our main concern is the desecration of the battlefield," he added. "Moving or deleting a few towers might solve the problem. Our war heroes could rest in peace … The (Virginia) officials involved do not care about our environment or our history. We have been treated in a dismissive, insulting manner. Their project will destroy one of the few pristine views in this area and will disrespect the memory of the people who fought and died and are buried on Top of Allegheny."

Barrett says all citizens should be interested in protecting the historic site, not just folks who live nearby. "The months of July and August find people from Pocahontas and Highland Counties — and far beyond — picking wild strawberries, blueberries and huckleberries in the battlefield, just as family histories recount folks having done more than 100 years ago. Unmarred vistas extend in every direction. Often the only sound is the cry of red-tailed hawks.

"My point is that preserving this historic and environmental treasure is not solely West Virginia's concern — it is the concern of all Americans," she added. "And not because I say so, but because the federal government has identified it as such. 'National' means 'belonging to the country.'"

"For more than two decades, I've enjoyed visiting Highland County," Laska said. "We attend every maple festival and every fall festival and the tractor pull. I do most of my Christmas shopping in Monterey. We buy much of our gas at the BP station. And we've helped to raise thousands of dollars to keep your history museum open. We are good neighbors. Highland County officials have ignored our concerns and all but ridiculed our history. They have treated us like unwelcome strangers. That is not neighborly. We assume they reflect the feelings of the citizens who voted for them. It gives us a whole new, and not very attractive, impression of your county. In a democracy, the people get the quality of government they work for. The price of freedom is constant vigilance. It appears from here that the voters of Highland County have not been vigilant when it comes to electing good officials. A lazy, self-centered, abusive neighbor is not a good neighbor."