Still, federal investment should be minimal, considering that the Park Service already manages the land for recreation. The bill gives the Park Service an opportunity to buy up to 100 acres from neighboring private landowners to increase parking for popular trailheads, as well as the chance to bid on nearly 4,000 acres of adjacent land to add to the preserve. The new designation will create a 7,021-acre park around the heart of the gorge, which is already developed with trailheads and a visitor center, while the remaining 65,165 acres will be designated a national preserve to allow for backcountry hunting. Capito told the press on Monday that the new designation will be a boon for state tourism, with an expected 20 percent bump in visitation based on a study of previous monuments that have been upgraded to national-park status. Coal has traditionally been the driving economic force in the state, but as mining has waned, outdoor recreation has stepped up to fill the gap in recent years, bringing $9 billion to the state annually, according to the Outdoor Industry Association. You could argue that its evolution is a microcosm of what’s happening in West Virginia at large. The site even has a popular system of 12.8 miles of mountain-bike trails built by the Boy Scouts. The cliffs of the gorge are a thousand feet high in parts, with walls of Nuttall sandstone that provide climbers with more than 1,500 routes. The New River Gorge has 53 miles of free-flowing whitewater, highlighted by the “Lower New,” a popular 13-mile stretch packed with Class IV to V rapids. Once ravaged by timber and coal extraction, the gorge has evolved into a premier adventure destination. “Being a national park is a gold stamp of approval and excellence.”
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Capito originally proposed a bill for its upgrade in 2019 with fellow senator Joe Manchin.
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“This is going to be such a major investment in tourism in West Virginia,” said senator Shelley Capito during a press conference on December 21.
#NEW RIVER GORGE UPGRADE#
Commonly referred to as the New, the 73,000-acre stretch of rugged canyon in the southeast part of the state has been a world-class rock-climbing and paddling destination since its designation as a national river in 1978, but advocates for the upgrade in status hope full park status will bring it more cachet. The New River Gorge National River is one of three units in West Virginia managed by the National Park Service, alongside the Gauley National Recreation Area and the Bluestone National Scenic River. Once signed, within the next few weeks of Trump’s remaining tenure, the change should go into effect soon after. The New River Gorge National River will be upgraded to national-park-and-preserve status as part of the new stimulus package Congress recently sent to the president’s desk.