Evening star., 1925-02-22
VIRGINIA STILL FACES
FIGHT IN PARK ISSUE
North Carolinans, Undeterred by Failure
to Land First Honors, Will Continue
Effort to Put Over Their Site.

every year after it is once estab-
lished, il can be seen that a donation
of part of the area would be an ex-
cellent investment for the State. 1t
would return richer dividends than
any stock could ever yield.
The Governor of Tennessee saw
the advantage of a donation as early
as year ago and now holds an op-
tion on $4,000 acres in the Great
Smoky Mountain area. No sane per-
son can doubt that the State of North
Carolina will offer the Government al
least as much, and there is a move
ment on foot for the two States to
combine forces now, each buy half o2
the territory lying within their r4A
spective boundaries and offer It 10
the National Park Service as
present.
May EmbarraSs Virginia.
Virginia is handicapped Gov. Trim
kle and Senator Byrd, who will prob
ably be the next governor, have Both
declared Virginia would do its share
in that direction. But the Old Do
mfnion Legislature will not convene
again for year, and then II might
be too late. The time to offer dona-
tions will be next December, at the
latest, and preferably this Summer,
while the iron is still hot.
Should North Carolina and Tennes-
see carry out their plan to present
the Government with half of the ter
rltory, Virginia probably would be
placed in the embarrassing position
of being forced to do about as much,
even though the cost of carrying out
such project in the Great Smoky
Mountains would be divided between
two States, and the Old Dominion
m 80 l.
in that case alone
There is no doubt however, that
the actual purchase of the land in
the Virginia area should cost far
less than that in the Great Smoky
Mountains, even though the former
is considered more desirable for park
purposes. That is about all it is
good for, except in a few rare in
stances where farms have been
forced to yield a few crops. In the
North Carolina and Tennessee areas,
however. the timber has been ex-
plotted, much of the forests have been
cut over and the Government woul
face the proposition of going into
competition with sawmills for the
! site, which is already literally oc-
cupied by numbering enterprises.
Bill Provides Start.
| MS is not true OIL Jne Blue kluee
Mountain area. Its fora is of such
| a nature that extensive numbering
enterprises would be scarcely profit
able enough to make them pay, even
| though the forests are even more
| beautiful, and certainly more of
| them are virgin, than those farther
| South. Down there, however, there
| are, or rather were, more big hard
wood trees, so valuable TO the lum
bering merchant. That is why bus
ness exploited the areas more than
in the Virginia section, which is far
| more accessible and closer to the
| centers of business and population.
The bill creating the two big parks
carried provision for an appropria-
ton of $780, 600 to pay the expenses
| of the commission, to be appointed
| by Secretary Work, that is to inquire
| into the cost of acquiring the land,
accept offers of donations of land
and take options on whatever parts
| it thinks might be obtained at
reasonable prices. This sum is to
cover the examination of all the
areas so designated by DR.. Work.
| 1t is almost certain that DR.. Work
will name the same committee to DO
| this work that he asked to make the
| original hunt for suitable areas. THIS
| commission probably will get bhBy
early in the Summer and from the
| time it takes the field there is Ger
! tain to be a bitter fight between the
! two sections. Virginia won before
because it had "the goods" This time
| it will have to come across with
| the goods"
False Reports Spread.
Enemies of the entire scheme to
| create a national park in the East
| and some of them are reliably re-
| puted to be enyious Government
| agents-have busted themselves with
spreading false report in both sec
tions to the effect that the Govern
ment expects to obtain both areas
gratis in their entirity and will even
| resort to condemnation proce edings
| to carry out its park building pro-
| gram. Farmers have been told they
will simply be turned out and their
| property seized.
1t is unnecessary to deny such a
report. The Government fully ex-
poets to buy the largest portions of
| the areas. But it also expects the
| State to buy some of the land and
give It to the Government, for the
State will not only forever be relieved
of the cost of building roads and
keeping up improvements in the sec
tor but by turning it into a park the
| Government will divert hundreds OF
| millions of dollars into the State so
| favored.
No farmer will be asked to con-
| tribute an acre, although the farm
| ers around the areas under considera-
tion will learn that it would have re-
| paid them a hundredfold to have
bought up every inch of the prop
erty and themselves given it to Uncle
| Sam for his great, charitable under
| taking. Vacationists are good spend
| ers, and the thousands who will spend
| their vacations in the Shenandoah
National Park in q few years are go
| ing to spend many, many millions
| on food that the farmers of Virginia
| will supply at handsome profit.