Evening star., 1936-03-29
VIRGINIA has won for itself q
! s5.ooo,ooo State park system at
u a cost of less than SlO0. 600.


About the middle Of May a
chain Of six large recreation areas
with all modern conveniences will be
opened to the public. Two years ago
these were waste lands. Today they
are criss-crossed with good roads, pro-
vided with running water and elec-
tricity, and dotted with well-built log
cabins. Great artificial lakes have
been constructed. Forests have been
cleared Of tangled underbrush and
fallen logs. Some of the finest scenic
and historical sites in the Southeast
have been safeguarded.
1t looks like the biggest bargain any,
body ever got from the New Deal. The
land, most of it virtually worthless
cut-over forest, was given to the
State-with few exceptions. The la
bor-by far the biggest item-has been
supplied entirely by six Civilian Con-
servation Corps companies, directed by
National Parks Service engineers and
foremen paid by the Federal Govern
ment. Virtually all materials used
have been salvaged from the land. The
State has paid only the cost of admin
istration, less than $4,000 to date.
Three years ago the Old Dominion
was without any State parks. It had
a program for chain of recreation
grounds, without any very clear ideas
of what to do about it. The director
was Robert E. Burson, English land
scape architect, designer of the Bel
mont race track in New York and Of
some of Virginia's finest private es-
tates. He had the desirable places
spotted on map. The land, he knew,
could be had for song or for nothing.
That was about the smallest item in
his plans.
Then. out of clear sky, came the
announcement of the formation of the
Civilian Conservation Corps. The
companies would be assigned to any
State having State parks which they
might build. Virginia didn't have
any, and there was only about three
weeks, at the most, in which to get
some. Mr.. BurSom got busy on the
telephone, and in few days either
had persuaded owners to give him the
land he wanted, or arranged pur-
chases.
A T THAT it was a close shave. A
group of Army officers came to
Richmond from the Sd Corps Area
headquarters in Baltimore to arrange
c. c. C. camp sites. One of the parks
planned by Mr.. Bursom still was pri-
vately owned. The owners had re-
fused to sell at what was considered a
reasonable figure. Bursom had sent
agents to canvass the banks in the
area to see If they didn't hold some of
1t on mortgages about to be foreclosed.
Not a word had come from those
agents. Bursom set out from Rich
mond with the Army officers. He
drove at a snail's pace, in the vain
hope that something would have been
arranged before he reached the county
seat. His companions urged him to
hurry up. There was something mex
plicably wrong with his car that day.
Several times he ran out Of gas long
way from gas station.
At the county seat there was no sign
Of the agents. Yet he was confident
they would be able to pick up few
acres from some bank. Perhaps the
agents would overtake him, as he had
left word for them to do. The Army
officers were grumbling at the delay.
Finally. in desperation, Bursom stopped
somewhere in the proposed park area.
Here it is" he said. 'Put your
, camp anywhere"
The Army men took their time Sc
lecting the best camp site in the vi
cinity. Burson hadn't the slightest
idea on whose land he was trespassing.
Back In the county seat he found
one Of his agents standing in front
Of the bank. q broad smile on his