Post by L Roebuck on Dec 16, 2005 9:16:01 GMT -5
Preserving a mountain
State, quarry company strike deal to protect Pigeon Mountain
12/15/05
Tim Carlfeldt
State acquisition of land and mineral rights on Pigeon Mountain should soon be a reality, in what government and conservation leaders are calling a “win-win” situation.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources board last week agreed to proceed with the purchase of 64 acres of land and 2,545 acres of mineral rights on the mountain just west of LaFayette.
According to DNR director of communications Beth Brown, the $2 million purchase is centered on the gravel quarry operations of Vulcan Materials Co., and will become part of the Crockford-Pigeon Mountain Wildlife Management Area.
The Governor’s Land Advisory Council and the State Properties Commission must still approve the purchase, which Brown said is likely.
The acquisition will clear all remaining known mineral interests held by Vulcan, but the purchase agreement will allow the company to continue mining on 25 state-owned acres for another four years.
Funding for the land is already in place due to bonds sold for a $43 million DNR reservoir project in western Georgia. But the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said that it could not be completed as designed, so the money was made available for other DNR projects, Brown said.
State Sen. Jeff Mullis of Chickamauga inquired about those funds for the Pigeon Mountain tract, and has worked since 2001 to facilitate the deal.
“This is a good example of state government and our corporate citizens working together to come to resolution in a difficult situation,” Mullis said.
Some of the difficulty Mullis referred to was in sorting through the tangle of various mineral rights and leases.
And there has been friction between Vulcan, which provides material for road projects like the U.S. 27 widening south of LaFayette, and conservationists wanting to stop expansion of the quarry or its operations altogether.
Darla Smalley lives near the quarry site and said she is happy to see the end of operations there are on the horizon.
“The blasting is the worst part. Sometimes it just shakes my whole house,” she said. “But I think it’s a good thing for the mountain more than anything else.”
Cavers happy
The mountain attracts thousands of cavers each year to visit some of the deepest and best limestone caves in the world.
“This area is in a high priority conservation area and will contribute to the overall State Wildlife Action Plan,” said Dan Forster of the DNR’s Wildlife Resources Division.
Pigeon Mountain was designated a State Natural Heritage Site by former Gov. Zell Miller.
Diane Cousineau is an avid recreational caver and conservationist, as well as captain of the volunteer Cave & Cliff Rescue Squad for Walker County.
She said that in the spring of 2001 local cavers became aware of Vulcan’s intent to expand the quarry by 140 acres and became concerned about the ecological effects of the blasting.
This spawned a letter-writing campaign among cavers and concerned residents, and Cousineau met with then Gov. Roy Barnes.
“We had letters from as far away as California from cavers who had been to Pigeon Mountain,” she said.
The expansion was reduced to just two acres, but Cousineau said she wasn’t convinced the situation was resolved.
“One of the things that Vulcan maintained in their permit application was that there were no caves of significance on the acreage into which they wanted to expand,” she said.
The cavers had doubts about that, so toward preventing possible future expansion they began diligently working to prove otherwise.
Their efforts paid off with the discovery of Flowing Stone Cave, as well as two endangered species of salamander. A flowering bush called the limerock arrowwood was also found. Pigeon Mountain is one of only two known locations of the plant in Georgia.
“We also did a dye trace of Flowing Stone to see where the water came out,” said Cousineau. “We found that the cave is a conduit for that side of the mountain to Blue Bird Springs, and the quarry expansion would’ve disrupted that.”
They presented this information to DNR Commissioner Noel Holcomb who, as luck would have it, has been caving and owns land in Walker County with a cave.
Cousineau said it became clear to state officials that it just didn’t make sense to expand a quarry on the public land.
Persistence and cooperation
“I applaud (Walker County Commissioner) Bebe Heiskell and Jeff Mullis for never letting this die,” Cousineau said. “A lot of things had to come together, and they were both consistent and persistent.”
Brown pointed out that Vulcan could have continued mining underground but instead chose to work to develop an equitable plan for adding its land to the Wildlife Management Area.
In a statement Holcomb expressed his gratitude to the parties involved. “This project would not have been possible without the efforts of Senator Jeff Mullis and Walker County Commissioner Bebe Heiskell. We commend Vulcan Materials Company for taking action to preserve the endangered species in Flowing Stone Cave. They have worked closely with the DNR to preserve the integrity of the area.”
Walker County Messanger
news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=730&NewsID=682526&CategoryID=11576&on=1
Blog:
www1.romenews-tribune.com/module/blogs/blog.php?id=56
State, quarry company strike deal to protect Pigeon Mountain
12/15/05
Tim Carlfeldt
State acquisition of land and mineral rights on Pigeon Mountain should soon be a reality, in what government and conservation leaders are calling a “win-win” situation.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources board last week agreed to proceed with the purchase of 64 acres of land and 2,545 acres of mineral rights on the mountain just west of LaFayette.
According to DNR director of communications Beth Brown, the $2 million purchase is centered on the gravel quarry operations of Vulcan Materials Co., and will become part of the Crockford-Pigeon Mountain Wildlife Management Area.
The Governor’s Land Advisory Council and the State Properties Commission must still approve the purchase, which Brown said is likely.
The acquisition will clear all remaining known mineral interests held by Vulcan, but the purchase agreement will allow the company to continue mining on 25 state-owned acres for another four years.
Funding for the land is already in place due to bonds sold for a $43 million DNR reservoir project in western Georgia. But the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said that it could not be completed as designed, so the money was made available for other DNR projects, Brown said.
State Sen. Jeff Mullis of Chickamauga inquired about those funds for the Pigeon Mountain tract, and has worked since 2001 to facilitate the deal.
“This is a good example of state government and our corporate citizens working together to come to resolution in a difficult situation,” Mullis said.
Some of the difficulty Mullis referred to was in sorting through the tangle of various mineral rights and leases.
And there has been friction between Vulcan, which provides material for road projects like the U.S. 27 widening south of LaFayette, and conservationists wanting to stop expansion of the quarry or its operations altogether.
Darla Smalley lives near the quarry site and said she is happy to see the end of operations there are on the horizon.
“The blasting is the worst part. Sometimes it just shakes my whole house,” she said. “But I think it’s a good thing for the mountain more than anything else.”
Cavers happy
The mountain attracts thousands of cavers each year to visit some of the deepest and best limestone caves in the world.
“This area is in a high priority conservation area and will contribute to the overall State Wildlife Action Plan,” said Dan Forster of the DNR’s Wildlife Resources Division.
Pigeon Mountain was designated a State Natural Heritage Site by former Gov. Zell Miller.
Diane Cousineau is an avid recreational caver and conservationist, as well as captain of the volunteer Cave & Cliff Rescue Squad for Walker County.
She said that in the spring of 2001 local cavers became aware of Vulcan’s intent to expand the quarry by 140 acres and became concerned about the ecological effects of the blasting.
This spawned a letter-writing campaign among cavers and concerned residents, and Cousineau met with then Gov. Roy Barnes.
“We had letters from as far away as California from cavers who had been to Pigeon Mountain,” she said.
The expansion was reduced to just two acres, but Cousineau said she wasn’t convinced the situation was resolved.
“One of the things that Vulcan maintained in their permit application was that there were no caves of significance on the acreage into which they wanted to expand,” she said.
The cavers had doubts about that, so toward preventing possible future expansion they began diligently working to prove otherwise.
Their efforts paid off with the discovery of Flowing Stone Cave, as well as two endangered species of salamander. A flowering bush called the limerock arrowwood was also found. Pigeon Mountain is one of only two known locations of the plant in Georgia.
“We also did a dye trace of Flowing Stone to see where the water came out,” said Cousineau. “We found that the cave is a conduit for that side of the mountain to Blue Bird Springs, and the quarry expansion would’ve disrupted that.”
They presented this information to DNR Commissioner Noel Holcomb who, as luck would have it, has been caving and owns land in Walker County with a cave.
Cousineau said it became clear to state officials that it just didn’t make sense to expand a quarry on the public land.
Persistence and cooperation
“I applaud (Walker County Commissioner) Bebe Heiskell and Jeff Mullis for never letting this die,” Cousineau said. “A lot of things had to come together, and they were both consistent and persistent.”
Brown pointed out that Vulcan could have continued mining underground but instead chose to work to develop an equitable plan for adding its land to the Wildlife Management Area.
In a statement Holcomb expressed his gratitude to the parties involved. “This project would not have been possible without the efforts of Senator Jeff Mullis and Walker County Commissioner Bebe Heiskell. We commend Vulcan Materials Company for taking action to preserve the endangered species in Flowing Stone Cave. They have worked closely with the DNR to preserve the integrity of the area.”
Walker County Messanger
news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=730&NewsID=682526&CategoryID=11576&on=1
Blog:
www1.romenews-tribune.com/module/blogs/blog.php?id=56