Page 23 - High Knob Master Plan

2. Commonwealth of Virginia Properties (State Parks)- Consult with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. Particularly managing staff at local state parks, prior to the onset of planning activities. Virginia State Parks have management plans that guide activities on park lands and the development of future projects. Special events taking place on park lands may require prior consultation and permitting depending on the nature and scope of the event. Consult with park staff prior to planning such events to determine if and how such considerations may apply. Components of the Virginia State Parks system overlapping with the project area are as follows.
Natural Tunnel State Park
1420 Natural Tunnel Parkway, Duffield, VA 24244 276-940-2674
Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park
10 West 1st Street North, Big Stone Gap, VA 24219 276-523-1322
Clinch River State Park
Currently under development, although components of this new state park may be developed within the High Knob project area. Park officials should be brought into planning discussions surrounding the High Knob Regional Initiative once property acquisition is completed and this new park begins its own master planning process.
3. Privately-Owned and Local Government Properties- While some state and federal agencies may not have direct jurisdiction over development activities on private lands or those owned and managed by local governments, consultation with these agencies may help to ensure that sensitive environmental resources are fully accounted for and impacts to such resources are minimized during the planning process. Specifically, the USDA Forest Service, Virginia DGIF and DCR, and The Nature Conservancy may be valuable partners in the development of such projects, particularly when the parcel(s) being targeted for a project lie adjacent to public lands managed by these agencies. These agencies may also have valuable information on considerations related to regulatory guidelines or permitting associated with rare and protected species or habitats that may occur on private lands.
SCENIC RESOURCES/VIEWSHEDS
In order to continue to enhance the experience of the great outdoors for tourists and residents, the existing scenery of HKRI can be managed carefully as a visual resource with high economic value for business development. Education and land use management will be essential to the success of improvements and redevelopment. Communication with property owners about the role of the views along scenic corridors in terms of business development and investment is the first step in furthering the vision for entrance corridor improvements. Other steps include consideration of various incentives for land conservation, as well as potential regulatory approaches. All of these can be beneficial in preserving and enhancing the quality of scenic vistas.
Many high-elevation (3000 feet and higher) portions of the HKRI project area overlap with scenic viewsheds visible from areas such as Powell Valley, the US-23 and US-58 corridors, and communities such as Wise, Norton, Coeburn, Dungannon, and Big Stone Gap. Throughout the master planning process, the natural (forested) and undisturbed character of these viewsheds was stressed by various stakeholders as crucial to current and future economic development and tourism efforts. As a result, development activities that alter these viewsheds may unintentionally impede other economic development efforts in communities located miles away from the actual location of an individual project.
A detailed viewshed analysis (performed in an applicable GIS software program) and subsequent consultation with communities whose viewsheds may be impacted by a project should therefore be considered at the outset of planning for any development in activities in such areas, particularly those in or near high-elevation portions of the project area.
The Implementation Chapter provides ways that HKRI can strategically position itself to sustain the natural viewsheds that are so important to future economic well-being. These suggested methods include a viewshed analysis followed by an Action Committee-developed resource management plan, entrance corridor guidelines, and incentives, all of which could be developed collaboratively with both public and private stakeholders. An example of this viewshed analysis is provided on the following page for the High Knob project area.
HIGH KNOB REGIONAL INITIATIVE
CHAPTER 4: REGIONAL ASSETS 23