New River preservationists will observe a historic milestone this Saturday, Sept. 8.
The National Committee for the New River's celebration of the 25th anniversary of the river's scenic designation is scheduled for Saturday at the Shady Shack Campground in Mouth of Wilson, Va. The public is invited.
The New River Bill, passed by Congress and signed into law Sept. 11, 1976 by President Gerald Ford, stopped a 14-year effort by Appalachian Power Company, a subsidiary of American Electric Power Company, to build two dams which would have flooded 42,000 acres in southwest Virginia and northwest North Carolina, including 5,800 acres in Alleghany County. Thousands of homes and businesses would have been displaced.
The National Committee for the New River was formed in the 1970s as part of the movement to resist the dams and preserve the river.
Those involved in the opposition to the dams ranged from farmers to local, state and federal government officials. The enactment of the bill was hailed as a grass-roots triumph.
The opposition was first organized as the Upper New River Valley Association in the late 1960s, and they recruited Sparta attorney Edmund I. Adams to lead the fight.
"The river is a really wonderful resource in a lot of ways," said Adams. "It's pretty; people love to canoe and fish in it.
"It provides a terrific economic engine for the area. I always said, it's more valuable as it is than any dam would have been. There are plenty of flat water lakes but not many rivers like that one."
"Dam Fight" Veterans
Speakers at Saturday's event will include former Gov. James E. Holshouser Jr., former state Attorney General Rufus Edmisten and former Congressman Steve Neal, all supporters of the New River Bill. "So many of the original players in the cause will be there," said Annabel Harrill of Boone, who is program chairman of the anniversary celebration. "So many folks will be there who worked so hard for their land."
Also expected are Sam J. "Jimmy" Ervin IV, representing his grandfather, the late Sen. Sam Ervin Jr., and former Congressman Ken Heckler from West Virginia.
Harrill said Wallace Carroll, former editor and publisher of the Winston-Salem Journal, will also be there.
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