By signing the petition, you are emailing just about everyone EXCEPT Gov. Jim Justice.
We need to reach him too, so please go to his website and either paste the below text from the petition, or write your own letter. If you’re on Twitter, tweet at him. My suggestion: @WVGovernor – The proposed 350-spot RV camp in historic Cacapon Resort State Park is a nightmare. Everyone is against it. Please withdraw this terrible rfp and start again. We have a massive movement and it’s growing every day.
Feel free to borrow any photos of meetings from this website to add to your Tweet. You may also want to send a letter to the Morgan Messenger.
I’ve posted some of our neighbors’ letters below, as inspiration. (With last name and address redacted.) If you send me yours, I’d love to add it to the group.
Also, if you are on Twitter, consider tweeting something like: @WVGovernor — The proposed 350-spot RV camp in historic Cacapon Resort State Park is a nightmare. Everyone is against it. Please withdraw this terrible RFP and restart the process from scratch — with a new, more reasonable RFP and community input at every step.
Letter to Jim Justice (Petition text)
Gov. Justice,
Please withdraw the December 2022 Request for Proposals (RFP) for development at Cacapon State Park. The RFP was drafted without adequate, if any, public input. There is no valid reason for the failure to give the public the opportunity to submit suggestions for an RFP that could have such huge impacts on this park.
For this reason alone, the RFP should be withdrawn and there should be a meaningful process for the public’s voice to be heard on the contents of the RFP.
The RFP’s contents are fundamentally inappropriate in several ways. Most importantly, the RFP is written in such a way as to rule out the possibility of sensible, effective options for the development of additional camping and recreational facilities at the park. Overall, the RFP’s approach virtually guaranteed that the only successful proposal would be one that included a very large development of recreational vehicle sites and recreational facilities, so large that the development would be inconsistent with the character as well as the scale of this modest-sized park.
The RFP in effect rules out smaller, less intrusive development that would be consistent with the park’s size and character and would not eliminate many of the attributes that give so much enjoyment to visitors.
Letters from your neighbors (for inspiration)
Re: Please withdraw the RFP for Cacapon Resort State Park
Dear Governor Justice:
I am one of many residents of Morgan County and beyond who are extremely concerned and opposed to the proposed commercialization of the historic Cacapon Resort State Park.
The process has not been inclusive of citizen participation in determining what features should have been included and I request that this process be paused, the RFP withdrawn, and public hearings be held BEFORE another RFP is prepared.
The proposal by Blue Water is antithetical to the purpose of state parks in WV: “To promote conservation by preserving and protecting West Virginia’s natural areas and to provide unmatched outdoor recreational opportunities for residents and visitors to the Mountain State.”
If WV wishes to create an amusement type campground on a large scale in the Eastern Panhandle, then there is plenty of nonprotected land available on which to build. To desecrate this beautiful, pristine, forested park that is home to many wildlife and loved by fishermen, hikers, children, and tourists for its NATURAL BEAUTY, is mind-boggingly foolish and shortsided. West Virginia’s tourism industry is founded on nature, yet the RFP seeks to undermine rather than to preserve it.
Frankly, I am shocked that this RFP was created by an agency that purports to protect our state parks, and must assume that instead it is being driven by external corporate interests or by officials elsewhere in state government who are not attuned to the heart of West Virginia and our beautiful natural resources as an attraction unto itself that should be preserved, not desecrated.
Governor Justice, I was pleased when a few years ago you stepped in to stop a plan to charge an entrance fee for state parks like Cacapon, which would have negatively impacted our community. I hope that you use that same power now to stop this process and protect our park.
Please withdraw this RFP and go back to the drawing board by seeking citizen input and doing a comprehensive environmental and historical analysis.
Thank You.
Sincerely,
Robin
Morgan Messenger, Letter to the Editor, 4-3-2023
Dear Editor:
Years ago, I had very serious wake-ups with two small fires near my home.
After both fires were extinguished, the firefighters talked about how relieved they were that the
wind was not blowing as “the fires could have easily spread and taken out the whole valley!”
WHAT??
I was shocked by this possibility, but then looked at our situation.Morgan County has:
-Steep ridges with no fire truck accessibility.
-Grassy fields that would not support the weight of a firetruck.
-Huge quantities of downed timber and dead trees in forests that fuel and spread fires quickly.
-Winds coming over Cacapon Mountain from the west that are now stronger and last much
longer. Recently, powerful winds lifted a heavy metal and concrete table and tossed it over my
deck railing. Outside furniture and potted plants have become wind flight risks.
-A limited number of volunteer firefighters, trucks, and equipmentThese fire issues are VITAL considerations when evaluating proposals to turn Cacapon State
Resort Park into a big moneymaker by adding up to 350 camper sites.Camper sites in Cacapon State Park pose a serious fire risk.
Are decision makers as clueless about fire hazards as I was?
Don’t they understand the danger that campsite fires pose to Morgan County?If you weigh the potential disasters from fires that could so easily be started at camper sites,
how could anyone seriously consider adding camper sites to Cacapon State Park?
The FIRE HAZARD alone is a deal breaker.But in addition to fire hazards, the proposed camper sites violate the Park’s core value base to
protect nature and would damage many treasured Park assets like hiking, biking, fishing, peace
and quiet, air and water quality, endangered species, and so much more . . .From one spark, in one distracted moment, a fire can spread quickly, and burn massive areas.
As a fire risk, the proposed camper sites are NOT SAFE and therefore are NOT ACCEPTABLE.
Let’s WAKE UP, stand up, and just say NO!Alison
.
2 responses to “Letters from your neighbors”
Come on everyone! We need to start sending letters & contacting our representives! We have to stop this destruction of our State Park!
Totally agree. And guess what? We are gaining steam! As of right now, we have 336 signatures on the petition (Each time someone signs it, it sends a letter from that person to lots of officials.)