THOMAS, W.Va. — Dominion Resources presented a $15,000 grant Tuesday to Friends of Blackwater to make trail improvements at the Blackwater Canyon in Tucker County.
Executive Director of Friends of Blackwater Rodd said the grant, which was presented at Yeager Airport, would go a long way toward revitalizing trails.
“Some of it’s for staff to organize volunteers to come in and work on these high mountain trails. These are little narrow trails that the forest service kind of doesn’t have the money to keep up,” she said.
Dominion Resources State Policy Director Bob Orndorff said the grant is a way to give back to the state.
“We try to give back to the communities that we operate in, and we’ve created a partnership with Judy and the Friends of Blackwater,” said Orndorff. “We were pleased today to make this grant. It’s a good day for us (and) for West Virginia as well.”
Rodd wanted to see more tourism at Blackwater Canyon compared to other parks in the state that are frequently visited.
“We’re trying to bring more people to Thomas as opposed to down in Canaan Valley. We want to steal some of those vistors and move them up north so they can see Blackwater. We want to get them in there for the scenic views.”
Dominion is one of the country’s largest producers and transporters of energy.
Yeager Airport spokesman Mike Plante said the airport was pleased to host the grant announcement, because tourism enhancements in West Virginia directly benefit the airport.
For every dollar spent on improving tourism on West Virginia, it yields results here,” Plante said. “Yeager is West Virgnia’s largest airport and the gateway from West Virginia to the world. It makes West Virginia more attractive to people in other states and population centers on eastern seaboard.”