| Enabled by legislation passed during the 2002 Virginia
General Assembly session, the Middle Peninsula Chesapeake
Bay Public Access Authority (MPCBPAA or PAA) officially began on June 13, 2003,
upon the signing of the Operating
Agreement by the member jurisdictions: the Counties of
Essex, Gloucester, King and Queen, King William, and Mathews
and the Towns of Tappahannock, Urbanna, and West Point (Authority by-laws
and minutes
of the June 13, 2003 meeting).
The PAA members recognize that shorelines are high
priority natural areas and that as population density increases,
it is critical that sites
be set aside for all types of recreational activities, including birding,
hunting, fishing, boating, picnicking, and sight seeing. These
activities are important to the economy, natural maritime heritage, and citizens
of the Commonwealth.
The MPCBPAA is charged with the following duties:
1. Identify land, either owned by the Commonwealth or private
holdings, that can be secured for use by the general public
as a public access site;
2. Research and determine ownership of all identified sites;
3. Determine appropriate public use levels of identified access
sites;
4. Develop appropriate mechanisms for transferring title of
Commonwealth or private holdings to the Authority;
5. Develop appropriate acquisition and site management plans
for public access usage;
6. Determining which holdings should be sold to advance the
mission of the Authority; and
7. Perform other duties required to fulfill the mission of
the Middle Peninsula Chesapeake Bay Public Access Authority. |
FEATURE TOPIC: CELCP ACQUISITIONS
In September 2007, a federal grant from the Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program (CELCP), distributed through the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program, permitted the MPCBPAA to acquire for public access purposes 357 acres in the Dragon Run watershed, specifically the Dragon Bridge and Jackson Tracts and the Thurston-Haworth Recreation Area (formerly the Haworth Tract). Again in April 2008, CELCP funding was used to acquire a fourth parcel, the 209-acre Clay Tract, which abuts Dragon Bridge and Jackson in the center of the watershed. All four holdings will be linked with the Browne Tract in the upper portion of Dragon Run and with currently-protected neighboring forest and swamp lands to expand the zone of conservation within, stabilize, and protect the entire watershed.
Since February 2008, the PAA has been utilizing input from a number of stakeholders in the region, including the public, local and state governments, and non-governmental organizations, to develop a stakeholder-driven, long-term stewardship plan for the first of the four CELCP parcels: the Thurston-Haworth Recreation Area. The land management plan will incorporate passive and low-impact public access to associated land- and water-based ecosystems, habitat core conservation, and multiple, traditional uses. These uses may include walking, fishing, paddling, bicycling, hunting, forest and habitat management, water quality monitoring, and educational opportunities.
Stakeholders met previously on February 12, March 5, and March 25, 2008 to discuss the lay-out of the Thurston-Haworth Recreation Area, the purposes for which the property was entered into CELCP (passive/low-impact public access and land conservation), and uses, which the stakeholders would like to see or not see on the parcel. On March 25, a Project Steering Committee was formed, whose members each represent a different interest group in the Dragon Run watershed. The steering committee served an advisory role to the MPCBPAA for the first two drafts of the Thurston-Haworth Land Management Plan. The committee met on April 28 and May 27, 2008 to discuss revisions to the first and second drafts, respectively. Feedback provided was incorporated into the third draft of the land management plan, which is now available for public comment. (Please contact Jacqueline Shapo at 804-758-2311 to obtain a copy of the third draft.) The sixth and final public meeting to discuss the Thurston-Haworth Land Management Plan is scheduled for Thursday, June 26, 2008 at 6:30pm in the Courtroom of the King and Queen County Courts and Administration Building.
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