The Dan River Basin Association’s Martinsville-Henry County Rivers & Trails Group (R&T) continues to forge alliances with other groups committed to a common goal of preserving our natural and historical resources while promoting recreational opportunities, enjoyment of the outdoors, better quality of life and increasing tourism.

 

Activities

Friends of Philpott, a citizens group with a mission to provide environmentally responsible use, development, and protection of the natural and recreational resources at Philpott Lake through community involvement and education, recently formed to prevent the closure of Jamison Mill Park at Philpott Lake due to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers budget constraints. The group also envisioned a shared use trail system around the lake that would include Henry, Franklin and Patrick Counties, all of which surround Philpott Lake. In November, representatives from R&T joined Friends of Philpott, the Corps, three bicycle clubs across the three counties, Activate Martinsville/Henry County, and several municipalities to participate in a trail building school presented by the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA), an organization known for its promotion of sustainable, environmentally friendly trails. A substantial section of trail was constructed at Jamison Mill Park as part of the trail building school. R&T will continue to support trail development as the Corps holds public meetings to allow input on a trail system plan, creates a Master Plan, and organizes volunteers in conjunction with Friends of Philpott to construct the trails.

 

Southern Virginia Trails Roundtable: Along with representatives from Patrick County, Franklin County, Pittsylvania County/Danville, Halifax County/South Boston, Prince Edward County/Farmville, Rockingham County, N.C./Eden, N.C., Virginia DCR & VDOT Bike/Ped Program, R&T participated in the Southern Virginia Trails Roundtable on November 1. The purpose of the roundtable was to share information on trail progress in the various areas and to share ideas as to how connect the trails to realize the dream of a “Mountains to Sea Trail” across Southern Virginia.

 

Fall Programs at R&T Meetings

OCTOBER: Activate Martinsville/Henry County R&T is working closely with an innovative new initiative, Activate Martinsville/Henry County (AMHC), funded by the Harvest Foundation to improve the health, quality of life, & economic vitality of the Martinsville/Henry County region by encouraging & enabling residents & visitors alike to enjoy a more active lifestyle. Jeff Mansour, the Harvest Program Officer for AMHC spoke at the R&T October meeting about the efforts to promote biking and walking in the Martinsville Community, including the very successful participation of local schools in International Walk to School Day on October 3. The project will be looking for ways to encourage hiking and biking by policy changes and creating needed infrastructure through “Complete Streets” and “Safe Routes to Schools” programs. These changes will allow residents to walk or bike rather than drive automobiles from their neighborhoods to the trails R&T is helping build.

 

NOVEMBER: National Trust for Historic Preservation At the November meeting, Deep Sanyal, Director for Martinsville-Henry County Project of the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP), presented a power point about her work. This included nomination of Fieldale as an historic district and work on various sites, including Rock Run School and the Rosenwald Dry Bridge School. NTHP also presented a number of forums and roundtables on aspects of Mid-Town revitalization, survey of historic resources, and work on heritage tourism. Deepa will be here until the end of the year and is drawing up plans so that the work will continue in the community. At the end of the meeting, we toasted Deepa who has been a great partner with Rivers and Trails Group.

 

DECEMBER: Tourism At the December meeting, David Rotenizer, Martinsville-Henry County Tourism Director, presented a program revolving around www.Virginia.org, the state tourism and travel website. Virginia.org is the second highest rated state tourism website in the country. The site has unique qualifying features such as data share capabilities – listings on the website are automatically shared with other websites such as www.VisitMartisnville and www.Virginia.gov. Local listings such as the Smith River accesses and the Fieldale Trail are being used on the site. Dave also noted the grand opening of the Martinsville-Henry County Visitor Center on Nov 29. The visitor center is located inside the Southern Virginia Artisan Center on Church Street in uptown Martinsville and will be open 7 days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

 

Project Updates

Smith River Access Points:

-         The Doe Run Access just above the Martinsville Dam is complete, has signs, and is open for use.

-         The steps at the Marrowbone Access have been concreted.

-         The Mitchell Bridge Access is being planned.

-         A committee has been established to investigate historical signage and easement possibilities for parking and river access near the site of a fish weir.

 

Trails:

-         The parking lot is complete at the Gravely property, and trails have been marked and cut. Interpretive signage is being prepared.

-         A grant application has been submitted for extension of the Fieldale Trail one additional mile. .

-         The value of the right of way for the old Danville & Western railroad from El Parral into uptown Martinsville has been assessed.

-         A map of existing walking trails in the area has been prepared by the Health and Wellness Coalition and is being distributed to help people get out and walk.