May 04, 2007

The term "economic development" can cover a wide variety of issues – everything from the quality of our educational system to tax incentives, even the extension of our water and sewer systems. But this year, the joint House-Senate interim committee on economic development has been assigned three topics that specifically deal with West Virginia’s natural resources.

The first study the Joint Commission on Economic Development will be examining involves permitting public recreational use of certified managed timberland.

Senate Concurrent Resolution notes that West Virginia’s rural character, natural wonders, scenic beauty and recreational opportunities combine to create an exceptional quality of life for its citizens. Its landscapes serve to support vital timber and agricultural industries and draw tourists from around the world to hunt, fish, hike, sight-see and ski.

The state Division of Natural Resources wants to provide additional lands for West Virginians to engage in such recreational opportunities by leasing managed timberlands . At the same time, West Virginia has a great deal of industrial development in its future, which must be managed. And 83 percent of West Virginia’s forests are owned by nonindustrial private landowners.

So the Economic Development Commission will consider incentives for private owners of forest land to preserve the character and use of land as forest land and to make management decisions that enhance the quality of the future forest.

The second study has to do with sustainable funding methods to conserve land important to West Virginia’s natural resources and economy. House Concurrent Resolution 48 notes that West Virginia’s unique and beautiful land is "critical to the continued health of the state’s wildlife habitats which are some of the richest places on Earth for certain types of plants and animals found only in the Appalachians." West Virginia’s Wildlife Conservation Action Plan, mandated by the United States Congress, recognizes that habitat loss is a key issue confronting conservation of the state’s valuable fish and wildlife resources.

But the legislators who sponsored this resolution point out that West Virginia is lagging behind land conservation investments being made by over 40 other states, including large investments in adjoining states.

Unfortunately, there is a lack of sustainable funding for conserving West Virginia’s land, even though repeated polling shows that more than two-thirds of West Virginia voters support public spending to help preserve forests, mountains and natural areas. So the Economic Development Commission will be looking at potential funding mechanisms.

The third study, prompted by Senate Concurrent Resolution 65, is promising. The Commission will examine developing tourism attractions and amenities in less-developed counties of West Virginia.

A key factor for economic development in the rural areas of the state is tourism, and workforce development is essential to benefit small tourism entities and rural areas. The Economic Development Commission has been charged with conducting a thorough study of how to better attract the development of tourism attractions and amenities in counties of West Virginia that are less developed, through such vehicles as tax incentives.

I’ll be interested in what the Economic Development Committee learns, and will follow in this column any developments during the coming months.

I welcome and appreciate your input on these or any other legislative issues. Write to House Majority Leader Joe DeLong, Building 1, Room 228-M, 1900 Kanawha Blvd. E., Charleston, 25305, or joe@joedelong.com, or call 304-340-3220.