According to information presented by Sam England, director of state parks, at a Greenbrier County Commission meeting July 12, a slide near milepost 13 of the Greenbrier River Trail is 400 feet long and 150 feet high. In addition, there are other repairs to culvert washouts, 12 in all, on the lower end. In total, repairs to the trail may cost over $2 million. Seventy-five percent of this amount will probably be reimbursable by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but the state must meet FEMA’s guidelines and spend the money first.
BECKLEY, W.Va. — The good news was overshadowed by the bad when West Virginia’s chief of parks, Sam England, delivered a report to the Greenbrier County Commission last week on flood-related damage sustained by local recreational resources.
England led off on a positive note, advising commissioners that Greenbrier State Forest is “fully open and operable.” In fact, a group of Scouts was conducting an annual camp in the forest even while England spoke.
The news was less positive, however, when the parks chief turned to the Greenbrier River Trail. Although the trail from Anthony north is open, the southern portion is another story, he said, pointing out, “We’ve got quite a mess.”
That “mess” includes a dozen washed-out culverts and what trail superintendent Jody Spencer called “the mother of all landslides” at the campsite near milepost 13.
England described the massive mudslide as being 400 feet long and 150 feet high…
