As described in our 2016 petition to the board to have a long reach of Laurel Fork (on the Goodall property) designated as an Exceptional State Water, I urge the State Water Control Board to approve our petition so Laurel Fork has the added protection of Tier III status. This will help to preserve a significant high-elevation cold water stream that flows into the Special Management Area of the GWNF less than 2 miles downstream.  In the 5-6 years since the petition was first made, we have added other areas of our old growth forest to the "no-harvest" layer of our Nature Conservancy (TNC) easement.  In addition, a neighboring landowner (between us and GWNF) recently put her land under easement with TNC, which added another 4,000 linear feet of protected riparian forest along Laurel Fork.  Our hope is to one day protect the entire length of Laurel Fork as it flows from its headwaters high in  the Alleghenies south of Route 250 to where it passes into National Forest land, before ultimately emptying into the Potomac River. 

We have sought this additional layer of protection because we (3 generations) believe very deeply that this exemplary trout stream, which flows thru an ecologically unique ecosystem that is rare in Virginia, needs to be fully protected for posterity to insure the lasting quality of its streamwater, aquatic habitat, and riparian woodland.  It is also important for private landowners to demonstrate that natural resource protection should be a private-public partnership. As one of few Tier III streams in Virginia in private hands, this would be our lasting contribution to Commonwealth and our reverence for a special "fork". 

McChesney Goodall, III

Rifle Ridge Farm

Monterey, Virginia