C & 0 Canal Association ALONG THE TOWPATH concemed with the conservation of the natural and historical environment of the C&O canal and the Potomac River Basin VOLUt·1E XX I I DECEMBER 1989 NUMBER 5 HOBBS NAMED C & 0 CANAL NHP SUPERINTENDENT ASSOCIATION'S ANNUAL MEETING Effective December 17, Thomas 0. Hobbs, a TO BE HELD t-1ARCH 3 IN SHEPHERDSTOWN 27-vear career veteran of the National Park The annual meeting of the C & 0 Canal As­ Service, becomes suoerintendent of the C & 0 sociation will be held on Saturday, March 3, Canal ~ational Historical Park. at the new Fire Department buildin9 in Shep­ The appointment was announced by National herdstown, West Virainia. Capital Regional Director Robert G. Stanton, The meeting's agenda will include reports who said, "Tom brings to this region years from officers and committee chairs, and the of experience in park rangering in some of election of officers and members to the board the ~reatest western parks such as Yellow­ of directors. A "Meet the Candidates" coffee stone National Park in ~{yarning and Bryce hour will precede the meeting. (See pagei 6- Canvon National Park in Utah." Until Hobbs 10,) The day's schedule follows: comes to the C & 0 Canal, he is superinten­ dent of Isle Royale National Park ~n Michi- 1 :00 p.r.t. "Meet the Candidates" coffee hour 2~00 p.:~. A.r.~·!~l t,1eetir.g bef}ins 9i:iii, W~•Ei''€ ;·,e ild;;, u~en sinc.;e i935. I:>ie Royale is an 800-square-mile island wilder­ 5:00 p.m. Happy ~our ness cark in northwest Lake Suoerior. The 6:00 p.m. Dinner ~ark has 165 miles of trails, 35 camo~rounds, The Happy Hour and dinner will be at the iod9es, marinas, and stores managed as park Fire Department. Reservations for dinner are concessions. required; the cost per reservation is $14.00. From 1930 until 1985, Hobbs served as (See reservation form on last rage.) chief ranger in charge of resource manage­ Shepherdstown's new Fire Department is on ment and visitor orotection at Yellowstone. the south side of West GerMan Street (Route He was resnonsible for the nark's vast fish 45), about one ~ile west of its intersection and wildlife populations, its geothermal with Duke Street (Route 480). features, and its search and rescue opera­ At 10:00 the morning of the annual meetinr tions. day, the Level Walker Proqram is sponsoring a Hobbs was superintendent of Bryce Canyon hike along the towpath at a point near the from 1976 until 1980 durin9 the early threat meeting site. (See Calenda r of Coming Events.) to the oark's scenic vistas from nearby coal development. He be~an his NPS career in 1962 as a oark ranoer at Mesa Verde National s G Park in Colorado, and has served as chief of park operations at Acadia National Park in E R Maine and chief of area services at Kenne­ A E saw Mountain National Battlefield Park in s E Georoia. 0 T Hobbs is a native of Fairmont, West Vir­ N I ginia, and a 1960 graduate of Fairmont State N College with a BA degree in biological sci­ s G ences. His wife, Alice, is a native of Tun­ s nelton, West Virginia. The Hobbs have four sons. -2- PRES I DENT" S COLU~1N by i ng this facilitv. The Bureau of Prisons, the agency responsible for building the Hal Larsen complex, is presumably taking the NPS con .erns into account . The Association is What have we been doing this year? We now lookinq once aqain at this question. seem to have focused mostly on the Cumber­ The site is said to include Indian archae­ land area: the canal parkway and the pro­ olooical sites and wetlands, suggesting posed federal prison on the Mexico Farms the .. need for legal protection. Conceiv­ site. In addition, we established anAl- ably the prison boundaries could be re­ 1egany Regional Coordinating Committee drawn to exclude significant findings. to 1nvolve Association members in that The Bureau of Prisons -is now conducting region more closely in the organization. archaeological studies to determine if ~ith respect to the parkway, we helped there are important remains to be preserved. defeat a plan last year to build a high- These matters related to Cumberland have way on the C&O Canal below Cumberland. been time-consuming for Association manage­ The present proposal, to put the road on ment, especially for John Chandler's Per­ CSX property immediately adjacent to the manent Environmental Committee, which is canal park, is also unacceptable because responsible for studying such problems and it is too close. We think. a road riaht making recommendations to the Board of on the berm side would cause visual and Directors. The Board decided to organize noise intrusions detrimental to the recrea­ a Cu~berland-area committee as a way to tionallnd historical characteristics of the provide information to members and others park. As a 6orollary to this parkway, in the reoion. Another aoal was to oive the Maryland State Highway Administration our membe~s in the reaion a more direct would rebuild the Wiley Ford Bridge, which role in determining policy recommendations crosses the canal at grade level, exactly on matters directly related to their com­ as it is today. This plan is also unaccept­ munities. Bevond this we are interested able; we think the bridge should be _raised in increasingwmembership in the upstream to allow passage under it for towpath users areas. More people are likely to join if and for boats on a future rewatered canal they expect greater participation, abo~e section. all in matters related to their commun1- The highway administration has posed ties. Thus we hope to accomplish two various arguments for rebuildinq this cross- things: get more members from this area inq exactly as it is--cost factors, flood­ and benefit from their knowledge and expe­ control problems, and the desire to act rience. quickly because the present structure is The Allegany Regional Coordinating Com­ deterioratin~. The Association has con­ mittee advises the Board of Directors on sidered these reasons but we think the lonq­ matters relating to the region. This term considerations should outwei~h short- function includes recommendations to term expediency and economic restraint. We the Board for actions or policy statements. further hold the flood control problem to Additionally, the Committee is the Asso­ be surmountable. ciation's voice in the region, relaying With respect to the prison, the Federal the Board's policies to regional citizens Government proposes to erect a medium- and and officials through meetings and the minimum-security facility in the Mexico media. Farms area. The C&Q Canal Park surrounds We are thus preoccupied with important the site on three sides. A detailed environ­ matters in Cumberland. In the future, mental study sees no adverse impact on the our attention may focus on some other park or the surrounding residential areas. canal community. In that event, we may The Association's Board of Directors opposed take the reaional committee approach again, a prison at this site, citing security con- particularly if it is a success in Cumber­ cerns and possible noise and visual intru- land. sion on the canal towpath. The National Park Service has not opposed the project but has presented various conditions to be met in develop- -3- THE ASSOCIATION WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS Robert D Aysse, New Kensington, PA George E Hill, Washington, DC Kenneth Bagby, Occoquan, VA Linda J House, Somerville, NJ William C Baker, III, Sharpsburg, MD Kenneth G Huber, Silver Spring, MD Duard & Elizabeth Barnes, Washington, DC William P lames, MD, Cumberland, }ill Stephen Barnes, Brogue, PA Mary D Janney, Washington, DC Robert H Barth, Branchville, NJ Robert 0 Jones, Chevy Chase, MD Vernon L Beale, Frostburg, MD Norma Lee Keller, Cumberland, MD Donald Besom, Bethesda, MD Donald Kinloch, Gaithersburg, MD Eric H Biddle, Jr, A~lington, VA JoAnn & David Lawrence, \vest Lawn, PA John Martin Bishop, Arlington, VA Betsy Little, Bethesda, MD Jerry Bloom, Phoenix, AZ Mr/Mrs John W MacDonell, Lima, OH Fred P Blumenthal, Arlington, VA LaVerne J l1agarian, McLean, VA Dr Rita Brinker, DC, Cumberland, MD Carole Ulyett Marks, Bethesda, MD Christopher & Jean Browne, Arlington, VA Kay E McClaine, Potomac, MD Bob & Carol Chambers, Rockville, ~n Mr/Mrs Kenneth H McLaughlin, Bethesda, MD Dr/Mrs Joseph-L tolbourn, Frederick. MD Louis Nould, MD, Cumberland, MD Paul E Cooney, Rockville, }ill John P Murray~ Hancock; MD . James W.Corbitt, Sr, Catlett, VA Linda A Nield, Cumberland, MD R Justin DeForge, Bethesda, MD Douglas A Norr, Darnestown, MD Bela J Demeter, Takoma Park, 110 Theda A Parrish, Falls Church, VA Emma Rose Dieter, Washington, DC Charles M Pritchard, Wyndmoor PA Alverta R Dillon, Accident, MD Reinaldo Rios, Germantown, MD Betty & Clyde Dismukes, Chevy Chase, MD Helene K Schilling, Cumberland, MD Irvin & Sharon Eby, Sharpsburg, MD C Anthony Schlotter, Buena Vista, VA T W Eckard, Sr, Westminster, MD John S R Schoenfeld, Bethesda, MD Yusef El-Amin, Falls Church, VA Ken Shaffert, Chevy Chase, liD Leonard Fehlauer, Hagerstown, MD Douglas W Sharp, Kings Mountain, NC Torrey Froscher, Arlington, VA Michelle K Smith, Bethesda, }ill Beatrice Gerry, Bethesda, MD John Spiegel, Silver Spring, MD William & Mona Giles, Cumberland, MD Dick Stanton, Hagerstown, l-ID Edward T Giza, Silver Spring, MD Robert William Stockslager, Martinsburg, WV Donald S Goldbloom, Cumberland, MD Rhonda Strickland, Shepherdstown, WV Maston L Gray, Arlington, VA Christopher Tarpley, University Park, MD Mr/Mrs Terry Green, Washington, DC Gerald M Wade, Derwood, MD James R Higgins, Jr, Washington, DC Arlie & Guy Williams, Cumberland, MD Dennis A Wyckoff, Martinsburg, WV A NIGHT TO REMEMBER Mark the evenin~ of Sunday, January 20, 1990 on your calendar as one to remember -- how the C & 0 Canal Association came to be and how we played a leading role in the creation of a national oark.