| Action Alert: Protect Prince William Forest Park from Encroachment by Development
On Tuesday, March 16, Prince Williams Board of County Supervisors will decide whether to allow construction of a data center campus within the Congressional boundary of Prince William Forest Park.
This would negatively impact Prince William Forest Park, the largest Piedmont forest in the entire U.S. National Parks System and an important source of tourism dollars to the county.
Call Supervisors, Senators, and Delegates now to let them know you support Prince William Forest Park and to vote No on the Independent Hill Small Area Plan, which proposes industrial uses on a property that currently protects Prince William Forest Park, a U.S. National Park.
Everyone has a stake in protecting our national parks. Click here to find contact information for your local, state, and federal representatives. Click here to speak at the public hearing (register by Monday, 5pm).
Allowing industrial uses that encroach on Prince William Forest Park would:
- Reduce water quality of Quantico Creek, one of the highest quality and most biologically diverse streams in the northern Virginia,
- Make Prince William Forest Park less appealing to the nearly 400,000 annual visitors to the park, who generate an estimated $23.8 million in economic activity in Prince William County,
- Add industrial development to the Rural Crescent, an environmentally sensitive part of Prince William County that is supposed to be a protected rural area.
This proposal is part of a recent trend by some Prince William County Board of Supervisors officials to undermine the Rural Crescent, which was enacted to preserve rural open space, clean drinking water, and keep taxes low by reducing infrastructure costs. This policy has been successful and continues to be popular with voters.
Yet, some on the Board of Supervisors are advancing policies to allow windfall profits for a handful of landowners. The result would be lower water quality, lost tourism dollars, and higher taxes.
Help protect the largest piedmont forest in the National Park System, the highest quality stream in Northern Virginia, and the Rural Crescent.
Contact elected officials and tell them we need to protect Prince William Forest Park. Click here for contact information for all Prince William elected officials. Click here to email your comments. Read more… |
