The Most Important Issue Facing Pocahontas County
"Discovery" of Pocahontas County is the most important issue facing us. We are faced with the powerful force of "economic growth" which some politicians quickly embrace as a cure-all for all our troubles but which can, as often as not, take more from us than is given.
Let me explain. The two colliding forces at our doorstep are land and new money. Each represents many things. Land is the "hills unto which I lift mine eyes from whence cometh my help", as stated in the Psalms. It is the reason we all love Pocahontas County with its profound beauty, its grandeur and its quieting peace. It took me a while to learn the lessons of these mountains. The first was that if I dialed a wrong number, I usually knew the person on the other line and could carry on a conversation. That lesson was "community". The next lesson was that this beautiful place allows all of us to thrive emotionally and spiritually; it enriches us as we work in our gardens, as we exercise walking along the river trial, as we experience the seasons of nature and the harmony of them with our passing lives, as we share and work together in our daily lives. All of these things are of great value and are very difficult, if not impossible, to measure against money.
The lure of "economic growth" is whispered into our ears by our County Commission. It promises money, more and better jobs, tax dollars, new opportunities, growth and discovery. But these things come with a cost; they are paid for by changes to our way of life. And we as a community, not politicians, must ultimately decide what we want.
Personal property rights will be threatened by eminent domain advanced by County Government to achieve its plans for growth of Snowshoe and other projects which will ride on its coat-tails. Land values will skyrocket but we will find that our children can not afford to buy here. Private "gated communities" will spring up on large tracts of land purchased by developers. Parts of our county will be owned by foreign corporations and non-residents who "vacation" here but do not live here. Added stress and burdens will be placed on fire protection, emergency services, law enforcement, roads, trash collection and land fill capacity. More sewer lagoons will be built, streams will become polluted, deforestation will occur, roads will be built, power lines will be added and new and larger industrial areas will be created.
What will we get in return and will it be worth the cost? Politicians must not be allowed to dictate our future. We cannot stop change but, working together as a community, we can balance the values we hold against the changes we want. We can decide what it is we want to see atop our beautiful hills when we lift our eyes to them.
This is a challenging time for all of us. No one person, politician, business or industry can rule us unless we let them. At the end of the day we must each ask what it is in life we value most as a community and then have the courage to work to protect that.
Views expressed herein are those of Martin Saffer and not necessarily of the entire commission unless otherwise indicated.