Johnson Farm barn
The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation grant will pay for a new roof to stabilize the Johnson Farm barn at Peaks of Otter in Bedford County.
Posted: Monday, April 6, 2015 5:00 pm
roanoke.com
The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation has released its annual list of improvements to the scenic highway, which includes a new roof for the Johnson Farm barn at Peaks of Otter and a biological survey of Rock Castle Gorge in Floyd County.
The nonprofit foundation, which raises money to support the 469-mile parkway, announced this month that it will be funding about $600,000 worth of projects and programs in both Virginia and North Carolina.
Each year, the foundation consults with Blue Ridge Parkway staff to identify the most pressing needs that can be addressed by the donations it receives. Since its inception in 1996, the foundation has contributed more than $7 million to the parkway.
This year, about $2,000 will go to a “Bio Blitz,” a three-day survey in which scientists and volunteers will work together to study the flora and fauna in the 3,600 acres of the Rock Castle Gorge area in Floyd and Patrick counties.
The survey, planned for sometime in September, is expected to produce a better picture of the needs and environmental significance of the area.
Another Roanoke-region attraction receiving funding this year is a project to replace the roof of a barn at the Johnson Farm in Bedford County, where costumed interpreters work the farm and demonstrate how it operated in the 1920s.
The barn is currently closed to visitors because its roof is in such bad shape. Visitors to the farm, accessible by trail from the Peaks of Otter visitors center, can still visit a farmhouse, spring house, corn crib and other features of early Appalachian farm life when the attraction opens for the season next month.
Elsewhere along the parkway, contributions will be used to replace the shake roof on the historic Ramsey Cabin near Waynesboro, build a pedestrian bridge over Boone Fork Creek near Blowing Rock, North Carolina, fix up crumbling picnic tables and stonework at Doughton Park, located about 20 miles south of the Virginia line, and build a new bridge in the park’s Grassy Gap area.
Other initiatives along the parkway include a hemlock preservation project, a study of bog turtles that will involve placing transmitters on their shells, a crayfish survey and the purchase of 35 new cameras for a program that uses remote surveillance to track wildlife.
In a statement released with the foundation’s announcement, parkway Superintendent Mark Woods said the group’s support “raises the bar for all of us as we work together to provide a high level of service in protecting park resources and providing high quality visitor experiences. We are grateful for their leadership and vision.”
More about Blue Ridge Parkway
- ARTICLE: Explore Park to reopen Friday with expanded activities and access
- ARTICLE: Blue Ridge Parkway announces 2015 opening dates
- ARTICLE: Blue Ridge Parkway sections to close for maintenance
- ARTICLE: Blue Ridge Parkway cleanup finds fewer ‘huffing’ canisters this year
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