The Pristine New River Was Almost Destroyed in the 1970s

[@SMichaelDeHart]

The New River and Gauley River meet in Gauley Bridge, Fayette County, West Virginia and forms the Kanawha River. The Kanawha then flows into the Ohio River. The New River Gorge in West Virginia is one of the most beautiful areas you'll ever see!! Everything from Whitewater Rafting, Rappelling, Rock Climbing, Base Jumping, Fishing, SCUBA Diving and Zip Lines are all available to citizens and tourists. As a born and bred Mountaineer (West Virginian), I absolutely love my home state. I've moved away twice, but always returned back home. I live by the old adage 'You take take the boy from the mountains, but you can never take the mountains from the boy!!'. My dad was a Class A Transmission/Distribution Lineman for Appalachian Power Company for 38 yrs, after returning home from the South Pacific Campaign in WWII. His crew built a majority of Transmission Lines throughout southwestern Virginia and southern West Virginia. He's was with APCO from 1946 to 1982. He and mom raised 7 of us kids in a Blue Collar Christian home. All siblings worked our own ways through collage.

[@rogieru8796]

Here in Allegheny county ,The Little River is in my backyard only 30 feet from my back door, it feeds directly into the new river . I love to hear the river running over the rocks when I go to sleep at night. My house is three stories 100 years old and my bedroom is at the very top facing the river .

[@AppalachianMemoryKeepers]

That’s a pretty cool place to live, thanks for sharing.

[@elizabethtaylor3779]

@@rogieru8796 aren't you fortunate? I'm envious; I'll bet it's so soothing to listen to the water cascading

[@kathypartee3314]

Wow, I am a bit jelly 😃

[@samhopson-ur2du]

This is great I love yall I live all the way over in Sullivan county I love people that stand up and fight

[@Don_P.717]

Lester Halsey ribbed Charles Kuralt at the time, "What do you mean you don't know where Mouth of Wilson is?". He took him on a canoe trip at the time. I remember those old timers talking about climbing up into the woods during the flood in 1940. This summer after river cleanup my wife said "I think we finally have almost all the tires out of the river in the county". One page of the paper was a big thank you to the community for all the hard work. Unfortunately the facing page that week was pictures of the damage from Helene. Someone mentioned Radford, I believe they have found several but still have several tanks of chemicals lost downstream. This is going to be a big cleanup year.

[@elizabethtaylor3779]

Just finished watching the fascinating story of the New. Very much enjoyed learning about its history, about the "snot otter" and hearing the stories each speaker shared. I especially enjoyed Mr. Santucci's amiable wisdom and Ms. Polly's no-nonsense fortitude in saving the river as well as the cute story about checking the fishing poles. Thanks once again for an interesting expose.

[@AppalachianMemoryKeepers]

I am glad you enjoyed the video and the stories of the people who fought so hard to protect this river.

[@davidsaylor3582]

The French Broad is supposed to Be the Next oldest...both flow north & part of the same watershed & both Originate in North Carolina.

[@jamesjoste8655]

We had this fight here in Missouri. They want to take our Merrimack river away from us. We didn’t let it happen.

[@samuelestepp725]

The native Americans called it the river of death. Follow the river is a good book to read about a captured woman that escaped and made her way back

[@AppalachianMemoryKeepers]

I have never heard the New River called the "river of death." I think you might have it confused with the Nolichucky River which is often referred to as the "river of death."

[@jeffbooks3253]

Unfortunately the water is sullied by industry downstream in VA and WVA. The Radford Arsenal makes munitions along the river (since WW2 ) and has burn pits along the river. The river is also dammed in Radford VA.

[@AppalachianMemoryKeepers]

Very true!