Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge - History

History

Advocacy for the establishment of a NWR in Canaan Valley began as early as 1961. In the 1970s, environmental and citizens groups battled with Allegheny Power Systems (APS) – which had owned more than 13,000 acres (53 km2) of Canaan Valley since 1923 – over construction of a long-anticipated hydroelectric facility that would have flooded about a quarter of the valley. In 1977, the Federal Power Commission issued a license to APS for construction of a pumped storage hydroelectric project, formally known as the Davis Power Project (DPP). However, the following year the DPP was denied a Clean Water Act (CWA) permit by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps' decision cited adverse impacts upon the Valley's wetlands, a relatively new concept at the time.

Canaan Valley NWR was initially approved following an Environmental Impact Statement on May 30, 1979. APS appealed the Corps' decision all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 1988 declined to hear the case, thus clearing the way for creation of the refuge. About 86 acres (350,000 m2) were purchased in the valley to establish the Refuge on July 11, 1994. Another 12,000 acres (48 km²) were purchased from APS in 2002. With other additions — most recently 120 acres in 2008 and 325 acres (1 km2) in 2011 — the Refuge now encompasses some 16,628 acres (67 km2) of a total authorized size of 25,459 acres (103 km2). This represents almost 70% of the Valley's 25,000 acres (100 km2).