ANNOUNCEMENT

The Hillbilly Gypsies will perform during the Cheat Canyon Preservation Fund Raiser, on Thursday, August 3rd, at the Forks of Cheat Winery. This event has been organized by the Cheat Lake Environment and Recreation Association (CLEAR), the WV Chapter of the Sierra Club, and the Friends of Blackwater. For further information, contact: Duane Nichols, CLEAR President, at 304-599-8040 or _duane330@aol.com_ (mailto:duane330@aol.com) . A $25.00 donation is suggested. "Y'all ain't nutin but a bunch of Hillbilly Gypsies...." The Hillbilly Gypsies are a West Virginia native string band who specialize in playing their own homegrown style of Appalachian old time music, mixed with a hard drivin' bluegrass sound. In addition to their original material, The Hillbilly Gypsies play an eclectic mix of traditional and quite often, not-so-traditional bluegrass standards and catchy old fiddle tunes.

They choose to perform live, in the old fashioned way, around one or two vintage style large diaphragm microphones. This "Old Timey" approach really adds the high energy barn party atmosphere to their show. Watching the whole band work around the mics can be like taking a trip back in time. It'll sure make you want to get up and move! The Hillbilly Gypsies were recently featured in a musical documentary called "The Music Culture of the Appalachian". This film was produced and narrated by Steven Brady. (http://www.dominionpost.com/a/marquee/2003/09/18/au/) The film recently got it's debut at the New York Film Festival. The band is made up of Trae Buckner, guitar & banjo, Jamie Lynn Buckner, vocals, Jason Teel, bass fiddle & banjo, Dave Asti, banjo & guitar, and Ty Jaquay, fiddle & vocals. An added treat for the evening will be an appearance by Lindsey Clear, to sing a couple of her songs. See also the web site: _www.thehillbillygypsies.com_ (http://www.thehillbillygypsies.com/)

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ANNOUNCEMENT You are cordially invited to attend a Cheat Canyon Preservation Fundraiser “Great Music, Great Food, Great Wine”

Forks of Cheat Winery (On Old Stewartstown Road, north of Morgantown) Thursday August 3, 2006 from 6 - 9 pm

We must raise an additional $15,000 to pay for a snail habitat study in the Cheat Canyon and to cover legal fees for our court case this coming September. Through these efforts we seek (a) to protect endangered species including the Cheat three-tooth snail and the Indiana bat (b) protect the natural and scenic character of the Cheat Canyon, and (c) maintain or improve the water quality of the entire Cheat watershed, down to and including Cheat Lake.

Background:

On September 4, 2004 a Coalition of Conservation Groups called for halt to illegal logging that threatens Cheat Canyon Wildlife. The Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of Blackwater, Sierra Club (West Virginia Chapter), the Cheat Lake Environment and Recreation Association (CLEAR), the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, and Coopers Rock Foundation notified Allegheny Wood Products (AWP) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“Service”) of AWP’s violations of the Endangered Species Act in an attempt to save the critically imperiled Indiana bat and Cheat three-toothed snail from AWP’s logging and roadbuilding in Cheat River Canyon.

The Cheat River Canyon encases a 16-mile stretch of the Cheat River, the largest undammed river east of the Mississippi River, as it runs northwest from Albright in Preston County to Cheat Lake in Monongalia County. Throughout the canyon, the Cheat River is bordered by steep, sandstone walls and is forested by a variety of tree stands, including oak, red maple, mountain laurel, and sourwood. The portion of canyon impacted by AWP’s activities provides crucial habitat for the Indiana bat and the Cheat three-toothed snail, both protected species under the Endangered Species Act.

The Indiana bat is migratory, with a range extending throughout the eastern half of the United States. The bat hibernates in limestone caves and abandoned mines in West Virginia an spends the summer in the forest feeding and raising its young. During the swarming fall period they gather near these caves to mate and forage to put on fat for the winter. The Service has recognized a five mile radius around Indiana bat caves as a zone of concern. Both male and female bats are believed to have a strong fidelity to particular summer colony, foraging, and winter hibernating habitat. One of the bat’s key breeding and hibernating areas, Cornwell Cave, is in close proximity to AWP’s road building, tree-removal and habitat disturbance. The Cheat three-toothed snail is a land snail found only in Cheat River Canyon. It is found in sheltered, wooded areas typically associated with sandstone boulders or cliffs, and is often hidden in crevices or cave-like structures. AWP’s property in Cheat River Canyon comprises approximately one- third of the three-toothed snail’s habitat in the entire world.

Although the Service informed AWP after it acquired the land that it contained Indiana bat and three-toothed snail habitat, AWP has initiated road building and logging activities in Cheat River Canyon without conducting adequate surveys for the species or even applying for a permit to harm the Indiana bat and Cheat three-toothed snail in conjunction with preparing a detailed Habitat Conservation Plan (“HCP”) to minimize and mitigate these impacts on federally protected species.

AWP has converted the narrow hiking trail into a haul road near the town of Albright in Preston County, West Virginia and has logged a significant portion of the Canyon. Through their notice letter, the conservation groups have warned AWP that it is in current violation of the Endangered Species Act and must cease all of its offending activities. The Service is also on notice that it must enforce the law.

Like the Blackwater Canyon, the Cheat Canyon is one of West Virginia’s unique ecological treasures and also a recreation destination. AWP has ignored Fish and Wildlife’s request for endangered species’ surveys in their rush to get out the cut. Now the Service must stop this dangerous project.

Sandy Cress of the West Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club agreed, “The Sierra Club believes that preservation of wildlife is of paramount importance, particularly the protection of endangered species."