Published quarterly by the Float Fishermen of Virginia, Inc., a nonprofit corporation dedicated to the preservation of Virginia’s free flowing streams.  Dues are $15 annually.   Additions or changes to the newsletter mailing list should be sent to the Treasurer.  Articles and material may be submitted to: FPP&P Editor.  Preferred format: Email with attachments in Word or ASCII files, pictures in jpeg.
Deadlines are Feb 5, May 5, Aug 5 and Nov 5.

FPP&P Editor

Linda VanLuik

2771 Summit Ridge Road
Roanoke, VA 24012
E-Mail:  vanluikl@aol.com

Virginia's Back in Business for a Better Chesapeake Bay
(Article Written by Billy Miles and Submitted by Phil Bailey, FFV and MPRA Member)

      Virginia is today a partner-on-the-mend after an eight-year assault upon the very foundation of her longstanding commitment to resource protection and an enduring tradition of stewardship of and for the Chesapeake Bay. To appreciate this fully, one has only to witness the recent selection and appointment of the highly respected Tayloe Murphy as Virginia's new secretary of natural resources by incoming Virginia Governor Mark Warner. Ever at the forefront of Chesapeake resource protection, Murphy has long stood as a symbol of personal integrity while keeping Virginians focused on their Bay traditions and history.
      Bay Journal readers may be familiar with Murphy's steady hand in serving and leading the Chesapeake Bay Commission over the years, but few beyond Virginia's borders can appreciate the price he has paid for authoring and shepherding into law the state's Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act legislation a decade ago. Residential housing and commercial development interests and any number of associated Virginia sprawl-dependent industries continue to gun for Murphy whenever they can, loudly decrying his view of the Bay watershed stewardship as one that is anti-progress and anti-business.
      This January, the words "honoring Chesapeake Bay commitments" returned to the text of our new governor's State of the Commonwealth address, after an appalling absence of too many years. Warner also spoke of Virginia's need to craft a state water supply plan that rationally manages the provision of adequate drinking water for everyone in the state. To those of us dedicated to protecting Virginia's bountiful inventory of natural resources and water resources in particular, this was music to our ears. We paused to savor the moment, and rightfully so.
      All too quickly, this moment of joy vanished as the environmental grassroots communities learned of an on-they-way-out- the-door Gilmore administration final insult. This parting shot was stealthily delivered during the chaos of Virginia's gubernatorial transition period and at the bidding of Newport News cronies through the offices of the Department of Environmental Quality.                             (Continued, next page)