News Flash Home
The original item was published from 3/29/2019 9:06:24 AM to 4/27/2019 12:00:10 AM.
News Flash
County News
Posted on: March 29, 2019[ARCHIVED] Roanoke County Receives 2019 Governor's Environmental Excellence Award
Roanoke County, Virginia (March 28, 2019) – Roanoke County Parks, Recreation and Tourism was presented with a 2019 Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award at the 30th annual Virginia Environmental Symposium at Virginia Military Institute. A silver medal was received in the Virginia Outdoors Plan Implementation category, celebrating efforts to open Roanoke County’s new Jae Valley Park last year.
Jae Valley Park resulted from a partnership between Roanoke County and the City of Roanoke to develop a canoe and kayak launch facility, opening up five miles of Back Creek, which connects to the Roanoke River Blueway. Jae Valley encompasses 10 acres along Jae Valley Road with 2,200 linear feet of natural surface walking trails and 1,400 linear feet of frontage along Back Creek including several boat launch points.
This effort was spearheaded by Chairman of the Friends of the Rivers of Virginia, Bill Tanger, who noticed the property sitting fallow and worked with both municipalities and the Virginia Department of Transportation to develop the park. Jae Valley Park will support watershed management protection called for in the Virginia Outdoors Plan by encouraging recreational use, protection of natural space and environmental stewardship.