Virginia State Senator Richard H. Stuart of Montross and Va. Delegate Barry Knight of Virginia Beach have filed bills for introduction in the 2012 Virginia General Assembly which could set the stage for total extinction of the Menhadden fishery in the Chesapeake. Menhadden, which form a basic foundation of the Chesapeake Bay's food chain have been increasingly subject to overfishing, and in November, 2011, the Atlantic States marine Fisheries Commission took the first steps towards establishment of science based "catch limits" to preserve the species.

The menhaden fishing industries reaction: let's move to remove all limits and make a fast buck while we can. Two bills pre-filed for introduction in the 2012 Virginia General Assembly pose a grave threat to efforts to promote Bay conservation.

HB 88
Introduced by Barry D. Knight would remove the cap by removing a provision that allows an adjustment for underages or overages in the annual harvest cap to be carried over to the next year's cap limit. Currently, if a person harvests less than the 109,020 metric ton limit on taking menhaden, he can add the difference to his cap for next year's harvest. Conversely, if he exceeds the cap in any one year, he must reduce his harvest in the succeeding year by the amount of the overage of the preceding year.

A copy of this bill is available at:http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?121+ful+HB88+pdf" rel="external" title=""> http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?121+ful+HB88+pdf

SB 18
Introduced by: Richard H. Stuart removes authorization for Virginia's membership in the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Compact. The purpose of the Compact is to promote better utilization of the marine, shell, and anadromous fisheries of the Atlantic seaboard through the development of a joint program for the promotion and protection of such fisheries and by the prevention of the physical waste of the fisheries from any cause. If any state desires to remove itself from the Compact, it must send a six months' notice in writing to the member states of its intention to withdraw from the Compact.

A copy of this bill is available at http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?121+ful+SB18+pdf

To stop these bills, Virginia legislaturive representatives need to hear from you now - early and often!

Go tohttp://legis.state.va.us/" rel="external" title=""> http://legis.state.va.us/
to find the name of your Delegate and Senator and others and write them to stop these bills.

VMI's Class of 2012 were presented with their class rings on Sunday, November 21, 2010!

Here are a few pictures from the Ceremony! Register and share your images from the event either by upload to our website or by sharing a link to your personal online image sharing website.

VDOT Press Release - 9/22/2010

STAUNTON – The newly constructed Maury River Bridge on Route 130 in the Town of Glasgow in Rockbridge County is opening to traffic on Sept. 22. A ribbon cutting event hosted by the Virginia Department of Transportation was held at 10 a.m. on Sept. 22 to celebrate the completion of the new bridge.

Work will continue at the construction site, which will include completion of guardrail installation and the removal of the old bridge. Traffic will be able to use the new bridge, but motorists should be aware of construction activities within the work zone and drive with caution.

The ribbon cutting event features a number of scheduled speakers including: David Tyeryar, Deputy Secretary of Transportation; Senator R. Creigh Deeds; Delegate Benjamin L. Cline; R. Hunt Riegel of the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors; Samuel H. Blackburn, Town of Glasgow Mayor; and Maynard Reynolds Former Glasgow Town Council Member and Former Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors Member. Garrett Moore, P.E., VDOT Staunton District Administrator, is the master of ceremonies.

The project was awarded to Haymes Brothers Inc. of Chatham by the Commonwealth Transportation Board on May 15, 2008. The contract value is $11,234,027.40.

The new bridge features two 12-foot lanes and 10-foot graded shoulders. The old bridge was built in 1931, is no longer able to handle modern day traffic and is posted – which means only lighter weight vehicles can use it.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the bridge site on June 25, 2008.

The VDOT Staunton District serves Frederick, Shenandoah, Clarke, Warren, Page, Rockingham, Augusta, Highland, Rockbridge, Alleghany and Bath counties.

We have launched our Rockbridge FAQ - a feature designed to enable users to ask and answer questions, to share their knowledge of Rockbridge County, Virginia, the City of Buena Vista, and the City of Lexington, and to create a knowledge base of frequently asked questions about Rockbridge County, Virginia. Visitors and residents are welcome and encouraged to submit questions. If you know the answer to a posted questions, please feel free to share your knowledge and submit an answer. If you believe a posted answer is wrong, or could be improved, please post a comment.
The Rockbridge FAQ feature may be accessed from the user menu in the left column of each page.

Not literally, of course, but figuratively speaking, after receiving donations of $500 in each of 2005 and 2006 (a total of $1,000, as reported via www.VPAP.org) from Omega Seafood, the Texas based menhaden processor that owns the Reedville Virginia facility and fishing operation that is accused of over fishing and depleting the menhaden stocks of the Chesapeake Bay, Rockbridge voters have the right to focus upon Del. Ben Cline's actions and votes upon this issue.. Critics claim this overfishing depletes Menhaden stock, a basic food source for many species, thereby triggering a "up the food chain" decline in all Chesapeake bay fisheries. $1,000 in campaign contributions is a very large sum for a Texas company with operations in Reedville to be donating to a delegate from Rockbridge - large enough that Rockbridge, Lexington and Buena Vista voters should pay careful attention to Ben Cline's votes on this issue in the future and be sure Ben isn't just another fish caught in a Texas net woven with Texas money. In the 2007 General Assembly session, Ben Cline voted lock-stock and barrel to support the Omega backed "cap" which set a cap that equals or exceeds recent years catches, a figure that is meaningless with the declining population. This measure was backed by Omega to head off more stringent caps that they feared might otherwise be enacted. Critics say the cap is too high to be effective, but Omega counters with that the cap will work and that the menhaden fishery is healthy and growing. Science on the subject seems to be in short supply. The rest of Virginia will have to wait and see, and hope we don't learn to late that Ben Cline helped sell the Chesapeake Bay to Texas. Or Rockbridge voters can pressure Ben Cline to use his voice on the House Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee to ensure that state agencies further monitor the effectiveness of the cap, have funds to conduct scientific studies, and, if necessary, impose more stringent limits in future years.