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PLIGHT OF THE RICHMOND FARM -
Places like the Richmond Farm, perhaps one of the centerpieces of the Valley, is a beautiful farm that has been in the same family for 7 generations, over 200 years, are threatened by the land-grabbing schemes currently planned by the parkway planners.
In
1797, William Richmond was granted a Certified Land Patent assuring him the land
he had settled would be his, his heirs and assigns forever.
Today, those Richmond heirs still farm that land, live in the original
homestead on that farm and possess the very
land patent on the original sheepskin paper issued and signed by James
Monroe before Monroe ever became President of the United States.
That
family and their farmland have now been placed under jeopardy and threat of
Eminent Domain if they refuse to sign a conservation easement (their very
development rights of that land) over to the New River Parkway Authority Board
under the current New River Parkway plans by the West Virginia Department of
Highways, the Federal Highway Administration, and the National Park Service.
Does
such a proposed Land Management Plan (scheme!) by those agencies constitutes a
blatant breach of contract and a total violation of the very treaty the Richmond
family was granted over 200 years
ago by James Monroe in 1797. We believe so.
The Richmond family was assured that land would be theirs FOREVER. Does FOREVER with the government mean “only until we want it back”? And, where were those same agencies the past 200 years (and today?) while that family is working and has worked so hard to maintain that land. WHY would that family need those agencies to “dictate” how that farm should be managed today, tomorrow or next year? And, WHO are those agencies to tell the Richmond heirs what they can and can not do on their own patented land?
Photos of the farm can be found below.
