Editor’s note: The original February 2019 version of this article was lost. The Lee Daily Register rebuilt it in October 2026 from the sources cited below, and added a section on what has happened since.
Virginia has a new statewide plan for parks, trails and land conservation. The Department of Conservation and Recreation has released the latest Virginia Outdoors Plan, which it updates every five years, under the theme “Bringing Virginia the Benefits of Outdoor Recreation,” the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy reported.
The plan recommends projects to improve access to outdoor recreation in each of Virginia’s 21 planning districts. Lee County is part of the LENOWISCO district, with Wise and Scott counties and the City of Norton. The plan also addresses climate change and sea-level rise, encouraging green infrastructure and the conservation of important landscapes.
What Virginians told the state
The plan draws on a survey by the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia, which was mailed to 14,000 households. Of those, 3,252 responded. Among the findings:
- 70% said access to outdoor recreation is very important.
- The most popular activities were visiting natural areas (71%), driving for pleasure (67%), walking for pleasure (67%) and visiting state or national parks (56%).
- The opportunities people said were most needed were natural areas (54%), parks (49%), water access (49%) and trails (43%).
Why the plan matters for funding
The plan is more than a wish list. Virginia must publish it to take part in the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, which has sent the state more than $76 million in grants through the National Park Service over 50 years and funded more than 400 projects, according to the same report. The full plan is posted at dcr.virginia.gov/vop.
In Lee County, the state’s own recreation land includes Wilderness Road State Park, which sits five miles west of Ewing and 10 miles east of Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, and offers the 6.5-mile Wilderness Road Trail for hiking, biking and horseback riding, according to the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
What has happened since
The department released the next edition of the plan in January 2025, based on a 2022 survey that drew 4,455 responses, the Bay Journal reported. In that survey, 86% rated protecting natural and open space as very important, and a lack of time was the biggest barrier to getting outdoors.
Wilderness Road State Park’s own master plan is now being updated, a review the state does every 10 years. The department has scheduled a public comment meeting on the draft plan for Nov. 4, 2026, at 6 p.m. in the park visitor center theater, with comments accepted until Dec. 4, according to its master plan page.
