#African Timber square logs

[nforbiandfamily]

African Hardwood Supplier: Exploring the Finest Timber from the Continent

Looking for the best African hardwood supplier? Discover high-quality African wood, timber square logs, and more from reliable sources. Learn about the expertise and experience behind these suppliers.

Introduction

When it comes to exquisite hardwood, Africa stands tall as a treasure trove of natural beauty. The continent boasts a rich diversity of wood species, each possessing unique characteristics and exceptional quality. In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into the world of African hardwood suppliers, exploring their offerings, expertise, and the captivating allure of African timber. Whether you are a wood enthusiast or seeking top-notch materials for your projects, read on to unlock the wonders that African hardwood supplier has to offer.

African Hardwood Supplier: Unveiling the Finest Selections

From the heart of the vast African forests, the hardwood suppliers curate a wide array of timber species to cater to a diverse range of needs. Let's dive into some of the prominent African hardwood suppliers, their products, and what makes them the go-to source for this remarkable material.

1. The African Timber Co.: Embracing Tradition and Innovation

The African Timber Co. has been a pioneer in the industry for over five decades. With a commitment to sustainable practices, they specialize in sourcing responsibly harvested African hardwood, ensuring minimal impact on the environment. Their product range features:

African Mahogany (Khaya)

Iroko

Sapele

Teak (African Origin)

2. Exquisite Ebonies: The Ebony Specialists

If you seek the timeless beauty of ebony, look no further than Exquisite Ebonies. With expertise spanning generations, they are the leading suppliers of this luxurious and dark-hued wood. Their offerings include:

Gabon Ebony (Diospyros spp.)

Mozambique Ebony (Diospyros crassiflora)

Nigerian Ebony (Diospyros spp.)

3. Rare Finds from Congo Timber Traders

Congo Timber Traders take pride in unearthing rare and extraordinary wood species from the heart of the Congolese forests. Their collection includes:

Afrormosia (Pericopsis elata)

Wenge (Millettia laurentii)

Zebrawood (Microberlinia brazzavillensis)

4. Sustainable Solutions from EcoWood Africa

EcoWood Africa focuses on providing sustainable hardwood solutions while empowering local communities. Their offerings include:

African Blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon)

African Padauk (Pterocarpus soyauxii)

African Rosewood (Guibourtia spp.)

African Timber Square Logs: Crafting the Foundation of Excellence

In the world of construction and woodworking, timber square logs play a pivotal role. African timber square logs, in particular, have garnered immense popularity due to their durability and captivating aesthetics. Let's explore the significance and applications of these timber square logs.

1. The Advantages of African Timber Square Logs

African timber square logs offer several advantages that set them apart from other materials. These include:

Exceptional Strength: African hardwood is known for its robustness and ability to withstand heavy loads, making it ideal for structural purposes.

Resistance to Decay: The natural oils and resins in African timber make it highly resistant to decay, ensuring longevity.

Distinct Aesthetics: The beautiful grain patterns and rich colors of African hardwood enhance the visual appeal of any project.

2. Applications of African Timber Square Logs

The versatility of African timber square logs makes them suitable for a wide range of applications:

Construction: These logs are widely used in construction for beams, columns, and other load-bearing components.

Furniture Making: African hardwood is a popular choice for crafting high-end furniture pieces, adding a touch of elegance to any interior.

Musical Instruments: Many musical instruments, such as guitars and clarinets, owe their resonance and tonal quality to African hardwoods.

FAQs about African Hardwood Suppliers

Let's address some frequently asked questions about African hardwood suppliers and their offerings.

What makes African hardwood unique?

African hardwood stands out due to its exceptional strength, beautiful grain patterns, and resistance to decay. The diverse range of species ensures a wide array of color options and characteristics.

Are African hardwood suppliers committed to sustainability?

Yes, many African hardwood suppliers prioritize sustainable practices, ensuring responsible sourcing and minimal environmental impact.

Which African hardwood species are best for furniture making?

African Mahogany, Sapele, and Teak are highly favored for crafting exquisite furniture due to their durability and appealing aesthetics.

How can I verify the authenticity of the African hardwood I purchase?

Reputable suppliers provide certifications and documentation detailing the wood's origin and compliance with international regulations.

Can African hardwood square logs be used for outdoor projects?

Yes, many African hardwood species are suitable for outdoor applications due to their natural resistance to decay and weathering.

Do African hardwood suppliers offer custom milling services?

Yes, most suppliers offer custom milling services to cater to specific project requirements.

Conclusion

African hardwood suppliers hold the key to unlocking the natural wonders of the continent's timber. From the rich hues of African Mahogany to the dark allure of Gabon Ebony, each species offers a unique experience for woodworking enthusiasts and construction professionals alike. The dedication to sustainability exhibited by these suppliers ensures that the beauty of African hardwood endures for generations to come.

So, whether you are a craftsman, architect, or homeowner seeking to add a touch of elegance to your project, consider the excellence that African hardwood suppliers have to offer. Embrace the legacy of this majestic wood and embark on a journey of creativity and artistry with African hardwoods.

[oswald-hanciles-posts]

THE OSWALD HANCILES COLUMN

INTER-CONNECTIONS: DEFORESTATION LEADS TO YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT AND DANGEROUS POLITICAL CONFLICTS

" According to data taken from 2000 to 2005, Nigeria (has lost) 55.7 percent of their primary forests... Nigeria has the highest rate of deforestation in the world...From 1990 to 2010, Nigeria halved their forest cover... The annual rate of deforestation in Nigeria is 3.5%... The combination of extremely high deforestation rates, increased temperatures and decreasing rainfall... are all contributing to the desertification of the country. The carbon emissions from deforestation is also said to account for 87% of the total carbon emissions of the country". (Source: Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations).  When I was in Nigeria in 2018, the executive director of the  premier green NGO,  the Nigeria Conservation Foundation, Aminu Kanu, was quoted in local media as saying that Nigeria has lost over 95% of its primary forests. My closest friend in Nigeria, now a communications and outreach consultant for the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) sent a release to me on World Environment Day, June 5, 2019 - raising alarms about rapid deforestation in southeast Nigeria. Is that information relevant to us in Sierra Leone? It is! Let's look at the situation in Nigeria a bit more.  

Over 95% of the export of Nigeria - and its GNP  - is  petroleum.  The economics, and politics, of Nigeria, hinges on the export of petroleum. All the fierce competition among the political elite of Nigeria is to get a bigger bite of the petroleum wealth. Nigeria is still ranked among the top ten poorest countries in the world, and over 60 percent of its people still live in poverty.  So, what will happen when the importing countries - like the United States  -  have lower demand for petroleum as man-made Climate Change realities force them to change to 'green energy' and there is less easy money flowing into Nigeria?

Including the frightening situation of rapid deforestation in Nigeria, there is also accelerated desertification in Nigeria. The tropical rainforests are being speedily lost in the South of Nigeria, the desert is rushing to the South  from the North of Nigeria: what will the about 200 million people in Nigeria do as man-made Climate Change worsen their scary environmental scenario?

SIERRA LEONE: MEANING OF DEFORESTATION

Sierra Leone is different from Nigeria only because of its  land size (47,000 square kilometers of land to Nigeria's 900,000 square kilometers of land), and its population size (7 million people to Nigeria's 200 million)... and the lack of an advancing desert (but, with chilling vast swathes of its  land transformed from forests into grassland all over the country, especially in the Northern Province).

Robinson Sesay Snr. (a.k.a. Big Brother) posted in the SLAVE SHIP-FREEDOM SHIP Group 4-Youth thus: "The alarming signs (of environmental degradation) are clearly being  seen, even in Makeni where I live.  For instance, my childhood neighbourhood was swampy; now no water around absolutely; and we are yet to see the rain. If checks are not put in place, this crisis... risks million of lives (being prematurely lost). Progressives (should) concentrate on matters of nature, not party politics".

Edward O. Conteh, Jnr. also writing in the  SLAVE SHIP-FREEDOM SHIP Group 4-Youth forum, posted these words: "You go to the North and see the devastation going on in timber logging. That policy is as crude as the black man's civilization. No more forest in that part of the country, thereby worsening (ecological, agricultural, and economic...) situation...". There is reported to be intensified logging in Koinadugu and Karene districts in the Northern Province by largely Chinese companies. The last remaining forests in the Northern Province are only left in those two districts.  It appears as if some people want to completely destroy what remains for the barely manageable  livelihoods of the majority of already poverty-stricken people in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone.

If you have any sense of environmental degradation, you would cry when you drive through districts in the Northern Province -  like Kambia, Bombali, and Tonkolili. You see largely grass!! What does it mean?

It means that with the forest cover gone, the soils have been made largely sterile. There is less agriculture yield for those who choose to do farming.  Most youth choose not to continue farming on largely sterile soils. They migrate to the cities - Makeni, Freetown, Bo, Koidu, Kono, Kenema. But, especially Freetown.  

In Freetown, they squat on any land available.  They cram in slums.  They engage in largely petty trading. They spend what little money they earn on fine clothes. They 'produce' babies. They are producing children who have to live tomorrow as adults; but they are living  today as if there is no tomorrow. The National Medium-Term Development Plan (NMTDP) of the Bio Administration published in January, 2019,  states that Sierra Leone has one of the fastest population growth rates in the world  - at 4.3 percent growth rate between 2004 and 2016, the population of Sierra Leone spiked from 5 million people to 7 million people within about a  15 year period.  The governing elite appear oblivious to this connection between deforestation in the country, spiralling population growth and massive youth unemployment... AND the politics of the country.  

Apparently, Bintumani III did not make these interconnections: loss of forest cover leads to increased migration to cities; youth in cities have higher expectations and demand more from government; but in cities, they produce very little. Their expectations are fuel in the fire of political disenchantment of youth.  

The educated elite are obsessed with  getting the best jobs in cities.  Jobs they expect government to miraculously create.  Sierra Leone gets almost all its foreign currency through exports of diamonds, iron ore, titanium, bauxite.... Over the past fifty years, foreign currency earned by Sierra Leone  have not been used to create industries; not even agro-processing facilities.  It would be used to import largely consumables  - from imported orange juice, rice, toothpicks, clothes... to cars,  and marble for mansions by the rich. All the intense  political conflict between the two parties that have governed  Sierra Leone since 1957, the APC and SLPP have been competition for government jobs; the  poisoned and ferocious political  conflict between  Southeasterners and Northwesterners... have been  over competition to get jobs  in government   to buy these consumables.  There is almost no political competition between the APC and SLPP  over ideas to generate sustainable wealth.  The tropical rainforests are taken as an infinite resource - like our diamonds and titanium.  They are not.

As environmentalists  like us write unceasingly about looming  man-made Climate Change and the nightmarish scenarios being predicted by leading scientists and credible scientific institutions around the globe, the bureaucratic elite and political elite cocooned in their air-conditioned offices and posh homes in the mountains of Freetown  act as if the urgency we write about is far removed from their comfort zones. We have to raise awareness on these interconnections before there are more conflicts and social and political explosions all over Africa; a relapse to a civil war in  Sierra Leone.

At the United Nations General Assembly in 2018, Nigeria's president, Retired General  Muhammadu Buhari,  said that environmental degradation in Northern Nigeria have been a primary cause for  the Boko Haram insurgency there;  and a catalyst for  the violence in  Northern Cameroon, and Southern Chad. Credible scientists are predicting a dramatic increase in violent conflicts in Africa, and wars, as man-made Climate Change forces mass movements of people.  

Africa must go into Green Preventative War Mode....! That's why I have been making  this 'war cry': "$2trillion annually for man-made Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation measures in Africa from the richest nations of the world". No country in Africa can mobilize the financial resources necessary to take timely mitigation and adaptation measures when man-made Climate Change gains momentum. Africa is not asking for aid. Africa has to demand Reparations for over three hundred years of the Atlantic Slave Trade.  Another thing:  demand for equity in the global economic arena can help to prevent worse case scenarios for Africa. My $2trillion demand from the richest nations of the world to Africa  may appear outlandish.  But, it's the best option out for Africa. It's not a panacea, but, it would enhance billions of trees being planted by Sierra Leoneans and Nigerians, and other Africans; including other green measures to be taken.

To the media: widely spread these  green messages I put out . Sierra Leone, and Africa,  are on a precipice.  

On the Christiane AMANPOUR talk show on CNN, on June 4, 2019, the now world-famous 16 year old Swedish environmental crusader, Greta Thunberg, typically lashes out at adults in control of the politics and economics of the world who are "...stealing our future and selling it for profit". The soft-spoken Swede  warns: "We will not let you get away with it anymore".  We, the greens, the enlightened, will not let you get away with it anymore!  The almost entirely over 50 years of age  political class in Africa  - including the President of Sierra Leone, Retired Brigadier Maada Bio-   are being  warned to ride the green wave or they are certain to be swept aside by a 'green youth-tsunami' building up.  That's my message for WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY - June 5, 2019.

I pause,

Oswald Hanciles, The Guru.  

June 5, 2019

00:22  hours in Freetown, Sierra Leone

[pgoeltz]

SOUTHERN LUMBER CO. San Jose.

Jeff Pohle, a family owner has operated the giant wood wonderland for the past 21 years left to him by his dad, Bruce Pohle. Before him was his grandpa, the late Ed Pohle, a logger who purchased the lumber business during the Great Depression.

Southern's true beginning was in 1904 when it opened as McAbee Brothers, a company that sold lumber to area quicksilver mines and orchards. In 1910 it moved to its present location and in 1973, it was destroyed in one of the biggest blazes in San Jose history. To this day, 5-year-old Jeff's Pohle's footprints and those of his two brothers and two cousins are still on display in what was wet concrete, poured next to the key making machine.

What was most special was the selection of wood offered which was always planed flat on all four sides. From workday types of oak, fir, birch, pine and redwood to an array of exotics such as zebrawood, cocobolo, snakewood, black limba and even the hard-to-find gaboon ebony. The dense African wood, was last priced at $169 a board foot.

Southern Lumber began as a logging operation in, what is today, Big Basin State Park in Boulder Creek. In it's early days, Southern Lumber made most of its business selling large timbers to the quicksilver mines in the Almaden Valley, and lumber to the orchards and farmlands of the Santa Clara Valley.

That day in 1973, Southern Lumber encountered the most devastating fire that burned the entire business to the ground took just a little more than one year to re-build Southern Lumber from the ashes, bigger and better than ever. A new 65,000 square foot building provided nearly a half-acre of the finest woods and building materials available in California. Longtime, loyal customers will talk about coming to Southern Lumber "before the fire", or back when Woodworking Guilds would hold their monthly meetings at Southern Lumber.

Then came the announced he was selling the 3.4-acre spread off Monterey Highway to local real estate developers for an undisclosed price.

[thecoroutfitters]

Written by R. Ann Parris on The Prepper Journal.

  There are lots of ways to produce food, herbs, and medicines, whether we have small properties with just a patio or deck, or large acreage. Our growing options increase all over again with some simple things like freebie pickup shipping pallets, bottles, old furniture, totes, and bricks.

The ability to make use of vertical space can not only increase our productivity per square foot, but in some cases also make gardening easier on the back and knees.

Pro’s & Con’s

With a few notable exceptions, most vertical growing options share drawbacks and benefits. You have to build something, and you have to supply dirt. You also typically have to water more often and provide more fertilizer.  However, it eliminates the need for a tiller. It also allows us to make use of limited space with narrow footprints.

In some cases they also provide mobility. Instead of working and amending lousy, compacted yards, and then leaving them behind when we move, we can stack our containers inside lawn bags and take them with us. We don’t have to truly start from scratch at our new home.

That mobility also applies to the learning curve of gardens. It’s a whole lot easier to move some boards and jugs, gutters, buckets or totes of dirt than it is to fill wheelbarrows with a shovel and then shovel again to refill elsewhere if we discover the spot that seemed perfect ahead of spring planting is far too shady come summertime leaf-out. (To say nothing of moving CMU or timbers after a season or two.)

Mobility applies to us as humans, too, although differently. As we age or collect injuries, caring for conventional and even low ground-level beds can become problematic. Bending, lifting, and kneeling can turn even favored pastimes into painful chores. Being able to sit and reach out at hip and rib level or work standing up braced on a cane, crutch, or walker allows us to remain productive even when we can’t handle the heavy lifting of even a dooryard garden.

Big Lifts

Even a “mini” hugelkulture bed can triple growing space in a footprint full-sized hugel beds that stand 4-6’ tall can quadruple grow space. They also have some benefits over the shallow containers we commonly see in vertical gardens. They hold moisture well, and as the internal wood cores and lighter branches, leaves, and straw used in construction break down, they essentially generate both moisture and their own fertilizer.

However, they are pretty much permanent structures. They’ll break down over time, shrinking, and we can absolutely take them apart and transport that fertile compost and soil elsewhere when we’re done, but it’s not as easy as dumping some of the soil from a bucket or tote, or even as easy as bailing a stock tank into heavy-duty bags and moving it.

We can replicate the self-feeding and moisture retention of hugel beds using some commonly available, inexpensive elements. With or without log cores or heavy branches, they have similar lowered daily/weekly maintenance needs. They also still offer the ablity to work upwards of the ground and greatly increase our planting area per square foot.

Using scrap lumber or wooden pallets, we can form squares or slope-sided pyramids filled with lawn and tree cuttings, household composting material, and some soil and compost plugs or layers. We can add in tubes and hoses for water, and wire, basket weave, PVC or ABS tubes with holes similar to African keyhole gardens that we’ll add household composting materials to as the season passes.

The downside to wooden materials is that they have a limited lifespan. With treated and thick lumber it can be years in cooler climates, but a single pallet that’s inundated constantly is only going to last a couple years in Deep South or tropical humidity.

That means we need to plot our yards for enough space to rebuild them every few years, or we need to plan to continually reinforce them from the outside year by year – which means they’re going to “grow” outward as we go, but by inches at a time.

Another option are the wide variety of grow towers. They can be purchased or DIY builds as stackable units or single-drum units with planting holes. We can set those up for in-situ composting tubes as well. The steel and plastic or – if we choose – clay or ceramic pots will last longer than lumber and have the potential to be moved around a property or to a new property if we need to.

Pyramid beds, pyramid towers, stair-step beds, and spiral beds are also examples of ways we can increase our square footage in small-scale gardening by working upwards in tiers, the square footage of VISIBLE dirt is the same, but the square footage that plants on each tier are using actually extends UNDER the tier above as well due to shape/depth. By using sturdy construction materials like brick, metal, plastic, or block, they’ll last nearly forever and being smaller, we can relocate them if we need to. Even using untreated wood timbers, they’ll last longer than the hugel facsimiles just because there’s not as much weight pressing outward on them.

We can get equal or greater pyramid tower effects – increased planting space in a decreased footprint of our property – from steepled and angled shipping pallet beds. A salvaged picnic table and collected juice and water jugs can also be arranged into a very productive pyramid.

Using the smaller containers, we do go back to the original drawback of many vertical garden expansions: They’ll likely need fertilized more than a ground-plane bed, and they lack capacity to hold much water, especially in relation to the biomass they’re going to support. With vertical pallets especially, we also have to plan ahead with watering, just like barrel planters or grow towers.

If they’re only a couple of tiers high we may be able to soak them as we would any pots, containers, or shallow conventional beds. In most cases we’re going to have to lay in hose or something to act as a funnel or olla irrigation on each tier to ensure that the bottom doesn’t dry out while the top ends up soaked.

Even so, it’s a handy way to get 2-8 times the growing space out of the square footage they occupy, and in many cases they can travel with us to continue easing the back strain of growing some groceries.

Production Capability

There is one caveat to the containers and small pocket or trench spaces most usually associated with vertical gardens: They’re for veggies, not staples.

There are peppers, cherry and grape tomatoes, and others that are adapted or adaptable to hanging pots and relatively small planters, and we have some larger options like shipping pallets, buckets, and hanging bags that can handle them. There are the cube and pyramid types and the hugel beds and approximations that can handle larger melons. We also now have several dwarf sweet corn with full-sized cobs specifically for container gardens, although they’re less applicable to small-container vertical garden methods.

Wheat, griding corn, barley, peas, and dry beans in enough quantity to affect our meals really just don’t work well in most container garden setups and it’s hard to get them enough root and growing space to make them viable for vertical methods.

Even so, there’s value there, and the low footprint required of vertical growing methods is actually a major bonus. We can use very little square footage to produce our nutrient-rich and flavorful veggies, very efficiently many times, saving our horizontal planes for livestock, play/training space, orchards, or crops that do work better by plot, not plant.

Integrating Livestock

Vertical methods can be used in conjunction with livestock, especially small livestock. The benefits include more than just finding enough space for both a small veg garden and compact livestock. Those benefits scale and apply to people with elbow room and acreage as well.

Even more than green roofs, vertical gardens can also offer shading for those rabbits or hens – especially helpful in hot climates to keep rabbits breeding productively and lower heat stress. We might also arrange planters to help guard the lower edges of coops and hutches from predators that would dig or reach through them, or where they’ll increase the insulation and buffer winter winds. One easy way to accomplish that, is to line our existing fencing with vertical pallet gardens.

We can source pallets and leave them as-is for as long as we like, and when we have time and supplies, turn those predator and weather barriers into veggie and herb production. While some contortionists and taller livestock will be able to reach around the tops of fences, losses are limited for most and we can simply tailor our pallet gardens so the tops are water catchment or for them.

While pallets have the most applications, we can use any of the tower or hanging-container methods in conjunction with our livestock fences. If they’re spaced tight or boards are arranged between them, it’ll limit “predation” by our adorable stock. Chickens, especially, will be able to reach their necks well past chain link and cattle wire.

Those gardens can be done inside the coop, hutch or run, too, protected by mesh that allows free feeding but prevents livestock from eating plants all the way to the roots. Essentially, it’s just creating graze boxes, although in this case we don’t have to worry about making sure the plants can tolerate the “heat” of raw manure.

In the case of waterfowl and smaller goats, we can hang crops for us over their reach, but chickens will hop and reach, and by the time it’s out of a standard goat’s reach, we’d have to hook hanging baskets down for harvest and maintenance. However, we can add more productive space to our fence lines with any livestock by turning to shrubs, trees, and vines.

Depending on the type fencing we have, they’ll munch one side until it’s out of reach and we may need to put a barrier up to protect tender starts and smaller vines they can reach through and over the tops of fences. It’s silvopasture – most commonly timber and fodder trees in acres of pasture, but easily manageable even in very small yards and totally applicable for everything in between.

Growing Up, Not Out

Expanding our growing methods to the vertical plane has a lot of advantages not only for preppers in limited space, but also those looking for ease. In some cases, it can also be incredibly helpful for those just starting out, figuring out new properties, and trying to save money. Even for those with acreage, using vertical methods for veggies or greens can help keep those close at hand for harvest and care, as well as create less exposure to predators or livestock.

The narrow footprint also makes vertical gardens valuable for those trying to maintain a lower profile with their survival crops. The efficient use of floorplan means they can be stashed very close to the house, tucked into nooks and crannies, and even used inside, keeping them out of future potential thieves.

There’s a vertical garden method that can help just about any prepper, beginner or old hand, tiny apartment to six-digit acreage. Many can be done inexpensively and with minimal labor, tools, or soil and amendment purchases. With all the options, pretty much all of us can start increasing our food production or make at least some of that production a little easier from the labor aspect.

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  The post Prepper Gardens – Vertical Expansion appeared first on The Prepper Journal.

from The Prepper Journal Don't forget to visit the store and pick up some gear at The COR Outfitters. How prepared are you for emergencies? #SurvivalFirestarter #SurvivalBugOutBackpack #PrepperSurvivalPack #SHTFGear #SHTFBag

[lollipoplollipopoh]

Illegal logging threatens DR Congo rainforest by Al Jazeera English The Congo Basin is home to the world's second-largest rainforest, but a new investigation accuses timber companies of endangering its existence. Second in size to the Amazon, the Congolese rainforest covers some two million square kilometres. It runs through six African countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where locals and international non-profits say that the rainforests are shrinking at alarming rates. A recent report by the non-profit organisation, Global Witness, alleges that the DRC's biggest timber company, Nord-Sud Timber, is illegally harvesting trees with impunity at nearly 90 percent of its sites. Nord-Sud, which is Portuguese-owned, denies that its Congolese subsidiary, Sodefor, is breaching its contracts, saying that "the accusations have no basis". It acknowledges that "some management plans are not in place" but is talking with the Ministry of Environment about them. Global Witness is also accusing importers like Portugal and France of failing to take action. In the meantime, researchers have been doing their best to learn about the forest's unique ecosystem - before it's too late. "These forests are under pressure from humans," says Frank Bapeamoni, a researcher from the University of Kisangani, "so we scientists want to categorise the fauna, the birds and ornithology of this forest before it is destroyed." The Congo Rainforest is a source of food and water for millions of people. It's also home to 600 types of trees and 10,000 animal species, many of which are endangered. Scientists say these trees do provide oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide, but their ability to reduce greenhouse gases and regulate the climate is decreasing. Residents who live and maintain livelihoods along the waters of the basin say the logging has disrupted weather patterns. "There is a disorder in the cycles," says one resident. "The rainy season normally starts in mid-August, but now sometimes it begins in July and sometimes in September." Despite national and international laws designed to protect rainforests, Global Witness reports that companies like Nord-Sud Timber are endangering 75 million hectares of rainforest in the DRC. The organisation is demanding that all those involved, from governments to importers and buyers, stop being complicit in the destruction of the rainforests. Global Witness further alleges that the government of the DRC has not been implementing its own laws on the matter. "Our report shows that around 60 percent of the timber Nord-Sud Timber is exporting ... is classified as endangered or vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature," Jules Caron, a campaigner for Global Witness, tells Counting the Cost. "We actually believe that tropical timber, or those that are threatened or endangered, should be treated like ivory. There's basically no excuse, no legitimacy, to cutting down these endangered species." Caron says that, over the past six years, other non-governmental organisations have called out Nord-Sud Timber while the government of the DRC has failed to enforce existing laws. "The first thing that needs to happen is for the DRC government to get serious and say that, one, if you breach the law, there will be consequences." More from Counting the Cost on: YouTube - https://ift.tt/2mY0tCE Website - https://ift.tt/2m6SeXD - Subscribe to our channel: https://ift.tt/291RaQr - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://ift.tt/1iHo6G4 - Check our website: https://ift.tt/2lOp4tL

[stephrod003]

Special Issue: The Lungs of the World are on Fire

Image: Heat map dissecting regions in the Amazon that are under fire due to deforestation throughout the last ten years. Credit: (2018 Human Rights Watch)

The Amazon, home to hundreds of wild species, indigenous groups, and robust ecosystem is under fire. Thousands of fires are burning across the southern swath of the Amazon. The fires themselves are destructive, but their primary cause is more concerning. Most of the fires in the Amazon are due to deforestation. However, why are the amazon fires so important now, and how bad is it compared to the past?

 In a recent study done by Herton Escobar, a scientist in Brazils National Institute for Space Research (INPE) argues that deforestation is shooting up again in the Brazilian Amazon according to satellite monitoring data. In the image shown below, satellite data suggest 4,200 square kilometers of forest were burned in Brazil so far this year. Additionally, more than 50% more than in the same period last year.

   In America, when we experience a wild-fire within the country, we usually believe it is an accident and hope that rescue is on its way to calm the fire. However, in the Amazon, fires in the ecosystem are not regular, instead they have become intentional. 

The land in the Amazon has not changed; the heat has not changed; however, what has changed is the president in power. More specifically, President Jair Bolsanaro, who fired the head of Brazil’s space and research institute after he presented data and research  showcasing how deforestation had grown in the last year. Bolsanaro defends that that statistic is wrong, and that "environmental agencies are making up this information to make him look bad." ( BBC, 2019)

During his first year in office, President Bolsanaro showed little interest in preventing environmental catastrophes for his country. Bolsonaro rolled back environmental laws, weakened federal environmental agencies, and harshly convicted citizen organizations and individuals working to preserve the rainforest. (Human Rights Watch, 2019)

Amazon burns, but at what cost? 

Credit:  https://theintercept.com/2019/07/06/brazil-amazon-rainforest-indigenous-conservation-agribusiness-ranching/

"You have to understand that the Amazon is 'Brazil's, not yours," Bolsanaro said on Friday. "If all this devastation you accuse us of doing were done in the past, the Amazon would have stopped existing, and it would be a big desert." (Guardian, 2019) 

This quote above was taken from an article from the Guardian where Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro is speaking during a press conference about the international conflict of the Amazon. First, as an outsider, I found this quote to be rather odd. Why would a President have to prove his loyalty by defending his country's economic sovereignty over international laws? Secondly, what is the interest regarding the Amazon and who benefits from deforestation? 

Deforestation and illegal logging did not just begin with Bolsanaro. Corruption and greed play a significant role in Brazil's socioeconomic politics. As noted in the Human Rights Watch article titled, "Rainforest Mafias," deforestation and illegal logging date back to decades killing almost 300 people over the conflict of the use of land and resources in the Amazon- many of them by people involved in illegal logging, according to the article. ( Human Rights Watch, 2019)

Illegal deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is driven largely by criminal networks that have the logistical capacity to coordinate large-scale extraction, processing, and sale of timber, while deploying armed men to protect their interests. Some environmental enforcement officials call these groups “ipe mafias,” referring to the ipe tree whose wood is among the most valuable and sought-after by loggers. These loggers’ ultimate goal is to clear the forest entirely to make room for cattle or crops.( Human Rights Watch, 2019)

 Displacement of Indigenous Groups 

Indigienous Children photographed within the forest during Zaitchick visit to the Amazon. Photo Credit:  Gabriel Ulchida

In the same article mentioned above by the Guardian, Bolsonaro continues, ""You want the indigenous people to carry on like prehistoric men with no access to technology, science, information, and the wonders of modernity,"" he continues, ""Indigenous people want to work, they want to produce, and they don't. They live isolated in their areas like cavemen. (The Guardian, 2019) 

In a short book titled  Populism by Cas Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser, Mudde and Kaltwasser explain the issue of Producerism within Latin America.  Due to anti-imperialist sentiment, many populist leaders created the issue of “ the pure people” where majority were defined as virtuous mestizo communities composed of peasants and workers, therefore neglecting the citizens of indigenous and African descent. In relation to the quote mentioned above by Bolsonaro, Bolsonaro reflects on the Indigenous of groups who do not wish to conform to societal norms; therefore, not a greater benefit to society. 

In an article titled, "Rainforest on Fire" by Alexander Zaitchik,  Zaitchick argues that Brazil's Indigenous population dropped from estimates of the low millions at the start of the century to around 200,0000 at the end of the 1980s, increasing in the present day. (The Intercept, 2019)

Zaitchick makes the point that indigenous groups that find sanctuary within the Amazon create nationalist paranoia within the Brazilian government. The fear that these groups do not assimilate to "the pure" Brazilian society brings both racial and social-economic fear. As mentioned in the quote above, deforestation brings division within the rainforest for profits in mining, logging, oil, and agribusiness concessions that have troubled the country for decades. As the crisis continues, several nonprofit groups continue to represent and bring hope to the indigenous groups suffering from this environmental and human rights violation. ( The Intercept, 2019)

[peter-author]

Amazon and Sahara

I do not know why there is still a question of why the Amazon is important. The millions of unknown species that are there, the value of the carbon held there instead of released into the atmosphere, the need for the water flow for life and Atlantic Ocean wildlife... the list of critical life-giving factors is almost endless even before you throw the silly slogan “lungs of the earth” at it.

Dr. Normal Borlaug (Nobel laureate from Minnesota) showed, conclusively, over 30 years ago that if you carve out 1 square kilometer of rainforest (he did this in the Yucatan) then, a year later there will be sand dunes. Ten years later? Sand dunes. 30 years later? Sand dunes.

History: If you don’t learn from history, you are doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over until you perish. Modern archaeology has found that the Sahara was once a vast tropical forest. Let’s go back in time...

7,000,000 years ago a sea called Tethys dried up. Well, that’s not really accurate. Tectonic movement that caused the Alps also raised the sea floor until the water ran off and left a fertile vast plain. As Dr. Borlaug showed, everything on Earth between the tropics of Capricorn and Cancer get about 5 inches of original rain a year. The Amazon—pay attention here—gets only 5 inches of original rain a year. All the other water there is either from the clouds bumping into the Andes and off-loading moisture (think Hawaii as well) or part of the heat/greenhouse effect of the tall trees. Break the tree canopy and the greenhouse roof is gone. Always, remember the sand dunes in Dr. Borlaug’s Yucatan experiment. In time, the Sahara recent sea floor began to grow plants and this is where archaeology kicks in.

The amount of lumber used by the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Syrians, Romans and others had to come from somewhere... when studying which type of lumber was found in ancient Pharaohs’’ tombs, none of it matched the coastal regions, but was Commiphora and other central African species. Being practical, some of these researchers began to question: Would they have carted logs 500+ miles to Egypt? Wouldn’t they have built using other materials instead, like adobe or stone? Square houses with adobe walls need roofing trusses... rounded homes with adobe igloo type construction would not need wood from 500+ miles away. And their ships needing tall straight timber? Something was wrong. So the archaeologists began asking colleagues to scout into the desert, wondering if, closer to the Nile, there used to be forests. Over the past 20 years, they have found that the entire Sahara used to be forested, rivers running everywhere, lost settlements, and, above all, deep water reserves beneath the sands that used to feed the forests.

Way sought of Egypt, in Ethiopia there used to be giant forests of tall Commiphora trees. We—and by we I include me—raised money for CARE packages of tools and seeds in the ‘50s to help natives there reclaim the land, cut down the trees, plant crops. Once the trees were cut down the rainfall reduced itself to 5 inches a year, came as monsoons, and washed the topsoil into the Indian Ocean. Result? Famine.

What Brazilians are doing to the rainforest is a repeat of history. Only this time, it is not a local famine that will be the end cost, it will be a global catastrophe as the South Atlantic Amazon feed will be reduced decimating fishing from S. America to West Africa, the carbon held there may be released and cause catastrophic global climate change and, perhaps worst of all, simply end life as we currently know and enjoy it.  Put aside the “lungs of the earth’ slogan, put aside the bio-diversity argument, and put aside the local famine that will result. If just the carbon is released into the atmosphere as CO2, then the Earth’s temperature will rise quicker than any plant form can adapt to, the polar ice caps and Greenland will melt, and 60% of the world’s population currently living within 50 feet altitude of the oceans will perish or move inland without hope of food, water or work.

This isn’t tomorrow’s problem, or the next generation’s problem. This is here, now and life-threatening.

[nicholerestrada]

A Tourist Guide to West Virginia

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1. INTRODUCTION

West Virginia, endlessly covered with forests and known as the “Mountain State,” offers breathtaking scenery, natural resource-related sights, and year-round, outdoor activities.

Once rich in coal and timber, it was shaped by the mines and logging railroads which extracted them, but when decades of removal began to deplete these commodities, their rolling, green-carpeted mountains yielded secondary byproducts-namely, hiking, biking, fishing, rafting, climbing, and hunting to tourists and sports enthusiasts alike. Its New River Gorge, which offers many similar activities, is equally beautiful with its rugged banks and azure surfaces, while the principle city of Charleston, revitalized during the 1970s and 1980s, now features museums, art, shopping malls, restaurants, and world-class performance venues.

2. CHARLESTON

Located on the Kanawha River, and sporting an easily negotiable street grid system, it is subdivided into the Capitol Complex and the downtown area with the East End Historic District linking the two.

From the former, which is the heart of state government, juts the ubiquitously visible, gold-domed Capitol Building itself. Constructed of buff Indiana limestone and 4,640 tons of steel, which themselves required the temporary laying of a spur rail line to transport them, the building had been laid in three stages during an eight-year period: 1924 to 1925 for the west wing, 1926 to 1927 for the east wing, and 1930 to 1932 for the connecting rotunda. It was officially dedicated by Governor William G. Conley on June 20, 1932, on the occasion of West Virginia’s 69th birthday as a state.

Its gold dome, which extends five feet higher than that of the Capitol in Washington, is gilded in 23 ½-karat gold leaf, applied between 1988 and 1991 as tiny squares to cover the otherwise copper and lead surface.

Two-thirds of its interior, which encompasses 535,000 square feet subdivided into 333 rooms, is comprised of Italian travertine, imperial derby, and Tennessee marble, and the chandelier in the rotunda, its center piece, is made of 10,180 pieces of Czechoslovakian crystal illuminated by 96 light bulbs. Weighing 4,000 pounds, it hangs from a 54-foot brass and bronze chain.

Across from the State Capitol, but still within the complex, is the West Virginia Cultural Center. Opened in 1976 and operated by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, it was created to showcase the state’s artistic, cultural, and historical heritage, and houses the West Virginia State Museum, the archives and history library, a gift shop, and a venue for cultural events, performances, and related programs.

The former, a collection of items which represents the state’s land, people, and culture, is subdivided into 24 significant scenes covering five periods: Prehistory (3 million years BC to 1650 AD), Frontier (1754-1860), the Civil War and the 35th State (1861 to 1899), Industrialization (1900 to 1945), and Change and Tradition (1954 to the 21st century). The 24 representations themselves trace the state’s evolution and include such periods as “Coal Forest,” “River Plains,” “Wilderness,” “The Fort,” “Harper’s Ferry,” “Building the Rails,” “Coal Mine,” “Main Street, West Virginia,” and “New River Gorge.”

Thirteen monuments, memorials, and statues honoring West Virginians for their contributions to the state and the nation grace the Capitol Complex’s landscaped grounds.

Culture can also be experienced at the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences, a modern, 240,000-square-foot, three-level complex which opened on July 12, 2003 and represents one of the most ambitious economic, cultural, and educational projects in West Virginia’s history. Offering sciences, visual arts, and performing arts under a single roof, the center houses the dual-level Avampato Discovery Museum, an interactive, youth-oriented experience with sections such as Health Royale, KidSpace, Earth City, and Gizmo Factory. A 9,000-square-foot Art Gallery, located on the second floor, features both temporary and permanent exhibits, the latter emphasizing 19th and 20th century art by names such as Andy Warhol, Stuart Davis, Alexander Calder, Frank Stella, Vida Frey, and Albert Paley. The ElectricSky Theater, a 61-foot domed planetarium, offers daily astronomy shows and wide screen presentations. Live performances are staged in two locations: the 1,883-seat Maier Foundation Performance Hall, which is home to the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, but otherwise offers a variety of performance types, from comedy to popular singers, bands, repertory, and Broadway plays, and the 200-seat Walker Theater, which features plays and dances with cabaret-style seating for the Woody Hawley singer-songwriter program. The Douglas V. Reynolds Intermezzo Café and three classrooms are located on the lower level.

Shopping can be done at two major venues. The Charleston Town Center Mall, located adjacent to the Town Center Marriott and Embassy Suites Hotel, and near the Civic Center, is a one million square foot, tri-level complex with more than 130 stores, three anchor department stores, six full-service restaurants, and a food court with ten additional fast food venues, and is accessed through three convenient parking garages. Sporting a three-story atrium and fountain, the upscale, Kanawha Valley complex was the largest urban shopping center east of the Mississippi River when it opened in 1983.

The Capitol Market, located on Capitol and Sixth Streets in the restored and converted, 1800s Kanawha and Michigan Railroad depot, is subdivided into both in- and outdoor markets, the latter of which can only be used by bona fide farmers and receives daily, fresh, seasonal deliveries, usually consisting of flowers, shrubs, and trees in the spring; fruits and vegetables in the summer; pumpkins, gourds, and cornstalks in the fall; and Christmas trees, wreaths, and garlands in the winter. The indoor market sells seafood, cheeses, and wines, and offers several small food stands and a full-service Italian restaurant.

An evening can be spent at the TriState Racetrack and Gaming Center. Located a 15-minute drive from Charleston in Cross Lanes, the venue offers 90,000 square feet of gaming entertainment, inclusive of more than 1,300 slot machines, live racing, a poker room, blackjack, roulette, and craps, and four restaurants: the French Quarter Restaurant and Bar, the First Turn Restaurant, the Café Orleans, and Crescent City.

3. POTOMAC HIGHLANDS

The Potomac Highlands, located in the eastern portion of the state on the Allegheny Plateau, is a tapestry of diverse geographic regions and covers eight counties. Alternatively designated “Mountain Highlands,” it had been formed some 250 million years ago when the North American and African continental collision had produced a single, uplifted mass. Subjected to millennia of wind- and water-caused erosion, it resulted in successive valleys and parallel ridges, and today the area encompasses two national forests: Canaan Valley, the highest east of the Mississippi River, and Spruce Knob, at 4,861 feet, West Virginia’s highest point. Its green-covered mountains yielded abundant timber, the logging railroads necessary to harness it, two premier ski resorts, and a myriad of outdoor sports and activities.

The Potomac Highlands can be subdivided into the Tygart Valley, Seneca Rocks, Canaan Valley, and Big Mountain Country.

A. Tygart Valley

The town of Elkins, located in the Tygart Valley, is the transportation, shopping, and social center of the east central Appalachian Mountains and serves as a base for Potomac Highland excursions.

Established in 1890 by Senators Henry Gassaway Davis and Stephen. B. Elkins, his son-in-law and business partner, it originated as a shipping hub for their coal, timber, and railroad empire, the latter the result of their self-financed construction of the West Virginia Central Railroad, whose track stretched between Cumberland, Maryland, and Elkins, and served as the threshold to some of the world’s richest timber and mineral resources.

The town, serving the needs of the coal miners, loggers, and railroad workers, sprouted central maintenance shops and steadily expanded, peaking in 1920, before commencing a resource depletion-caused decline, until the last train, carrying coal and timber products to the rest of the country, departed the depot in 1959.

The tracks lay barren and unused for almost half a century until 2007, when the newly-established Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad again resurrected them-and the town-transporting the first tourists for scenic-ride purposes and resparking a slow growth cycle with a subsequently built restaurant and live theater in its historic Elkins Railyard and additional hotels nearby. Consistently ranked as one of the country’s best small art towns, it is once again the service hub of the Mountain Highlands, reverting to its original purpose of providing hotel, restaurant, shop, and entertainment services, but now to a new group-tourists.

The railroad remains its focus. The Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad offers three departures from the Elkins depot. The first of these, the “New Tygart Flyer,” is a four-hour, 46-mile round-trip run which plunges through the Cheat Mountain Tunnel, passes the towns of Bowdon and Bemis, parallels the Shavers Fork of the Cheat River, and stops at the horseshoe-shaped High Falls of Cheat, during which time it serves an en route, buffet luncheon. Upgraded table service is available in 1922-ear deluxe Pullman Palace cars for a slightly higher price.

The “Cheat Mountain Salamander” is a nine-hour, 128-mile round-trip to Spruce, and includes a buffet lunch and dinner, while the “Mountain Express Dinner Train” mimics the New Tygart Flyer’s route, but features a four-course meal in a formally set dining car.

The Railyard Restaurant, sandwiched between the Elkins depot and the American Mountain Theater, provides all on board meals. Emulating the depot itself with its exterior brick construction, the $2.5 million, 220-seat restaurant, leased to the Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad, serves family-style cuisine on its main level and upscale dinners in its second-floor Vista Dome Dining Room, its menus inspired by railroad car fare from the 1920s to the 1940s. It toted the opening slogan of, “Take the track to the place with exceptional taste.”

The Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad’s Rails and Trails Gift Shop is located on its main level.

Continuing the historic, red brick exterior, the adjacent American Mountain Theater, founded in 2003 by Elkins native and RCA recording artist, Susie Heckel, traces its origins to a variety show performed for tourists at a different location. But increasing demand merited the November, 2006, ground-braking for a $1.7 million, 12,784-square-foot, 525-seat structure with aid from her sister, Beverly Sexton, and her husband, Kenny, who owned the Ozark Mountain Hoe-Down Theater in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

Opening the following July, the theater offered family-oriented, Branson-style entertainment performed by a nine-member cast, with Kenny Sexton serving as its president and producer and Beverly writing the score. Two-hour evening shows include comedy, impressions, and country, gospel, bluegrass, and pop music.

Davis and Elkins College, located only a few blocks from the Historic Railyard, shares the same founders as the town of Elkins itself-namely, Senators Henry Gassaway Davis and Stephen B. Elkins. Established in 1901 when they donated land and funding to create a college associated with the Presbyterian Church, it was originally located south of town. Its Board of Trustees first met the following year and classes were first held on September 21, 1904.

Today, the coeducational, liberal arts college, located on a 170-acre hilled, wooded campus with views of the Appalachian Mountains, is comprised of 22 new and historic buildings in two sections-the north, which stretches to the athletic fields and the front campus, which is located on a ridge overlooking Elkins. Thirty associate and baccalaureate arts, sciences, pre-professional, and professional degree programs are offered to a 700-student base.

One of its historic buildings is Graceland Inn. Designed by the Baltimore architectural firm of Baldwin and Pennington, the castle-like, Queen Anne-style mansion, originally located on a 360-acre farm, was completed in 1893. Initially called “Mingo Moor,” and intermittently “Mingo Hall” after the area south of Elkins, the estate served as the summer residence of Senator Davis, who regularly transported a train of invited friends and associates during July and August so that they could escape the Washington heat and enjoy Elkins’ higher-elevation, cooler temperatures.

The estate was ultimately renamed “Graceland” after Davis’ youngest daughter, Grace. Following his wife’s death in 1902, he continued to conduct business from offices inside it, while Grace herself resided there during the summer months with her family.

The estate was finally ceded to her own children, Ellen Bruce Lee and John A. Kennedy, its last two owners.

Acquired by the West Virginia Presbyterian Education Fund in 1941, it was used as a male residence hall by the college until 1970, whereafter it was closed. Restored during the mid-1990s, it subsequently reopened as an historic country inn and as a dynamic learning lab for hospitality students.

Overlooking the town of Elkins, on the Davis and Elkins College campus, Graceland Inn, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, features a two-story great hall richly decorated with hardwoods, such as quartered oak, bird’s eye maple, cherry, and walnut, a grand staircase, a parlor, a library, and its original stained glass windows. The Mingo Room Restaurant, reflecting the mansion’s initial designation and open to the public, is subdivided into four small rooms lined with red oak and fireplaces and an outdoor verandah, and eleven guest rooms, located on the second and third floors and named after prominent family members, contain antiques, canopy beds, armoires, marble bathrooms, and claw foot tubs.

Graceland Inn, the David and Elkins College, the town of Elkins itself, the historic depot and railyard, their tracks, and the Appalachian Mountain’s coal and timber resources are all inextricably tied to the town’s past–and its future.

B. Seneca Rocks

“Seneca Rocks” designates both a region of the Potomac Highlands and the outcroppings after which that region is named.

Resembling a razor back, or shark’s fin, and located at the confluence of the Seneca Creek and the North Fork South Branch Potomac River, the 250-foot-thick, 900-foot-high Seneca Rocks, accessible by West Virginia Route 28, were formed 400 million years ago during the Silurian Period in an extensive sand shoal at the edge of the ancient Iapetus Ocean. As the seas decreased in size, the rock uplifted and folded, erosion ultimately wearing away its upper surface and leaving the arching folds and craggy profile they exhibit today.

Made of white and gray tuscarora quartzite, the formation features both a north and south peak, with a notch separating the two.

The current Seneca Rocks Discovery Center, which replaced the original visitor’s center, features relief models of the area, films, interpretive programs, and a bookshop.

A path leads to the Sites Homestead, part of the center. Constructed in 1839 by William Sites as a single-room log cabin below Seneca Rocks Ridge, it is typical of then-current Appalachian homes whose German Blockbau-style featured square logs and v-notched corner joints spread apart by stone and clay chinks.

In the late-1860s, one of Sites’ sons expanded the homestead, adding a second floor, and, after use as a hay barn, the Forest Service purchased it in 1969, restoring it during the 1980s. In 1993, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The greater Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area, offering significant outdoor sports opportunities, contains a key portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, whose mountains and forests collect water which then flows into the Potomac River and the bay itself. Acting as a cleansing and filtering mechanism, its headwater forests purify the water before it reaches the streams. Spruce Knob is both the highest point in the Chesapeake Watershed and the entire state of West Virginia.

Aside from facilitating water, the area has provided sustenance to humans, who first lived in Native American villages within its mountains, and then created farming settlements and logging camps, extracting its resources and supporting life for some 13,000 years. Today, it is home to 15 million people.

The Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area itself is part of the much larger Monongahela National Forest. Established in 1920 with an initial 7,200 acres, the present 910,155-acre forest contains the headwaters of the Monongahela, Potomac, Greenbrier, Elk, Tygart, and Gauley Rivers; five federally-designated “wildernesses”-Dolly Sods, Outer Creek, Laurel Fork North, Laurel Fork South, and Cranberry-whose very remote and primitive areas only offer lower-standard trail markings; and four lakes.

A Mecca for outdoor sports enthusiasts, the national forest features 169 hiking, biking, and horseback riding trails which cover more than 800 miles, 576 miles of trout streams, 129 miles of warm-water fishing, 23 campgrounds, 17 picnic areas, and wildlife viewing of black bear, wild turkey, white-tailed deer, gray fox, rabbits, snowshoe hare, grouse, and woodcock.

C. Canaan Valley

Blanketed with bigtooth aspen, balsam fir, and spruce, Canaan Valley, stretching 14 miles, is the highest such valley east of the Mississippi River, its namesake mountain separating it from the Blackwater River and creating a deep, narrow canyon in the Allegheny Plateau.

The pristinely beautiful area encompasses two state parks-Canaan Valley Resort and Black Water Falls State Parks; two ski areas-again Canaan Valley Resort and Timberline Four Seasons Resort; and the nation’s 500th wildlife refuge.

Natural sports abound: hiking, horseback riding, fishing, golfing, swimming, rafting, and interpretive nature walking during the summer, and skiing, snowboarding, and tubing during the winter.

Nucleus of most of this is 6,000-acre Canaan Valley Resort State Park, which encompasses 18 miles of trails, wetlands, open meadows, northern hardwood forests, wildlife, 200 species of birds, and 600 types of wildflowers.

Canaan Valley Resort, located within the park, offers 250 modern guest rooms, 23 two-, three-, and four-bedroom mountain cabins with fireplaces and full kitchens, 34 paved, wooded campsites with full hook-ups, and six lounges and restaurants, including the Hickory Dining Room in the main lodge.

Its 4,280-foot mountain, whose longest run is 1.25 miles and whose vertical drop is 850 feet, features one quad and two triple lifts, and 11 trails for night skiing. Its winter activities, like those of the extended Canaan Valley, include skiing, snowboarding, airboarding, tubing, snowshoeing, and ice skating, while summer programs include scenic chairlift rides, guided walks, golf, tennis, and hiking.

D. Big Mountain Country

Big Mountain County, location of West Virginia’s second-highest peak, serves as the birthplace of eight rivers-the Greenbier, Gauley, Cheat, Cherry, Elk, Williams, Cranberry, and Tygart-while its Seneca State Forest, which borders the former in Pocahontas County, is the state’s oldest. An interesting array of sights include steam-powered logging railroads, astronomical observatories, preserved towns, a premier ski resort, and their associated assortment of outdoor sports and activities.

The Durbin and Greenbier Valley Railroad’s fourth excursion train, the “Durbin Rocket,” departs from the town of Durbin itself, located some 40 miles from Elkins.

Powered by a 55-ton steam engine built for the Moore-Keppel Lumber Company in nearby Randolph County, and one of only three remaining geared Climax logging locomotives, the train makes a two-hour, 11-mile round-trip run along the Greenbier River and through the Monongahela National Forest as far as Piney Island, where the rental “castaway caboose” is disconnected and pushed onto a very short spur track for a one or more night stay.

The ultra-modern, high-tech National Radio Astronomy Observatory, located a short distance away in Green Bank, offers an opportunity to learn about radio wave astronomy.

Designing, building, and operating the world’s most advanced and sophisticated radio telescopes, the observatory produces images of celestial bodies, such as planets, stars, and galaxies, millions of light-years away by recording their radio omission quantities.

The Green Bank Science Center, nucleus of this experience, features a museum which introduces the science of radio astronomy, radio waves, telescope operation, and what is being learned through them about the universe; the Galaxy Gift Shop; the Starlight Café; and the departure point for the escorted bus tour of the facility, prior to which an introductory film and lecture are presented in the theater.

The tour’s highlight is the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT), designed when the previous 300-foot device collapsed in 1988 and Congress was forced to appropriate emergency funds to design it.

Dedicated on August 25, 2000, after a nine-year development period, it is 485 feet tall, is comprised of 2,004 panels, has a 100-by-110 meter diameter, a 2.3 acre surface area, and weighs 17 million pounds. The world’s largest, fully maneuverable telescope with a computer-controlled reflecting surface, it is functionally independent of the sun, permitting 24-hour-per-day operation, and receives wavelengths which vary between 1/8th of an inch to nine feet.

Initially employed in conjunction with the Arecibo Observatory to produce images of Venus, it later detected three new pulsars (spinning neutron stars) in the Messier 62 region.

A 15-minute drive from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory is another significant sight, Cass Scenic Railroad State Park.

Tracing its origins to 1899 when John G. Luke acquired more than 67,000 acres of red spruce in an area which ultimately developed into the town of Cass, it became the headquarters of the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company. The town, supporting the workforce needed to convert the raw resources into finished products, sprouted shops, services, houses, a sawmill, tracks, and a railroad to haul the timber.

Instrumental to the operation had been the Shay, or similarly-designed Climax and Heisler steam locomotives, whose direct gearing delivered positive control and more even power, allowing them to ply often temporarily-laid tracks, steep grades, and hairpin turns, all the while pulling heavy, freshly-felled timber loads. The Western Maryland #6, at 162 tons, was the last, and heaviest, Shay locomotive ever built. The railroad inaugurated its first service in 1901.

During two 11-hour, six-day-per-week shifts, the town’s mill was able to cut more than 125,000 board feet of lumber per shift and dry 360,000 per run with its 11 miles of steam pipes, adding up to 1.5 million board feet cut per week and 35 million per year. After 40 years of milling at Cass and Spruce, more than two billion board feet of lumber and paper had been produced.

Operating until 1943, the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company sold the enterprise to the Mower Lumber Company, which maintained it for another 17 years, at which time it was closed and purchased by the state of West Virginia, in 1961.

The railroad and the town of Cass, which remain virtually unchanged, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Aside from the historic buildings, there are several other attractions. Connected to the large Cass Company Store is the railroad-themed Last Run Restaurant. Turn-of-the-century logging can be gleaned at the Cass Historical Museum. The Shay Railroad Shop, having once housed coal bins, offers additional books and crafts for sale. The metal, Cass Showcase building above it, having stored hay to feed horse teams, features an introductory film and an HO-scale train and town layout reflecting their 1930s appearance.

Escorted walking tours of Cass, usually conducted in the afternoon after the trains have returned from their daily excursions, offer insight into what it had been like to live and work in a turn-of-the-century company town, while the Locomotive Repair Shop tour includes visits to the Mountain State Railroad and Logging Historical Association’s shop, the sawmill area, and a look at Shay and Climax locomotive maintenance and repair.

An excursion on the Cass Scenic Railroad itself, which commenced tourist rides in 1963 and is therefore the longest-running scenic rail journey in the country, is a living history experience. Pulled by one of the original Shay or Climax steam locomotives, the train accommodates passengers in equally authentic logging cars which have been converted to coaches with wooden, bench-like seats and roofs, while a single enclosed car, offering reserved seating, sports booth-like accommodation and is designated “Leatherbark Creek.”

All trains depart from Cass’s reconstructed depot, at a 2,456-foot elevation, climbing Leatherneck Run, negotiating 11-percent grades, maneuvering and reversing through a lower and upper switchback, and arriving at Whittaker Station, which features a snack stand, views of the eastern West Virginia mountains, and a reconstructed, 1946 logging camp. The eight-mile round-trip back to Cass requires two hours.

A four-and-a-half hour, 22-mile round-trip continues up Back Allegheny Mountain, passing Old Spruce and the Oats Creek Water Tank, and plying track laid by the Mower Lumber company, before reaching 4,842-foot Bald Knob, West Virginia’s third-highest peak.

Limited runs are also offered to Spruce, an abandoned logging town on the Shavers Fork of the Cheat River. This train also transits Whittaker Station.

Although not affiliated with the Cass Scenic Railroad, the Boyer Station Restaurant, located six miles from Green Bank on Route 28, offers inexpensive, home-cooked, country-style meals amidst railroad décor with wooden, rail depot-reminiscent tables and benches, train and logging memorabilia, and large-scale, track-mounted model railroads. It is part of a 20-room motel and campground complex.

Winter sports account for a significant portion of the Big Mountain Country’s offerings. Ten miles from Cass Scenic Railroad State Park is Snowshoe Mountain.

Located in the bowl-shaped convergence of Cheat and Back Allegheny Mountain at the head of the Shavers Fork of the Cheat River, the area, striped of trees by logging between 1905 and 1960, had been discovered by Thomas Brigham, a North Carolina dentist, who had previously opened the Beech Mountain and Sugar Mountain Ski Resorts.

Reflecting European style, Snowshoe Village is located on the mountain’s summit and offers 1,400 hotel and condominium rooms, restaurants, shops, services, and entertainment. The 244-acre resort, which combines the Snowshoe and Silver Creek areas, has a 3,348-foot base; a 4,848-foot summit, making it the highest such ski resort in the mid-Atlantic and southeast; 14 chairlifts; 60 runs, of which the longest is 1.5 miles; and 1,500-foot vertical drops at Cupp Run and Shay’s Revenge. Average snowfall is 180 inches. Spring, summer, and fall activities include golf, boating, bicycling, climbing, hiking, horseback riding, canoeing, kayaking, skating, and swimming.

The extended area’s Seneca State Forest, named after the Native Americans who had once roamed the land, borders the Greenbier River in Pocahontas County and contains 23 miles of forest, 11,684 acres of woodlands, a four-acre lake for boating and trout, largemouth bass, and bluegill fishing, hiking tails, pioneer cabins, and rustic campsites.

4. NEW RIVER-GREENBRIER VALLEY

The New River-Greenbrier Valley region of West Virginia is topographically diverse and ruggedly beautiful.

Split by the Gauley River, its northern section is comprised of a rugged plateau in which is nestled the calm, azure Summersville Lake, while mountainous ridgelines, affording extensive interior coal mining, are characteristic of its central region. Horse and cattle grazing is prevalent on the flat farm expanses which intersperse the eastern edge’s lush, green mountain plateau, divided by the Greenbrier River, the largest, untamed water channel in the eastern United States, which flows through it. Its southern region is a jigsaw puzzle of omni-directional ridgelines and very narrow valleys.

New and Bluestone River-formed gorges provide a wealth of rock climbing, canoeing, kayaking, and white water rafting opportunities in this region of the state.

The area’s most prominent, and beautiful, topographical feature is the New River Gorge National River. Flowing from below Bluestone Dam, near Hinton, to the north of the US Highway 19 bridge near Fayetteville, it dissects all the physiographic provinces of the Appalachian Mountains. A rugged, white water river, and among the oldest in North America, it flows northward through steep canyons and geological formations. Approximately 1,000 feet separate its bottom from its adjacent plateau. On July 30, 1998, it was named an American Heritage River, one of 14 waterways so designated.

Its related park encompasses 70,000 acres.

Signature of the New River Gorge National Park is its New River Gorge Bridge. Completed on October 22, 1977 at a $37 million cost, the dual-hinged, steel arch bridge is 3,030 feet long, 69.3 feet wide, and has an 876-foot clearance. Carrying the four lanes of US Route 19, it was then the world’s longest, and is currently the highest vehicular bridge in the Americas and the second highest in the world after the Millau Viaduct in France. Its longest single span, between arches, is 1,700 feet.

There are three related visitor centers and vantage points. The Canyon Rim Visitor Center, located two miles north of Fayetteville on Route 19, offers exhibits, films, interpretive programs, trails, and a scenic overlook, while the Grandview Center is located in Thurmond off of Interstate 64 on Route 25. The park’s headquarters are in Glen Jean.

Fayetteville is the hub for New River Gorge kayaking and white water rafting.

Coal, as synonymous with West Virginia as logging, is an industry the tourist should experience sometime during his visit. The Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine, located in the city of the same name, offers just such an opportunity.

A 1,400-square-foot Company Store, coal museum, fudgery, and gift shop serves as a visitor’s center and threshold to the sight’s two major components. A coal camp, the first of these, depicts 20th-century life in a typical coal town, represented by several relocated and restored buildings.

Plying 1,500 feet of underground passages in the 36-inch, Phillips-Sprague Seam Mine, which had been active between 1883 and 1953, track-guided “man-cars” driven by authentic miners, encompass the complex’s second component and make periodic stops in the cold, damp, and dark passage to discuss and illustrate the advancement of mining techniques. The rock duster, for example, ensured that coal dust would not explode deep in the mine. Strategically positioned roof bolts avoided cave-ins. Pumps extracted water. Dangerously low oxygen levels dictated immediate evacuation.

Coal had fueled the world’s steam engines for industrial plants and rail and sea transportation.

The Phillips-Sprague Mine is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

5. CONCLUSION

West Virginia’s three principle regions of Charleston, the Potomac Highlands, and the New River-Greenbier Valley offer immersive experiences into the past which shaped the present by means of its pristinely beautiful and resource-rich mines and mountains that yielded coal, timber, logging railroads, and an abundance of outdoor sports.

Source by Robert Waldvogel

Source: https://garkomedia.com/2018/11/26/a-tourist-guide-to-west-virginia/

from Garko Media https://garkomedia1.wordpress.com/2018/11/26/a-tourist-guide-to-west-virginia-2/

[garkomedia1]

A Tourist Guide to West Virginia

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1. INTRODUCTION

West Virginia, endlessly covered with forests and known as the “Mountain State,” offers breathtaking scenery, natural resource-related sights, and year-round, outdoor activities.

Once rich in coal and timber, it was shaped by the mines and logging railroads which extracted them, but when decades of removal began to deplete these commodities, their rolling, green-carpeted mountains yielded secondary byproducts-namely, hiking, biking, fishing, rafting, climbing, and hunting to tourists and sports enthusiasts alike. Its New River Gorge, which offers many similar activities, is equally beautiful with its rugged banks and azure surfaces, while the principle city of Charleston, revitalized during the 1970s and 1980s, now features museums, art, shopping malls, restaurants, and world-class performance venues.

2. CHARLESTON

Located on the Kanawha River, and sporting an easily negotiable street grid system, it is subdivided into the Capitol Complex and the downtown area with the East End Historic District linking the two.

From the former, which is the heart of state government, juts the ubiquitously visible, gold-domed Capitol Building itself. Constructed of buff Indiana limestone and 4,640 tons of steel, which themselves required the temporary laying of a spur rail line to transport them, the building had been laid in three stages during an eight-year period: 1924 to 1925 for the west wing, 1926 to 1927 for the east wing, and 1930 to 1932 for the connecting rotunda. It was officially dedicated by Governor William G. Conley on June 20, 1932, on the occasion of West Virginia’s 69th birthday as a state.

Its gold dome, which extends five feet higher than that of the Capitol in Washington, is gilded in 23 ½-karat gold leaf, applied between 1988 and 1991 as tiny squares to cover the otherwise copper and lead surface.

Two-thirds of its interior, which encompasses 535,000 square feet subdivided into 333 rooms, is comprised of Italian travertine, imperial derby, and Tennessee marble, and the chandelier in the rotunda, its center piece, is made of 10,180 pieces of Czechoslovakian crystal illuminated by 96 light bulbs. Weighing 4,000 pounds, it hangs from a 54-foot brass and bronze chain.

Across from the State Capitol, but still within the complex, is the West Virginia Cultural Center. Opened in 1976 and operated by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, it was created to showcase the state’s artistic, cultural, and historical heritage, and houses the West Virginia State Museum, the archives and history library, a gift shop, and a venue for cultural events, performances, and related programs.

The former, a collection of items which represents the state’s land, people, and culture, is subdivided into 24 significant scenes covering five periods: Prehistory (3 million years BC to 1650 AD), Frontier (1754-1860), the Civil War and the 35th State (1861 to 1899), Industrialization (1900 to 1945), and Change and Tradition (1954 to the 21st century). The 24 representations themselves trace the state’s evolution and include such periods as “Coal Forest,” “River Plains,” “Wilderness,” “The Fort,” “Harper’s Ferry,” “Building the Rails,” “Coal Mine,” “Main Street, West Virginia,” and “New River Gorge.”

Thirteen monuments, memorials, and statues honoring West Virginians for their contributions to the state and the nation grace the Capitol Complex’s landscaped grounds.

Culture can also be experienced at the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences, a modern, 240,000-square-foot, three-level complex which opened on July 12, 2003 and represents one of the most ambitious economic, cultural, and educational projects in West Virginia’s history. Offering sciences, visual arts, and performing arts under a single roof, the center houses the dual-level Avampato Discovery Museum, an interactive, youth-oriented experience with sections such as Health Royale, KidSpace, Earth City, and Gizmo Factory. A 9,000-square-foot Art Gallery, located on the second floor, features both temporary and permanent exhibits, the latter emphasizing 19th and 20th century art by names such as Andy Warhol, Stuart Davis, Alexander Calder, Frank Stella, Vida Frey, and Albert Paley. The ElectricSky Theater, a 61-foot domed planetarium, offers daily astronomy shows and wide screen presentations. Live performances are staged in two locations: the 1,883-seat Maier Foundation Performance Hall, which is home to the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, but otherwise offers a variety of performance types, from comedy to popular singers, bands, repertory, and Broadway plays, and the 200-seat Walker Theater, which features plays and dances with cabaret-style seating for the Woody Hawley singer-songwriter program. The Douglas V. Reynolds Intermezzo Café and three classrooms are located on the lower level.

Shopping can be done at two major venues. The Charleston Town Center Mall, located adjacent to the Town Center Marriott and Embassy Suites Hotel, and near the Civic Center, is a one million square foot, tri-level complex with more than 130 stores, three anchor department stores, six full-service restaurants, and a food court with ten additional fast food venues, and is accessed through three convenient parking garages. Sporting a three-story atrium and fountain, the upscale, Kanawha Valley complex was the largest urban shopping center east of the Mississippi River when it opened in 1983.

The Capitol Market, located on Capitol and Sixth Streets in the restored and converted, 1800s Kanawha and Michigan Railroad depot, is subdivided into both in- and outdoor markets, the latter of which can only be used by bona fide farmers and receives daily, fresh, seasonal deliveries, usually consisting of flowers, shrubs, and trees in the spring; fruits and vegetables in the summer; pumpkins, gourds, and cornstalks in the fall; and Christmas trees, wreaths, and garlands in the winter. The indoor market sells seafood, cheeses, and wines, and offers several small food stands and a full-service Italian restaurant.

An evening can be spent at the TriState Racetrack and Gaming Center. Located a 15-minute drive from Charleston in Cross Lanes, the venue offers 90,000 square feet of gaming entertainment, inclusive of more than 1,300 slot machines, live racing, a poker room, blackjack, roulette, and craps, and four restaurants: the French Quarter Restaurant and Bar, the First Turn Restaurant, the Café Orleans, and Crescent City.

3. POTOMAC HIGHLANDS

The Potomac Highlands, located in the eastern portion of the state on the Allegheny Plateau, is a tapestry of diverse geographic regions and covers eight counties. Alternatively designated “Mountain Highlands,” it had been formed some 250 million years ago when the North American and African continental collision had produced a single, uplifted mass. Subjected to millennia of wind- and water-caused erosion, it resulted in successive valleys and parallel ridges, and today the area encompasses two national forests: Canaan Valley, the highest east of the Mississippi River, and Spruce Knob, at 4,861 feet, West Virginia’s highest point. Its green-covered mountains yielded abundant timber, the logging railroads necessary to harness it, two premier ski resorts, and a myriad of outdoor sports and activities.

The Potomac Highlands can be subdivided into the Tygart Valley, Seneca Rocks, Canaan Valley, and Big Mountain Country.

A. Tygart Valley

The town of Elkins, located in the Tygart Valley, is the transportation, shopping, and social center of the east central Appalachian Mountains and serves as a base for Potomac Highland excursions.

Established in 1890 by Senators Henry Gassaway Davis and Stephen. B. Elkins, his son-in-law and business partner, it originated as a shipping hub for their coal, timber, and railroad empire, the latter the result of their self-financed construction of the West Virginia Central Railroad, whose track stretched between Cumberland, Maryland, and Elkins, and served as the threshold to some of the world’s richest timber and mineral resources.

The town, serving the needs of the coal miners, loggers, and railroad workers, sprouted central maintenance shops and steadily expanded, peaking in 1920, before commencing a resource depletion-caused decline, until the last train, carrying coal and timber products to the rest of the country, departed the depot in 1959.

The tracks lay barren and unused for almost half a century until 2007, when the newly-established Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad again resurrected them-and the town-transporting the first tourists for scenic-ride purposes and resparking a slow growth cycle with a subsequently built restaurant and live theater in its historic Elkins Railyard and additional hotels nearby. Consistently ranked as one of the country’s best small art towns, it is once again the service hub of the Mountain Highlands, reverting to its original purpose of providing hotel, restaurant, shop, and entertainment services, but now to a new group-tourists.

The railroad remains its focus. The Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad offers three departures from the Elkins depot. The first of these, the “New Tygart Flyer,” is a four-hour, 46-mile round-trip run which plunges through the Cheat Mountain Tunnel, passes the towns of Bowdon and Bemis, parallels the Shavers Fork of the Cheat River, and stops at the horseshoe-shaped High Falls of Cheat, during which time it serves an en route, buffet luncheon. Upgraded table service is available in 1922-ear deluxe Pullman Palace cars for a slightly higher price.

The “Cheat Mountain Salamander” is a nine-hour, 128-mile round-trip to Spruce, and includes a buffet lunch and dinner, while the “Mountain Express Dinner Train” mimics the New Tygart Flyer’s route, but features a four-course meal in a formally set dining car.

The Railyard Restaurant, sandwiched between the Elkins depot and the American Mountain Theater, provides all on board meals. Emulating the depot itself with its exterior brick construction, the $2.5 million, 220-seat restaurant, leased to the Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad, serves family-style cuisine on its main level and upscale dinners in its second-floor Vista Dome Dining Room, its menus inspired by railroad car fare from the 1920s to the 1940s. It toted the opening slogan of, “Take the track to the place with exceptional taste.”

The Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad’s Rails and Trails Gift Shop is located on its main level.

Continuing the historic, red brick exterior, the adjacent American Mountain Theater, founded in 2003 by Elkins native and RCA recording artist, Susie Heckel, traces its origins to a variety show performed for tourists at a different location. But increasing demand merited the November, 2006, ground-braking for a $1.7 million, 12,784-square-foot, 525-seat structure with aid from her sister, Beverly Sexton, and her husband, Kenny, who owned the Ozark Mountain Hoe-Down Theater in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

Opening the following July, the theater offered family-oriented, Branson-style entertainment performed by a nine-member cast, with Kenny Sexton serving as its president and producer and Beverly writing the score. Two-hour evening shows include comedy, impressions, and country, gospel, bluegrass, and pop music.

Davis and Elkins College, located only a few blocks from the Historic Railyard, shares the same founders as the town of Elkins itself-namely, Senators Henry Gassaway Davis and Stephen B. Elkins. Established in 1901 when they donated land and funding to create a college associated with the Presbyterian Church, it was originally located south of town. Its Board of Trustees first met the following year and classes were first held on September 21, 1904.

Today, the coeducational, liberal arts college, located on a 170-acre hilled, wooded campus with views of the Appalachian Mountains, is comprised of 22 new and historic buildings in two sections-the north, which stretches to the athletic fields and the front campus, which is located on a ridge overlooking Elkins. Thirty associate and baccalaureate arts, sciences, pre-professional, and professional degree programs are offered to a 700-student base.

One of its historic buildings is Graceland Inn. Designed by the Baltimore architectural firm of Baldwin and Pennington, the castle-like, Queen Anne-style mansion, originally located on a 360-acre farm, was completed in 1893. Initially called “Mingo Moor,” and intermittently “Mingo Hall” after the area south of Elkins, the estate served as the summer residence of Senator Davis, who regularly transported a train of invited friends and associates during July and August so that they could escape the Washington heat and enjoy Elkins’ higher-elevation, cooler temperatures.

The estate was ultimately renamed “Graceland” after Davis’ youngest daughter, Grace. Following his wife’s death in 1902, he continued to conduct business from offices inside it, while Grace herself resided there during the summer months with her family.

The estate was finally ceded to her own children, Ellen Bruce Lee and John A. Kennedy, its last two owners.

Acquired by the West Virginia Presbyterian Education Fund in 1941, it was used as a male residence hall by the college until 1970, whereafter it was closed. Restored during the mid-1990s, it subsequently reopened as an historic country inn and as a dynamic learning lab for hospitality students.

Overlooking the town of Elkins, on the Davis and Elkins College campus, Graceland Inn, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, features a two-story great hall richly decorated with hardwoods, such as quartered oak, bird’s eye maple, cherry, and walnut, a grand staircase, a parlor, a library, and its original stained glass windows. The Mingo Room Restaurant, reflecting the mansion’s initial designation and open to the public, is subdivided into four small rooms lined with red oak and fireplaces and an outdoor verandah, and eleven guest rooms, located on the second and third floors and named after prominent family members, contain antiques, canopy beds, armoires, marble bathrooms, and claw foot tubs.

Graceland Inn, the David and Elkins College, the town of Elkins itself, the historic depot and railyard, their tracks, and the Appalachian Mountain’s coal and timber resources are all inextricably tied to the town’s past–and its future.

B. Seneca Rocks

“Seneca Rocks” designates both a region of the Potomac Highlands and the outcroppings after which that region is named.

Resembling a razor back, or shark’s fin, and located at the confluence of the Seneca Creek and the North Fork South Branch Potomac River, the 250-foot-thick, 900-foot-high Seneca Rocks, accessible by West Virginia Route 28, were formed 400 million years ago during the Silurian Period in an extensive sand shoal at the edge of the ancient Iapetus Ocean. As the seas decreased in size, the rock uplifted and folded, erosion ultimately wearing away its upper surface and leaving the arching folds and craggy profile they exhibit today.

Made of white and gray tuscarora quartzite, the formation features both a north and south peak, with a notch separating the two.

The current Seneca Rocks Discovery Center, which replaced the original visitor’s center, features relief models of the area, films, interpretive programs, and a bookshop.

A path leads to the Sites Homestead, part of the center. Constructed in 1839 by William Sites as a single-room log cabin below Seneca Rocks Ridge, it is typical of then-current Appalachian homes whose German Blockbau-style featured square logs and v-notched corner joints spread apart by stone and clay chinks.

In the late-1860s, one of Sites’ sons expanded the homestead, adding a second floor, and, after use as a hay barn, the Forest Service purchased it in 1969, restoring it during the 1980s. In 1993, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The greater Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area, offering significant outdoor sports opportunities, contains a key portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, whose mountains and forests collect water which then flows into the Potomac River and the bay itself. Acting as a cleansing and filtering mechanism, its headwater forests purify the water before it reaches the streams. Spruce Knob is both the highest point in the Chesapeake Watershed and the entire state of West Virginia.

Aside from facilitating water, the area has provided sustenance to humans, who first lived in Native American villages within its mountains, and then created farming settlements and logging camps, extracting its resources and supporting life for some 13,000 years. Today, it is home to 15 million people.

The Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area itself is part of the much larger Monongahela National Forest. Established in 1920 with an initial 7,200 acres, the present 910,155-acre forest contains the headwaters of the Monongahela, Potomac, Greenbrier, Elk, Tygart, and Gauley Rivers; five federally-designated “wildernesses”-Dolly Sods, Outer Creek, Laurel Fork North, Laurel Fork South, and Cranberry-whose very remote and primitive areas only offer lower-standard trail markings; and four lakes.

A Mecca for outdoor sports enthusiasts, the national forest features 169 hiking, biking, and horseback riding trails which cover more than 800 miles, 576 miles of trout streams, 129 miles of warm-water fishing, 23 campgrounds, 17 picnic areas, and wildlife viewing of black bear, wild turkey, white-tailed deer, gray fox, rabbits, snowshoe hare, grouse, and woodcock.

C. Canaan Valley

Blanketed with bigtooth aspen, balsam fir, and spruce, Canaan Valley, stretching 14 miles, is the highest such valley east of the Mississippi River, its namesake mountain separating it from the Blackwater River and creating a deep, narrow canyon in the Allegheny Plateau.

The pristinely beautiful area encompasses two state parks-Canaan Valley Resort and Black Water Falls State Parks; two ski areas-again Canaan Valley Resort and Timberline Four Seasons Resort; and the nation’s 500th wildlife refuge.

Natural sports abound: hiking, horseback riding, fishing, golfing, swimming, rafting, and interpretive nature walking during the summer, and skiing, snowboarding, and tubing during the winter.

Nucleus of most of this is 6,000-acre Canaan Valley Resort State Park, which encompasses 18 miles of trails, wetlands, open meadows, northern hardwood forests, wildlife, 200 species of birds, and 600 types of wildflowers.

Canaan Valley Resort, located within the park, offers 250 modern guest rooms, 23 two-, three-, and four-bedroom mountain cabins with fireplaces and full kitchens, 34 paved, wooded campsites with full hook-ups, and six lounges and restaurants, including the Hickory Dining Room in the main lodge.

Its 4,280-foot mountain, whose longest run is 1.25 miles and whose vertical drop is 850 feet, features one quad and two triple lifts, and 11 trails for night skiing. Its winter activities, like those of the extended Canaan Valley, include skiing, snowboarding, airboarding, tubing, snowshoeing, and ice skating, while summer programs include scenic chairlift rides, guided walks, golf, tennis, and hiking.

D. Big Mountain Country

Big Mountain County, location of West Virginia’s second-highest peak, serves as the birthplace of eight rivers-the Greenbier, Gauley, Cheat, Cherry, Elk, Williams, Cranberry, and Tygart-while its Seneca State Forest, which borders the former in Pocahontas County, is the state’s oldest. An interesting array of sights include steam-powered logging railroads, astronomical observatories, preserved towns, a premier ski resort, and their associated assortment of outdoor sports and activities.

The Durbin and Greenbier Valley Railroad’s fourth excursion train, the “Durbin Rocket,” departs from the town of Durbin itself, located some 40 miles from Elkins.

Powered by a 55-ton steam engine built for the Moore-Keppel Lumber Company in nearby Randolph County, and one of only three remaining geared Climax logging locomotives, the train makes a two-hour, 11-mile round-trip run along the Greenbier River and through the Monongahela National Forest as far as Piney Island, where the rental “castaway caboose” is disconnected and pushed onto a very short spur track for a one or more night stay.

The ultra-modern, high-tech National Radio Astronomy Observatory, located a short distance away in Green Bank, offers an opportunity to learn about radio wave astronomy.

Designing, building, and operating the world’s most advanced and sophisticated radio telescopes, the observatory produces images of celestial bodies, such as planets, stars, and galaxies, millions of light-years away by recording their radio omission quantities.

The Green Bank Science Center, nucleus of this experience, features a museum which introduces the science of radio astronomy, radio waves, telescope operation, and what is being learned through them about the universe; the Galaxy Gift Shop; the Starlight Café; and the departure point for the escorted bus tour of the facility, prior to which an introductory film and lecture are presented in the theater.

The tour’s highlight is the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT), designed when the previous 300-foot device collapsed in 1988 and Congress was forced to appropriate emergency funds to design it.

Dedicated on August 25, 2000, after a nine-year development period, it is 485 feet tall, is comprised of 2,004 panels, has a 100-by-110 meter diameter, a 2.3 acre surface area, and weighs 17 million pounds. The world’s largest, fully maneuverable telescope with a computer-controlled reflecting surface, it is functionally independent of the sun, permitting 24-hour-per-day operation, and receives wavelengths which vary between 1/8th of an inch to nine feet.

Initially employed in conjunction with the Arecibo Observatory to produce images of Venus, it later detected three new pulsars (spinning neutron stars) in the Messier 62 region.

A 15-minute drive from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory is another significant sight, Cass Scenic Railroad State Park.

Tracing its origins to 1899 when John G. Luke acquired more than 67,000 acres of red spruce in an area which ultimately developed into the town of Cass, it became the headquarters of the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company. The town, supporting the workforce needed to convert the raw resources into finished products, sprouted shops, services, houses, a sawmill, tracks, and a railroad to haul the timber.

Instrumental to the operation had been the Shay, or similarly-designed Climax and Heisler steam locomotives, whose direct gearing delivered positive control and more even power, allowing them to ply often temporarily-laid tracks, steep grades, and hairpin turns, all the while pulling heavy, freshly-felled timber loads. The Western Maryland #6, at 162 tons, was the last, and heaviest, Shay locomotive ever built. The railroad inaugurated its first service in 1901.

During two 11-hour, six-day-per-week shifts, the town’s mill was able to cut more than 125,000 board feet of lumber per shift and dry 360,000 per run with its 11 miles of steam pipes, adding up to 1.5 million board feet cut per week and 35 million per year. After 40 years of milling at Cass and Spruce, more than two billion board feet of lumber and paper had been produced.

Operating until 1943, the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company sold the enterprise to the Mower Lumber Company, which maintained it for another 17 years, at which time it was closed and purchased by the state of West Virginia, in 1961.

The railroad and the town of Cass, which remain virtually unchanged, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Aside from the historic buildings, there are several other attractions. Connected to the large Cass Company Store is the railroad-themed Last Run Restaurant. Turn-of-the-century logging can be gleaned at the Cass Historical Museum. The Shay Railroad Shop, having once housed coal bins, offers additional books and crafts for sale. The metal, Cass Showcase building above it, having stored hay to feed horse teams, features an introductory film and an HO-scale train and town layout reflecting their 1930s appearance.

Escorted walking tours of Cass, usually conducted in the afternoon after the trains have returned from their daily excursions, offer insight into what it had been like to live and work in a turn-of-the-century company town, while the Locomotive Repair Shop tour includes visits to the Mountain State Railroad and Logging Historical Association’s shop, the sawmill area, and a look at Shay and Climax locomotive maintenance and repair.

An excursion on the Cass Scenic Railroad itself, which commenced tourist rides in 1963 and is therefore the longest-running scenic rail journey in the country, is a living history experience. Pulled by one of the original Shay or Climax steam locomotives, the train accommodates passengers in equally authentic logging cars which have been converted to coaches with wooden, bench-like seats and roofs, while a single enclosed car, offering reserved seating, sports booth-like accommodation and is designated “Leatherbark Creek.”

All trains depart from Cass’s reconstructed depot, at a 2,456-foot elevation, climbing Leatherneck Run, negotiating 11-percent grades, maneuvering and reversing through a lower and upper switchback, and arriving at Whittaker Station, which features a snack stand, views of the eastern West Virginia mountains, and a reconstructed, 1946 logging camp. The eight-mile round-trip back to Cass requires two hours.

A four-and-a-half hour, 22-mile round-trip continues up Back Allegheny Mountain, passing Old Spruce and the Oats Creek Water Tank, and plying track laid by the Mower Lumber company, before reaching 4,842-foot Bald Knob, West Virginia’s third-highest peak.

Limited runs are also offered to Spruce, an abandoned logging town on the Shavers Fork of the Cheat River. This train also transits Whittaker Station.

Although not affiliated with the Cass Scenic Railroad, the Boyer Station Restaurant, located six miles from Green Bank on Route 28, offers inexpensive, home-cooked, country-style meals amidst railroad décor with wooden, rail depot-reminiscent tables and benches, train and logging memorabilia, and large-scale, track-mounted model railroads. It is part of a 20-room motel and campground complex.

Winter sports account for a significant portion of the Big Mountain Country’s offerings. Ten miles from Cass Scenic Railroad State Park is Snowshoe Mountain.

Located in the bowl-shaped convergence of Cheat and Back Allegheny Mountain at the head of the Shavers Fork of the Cheat River, the area, striped of trees by logging between 1905 and 1960, had been discovered by Thomas Brigham, a North Carolina dentist, who had previously opened the Beech Mountain and Sugar Mountain Ski Resorts.

Reflecting European style, Snowshoe Village is located on the mountain’s summit and offers 1,400 hotel and condominium rooms, restaurants, shops, services, and entertainment. The 244-acre resort, which combines the Snowshoe and Silver Creek areas, has a 3,348-foot base; a 4,848-foot summit, making it the highest such ski resort in the mid-Atlantic and southeast; 14 chairlifts; 60 runs, of which the longest is 1.5 miles; and 1,500-foot vertical drops at Cupp Run and Shay’s Revenge. Average snowfall is 180 inches. Spring, summer, and fall activities include golf, boating, bicycling, climbing, hiking, horseback riding, canoeing, kayaking, skating, and swimming.

The extended area’s Seneca State Forest, named after the Native Americans who had once roamed the land, borders the Greenbier River in Pocahontas County and contains 23 miles of forest, 11,684 acres of woodlands, a four-acre lake for boating and trout, largemouth bass, and bluegill fishing, hiking tails, pioneer cabins, and rustic campsites.

4. NEW RIVER-GREENBRIER VALLEY

The New River-Greenbrier Valley region of West Virginia is topographically diverse and ruggedly beautiful.

Split by the Gauley River, its northern section is comprised of a rugged plateau in which is nestled the calm, azure Summersville Lake, while mountainous ridgelines, affording extensive interior coal mining, are characteristic of its central region. Horse and cattle grazing is prevalent on the flat farm expanses which intersperse the eastern edge’s lush, green mountain plateau, divided by the Greenbrier River, the largest, untamed water channel in the eastern United States, which flows through it. Its southern region is a jigsaw puzzle of omni-directional ridgelines and very narrow valleys.

New and Bluestone River-formed gorges provide a wealth of rock climbing, canoeing, kayaking, and white water rafting opportunities in this region of the state.

The area’s most prominent, and beautiful, topographical feature is the New River Gorge National River. Flowing from below Bluestone Dam, near Hinton, to the north of the US Highway 19 bridge near Fayetteville, it dissects all the physiographic provinces of the Appalachian Mountains. A rugged, white water river, and among the oldest in North America, it flows northward through steep canyons and geological formations. Approximately 1,000 feet separate its bottom from its adjacent plateau. On July 30, 1998, it was named an American Heritage River, one of 14 waterways so designated.

Its related park encompasses 70,000 acres.

Signature of the New River Gorge National Park is its New River Gorge Bridge. Completed on October 22, 1977 at a $37 million cost, the dual-hinged, steel arch bridge is 3,030 feet long, 69.3 feet wide, and has an 876-foot clearance. Carrying the four lanes of US Route 19, it was then the world’s longest, and is currently the highest vehicular bridge in the Americas and the second highest in the world after the Millau Viaduct in France. Its longest single span, between arches, is 1,700 feet.

There are three related visitor centers and vantage points. The Canyon Rim Visitor Center, located two miles north of Fayetteville on Route 19, offers exhibits, films, interpretive programs, trails, and a scenic overlook, while the Grandview Center is located in Thurmond off of Interstate 64 on Route 25. The park’s headquarters are in Glen Jean.

Fayetteville is the hub for New River Gorge kayaking and white water rafting.

Coal, as synonymous with West Virginia as logging, is an industry the tourist should experience sometime during his visit. The Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine, located in the city of the same name, offers just such an opportunity.

A 1,400-square-foot Company Store, coal museum, fudgery, and gift shop serves as a visitor’s center and threshold to the sight’s two major components. A coal camp, the first of these, depicts 20th-century life in a typical coal town, represented by several relocated and restored buildings.

Plying 1,500 feet of underground passages in the 36-inch, Phillips-Sprague Seam Mine, which had been active between 1883 and 1953, track-guided “man-cars” driven by authentic miners, encompass the complex’s second component and make periodic stops in the cold, damp, and dark passage to discuss and illustrate the advancement of mining techniques. The rock duster, for example, ensured that coal dust would not explode deep in the mine. Strategically positioned roof bolts avoided cave-ins. Pumps extracted water. Dangerously low oxygen levels dictated immediate evacuation.

Coal had fueled the world’s steam engines for industrial plants and rail and sea transportation.

The Phillips-Sprague Mine is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

5. CONCLUSION

West Virginia’s three principle regions of Charleston, the Potomac Highlands, and the New River-Greenbier Valley offer immersive experiences into the past which shaped the present by means of its pristinely beautiful and resource-rich mines and mountains that yielded coal, timber, logging railroads, and an abundance of outdoor sports.

Source by Robert Waldvogel

from RSSUnify feed https://garkomedia.com/2018/11/26/a-tourist-guide-to-west-virginia/

[oswald-hanciles-posts]

THE OSWALD HANCILES COLUMN

Concord Times (Freetown) Sierra Leone: The Oswald Hanciles Column

https://allafrica.com/stories/201906070228.html DEFORESTATION LEADS TO YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT AND DANGEROUS POLITICAL CONFLICTS "According to data taken from 2000 to 2005, Nigeria (has lost) 55.7 percent of their primary forests... Nigeria has the highest rate of deforestation in the world... From 1990 to 2010, Nigeria halved their forest cover... The annual rate of deforestation in Nigeria is 3.5%... The combination of extremely high deforestation rates, increased temperatures and decreasing rainfall... are all contributing to the desertification of the country. The carbon emissions from deforestation is also said to account for 87% of the total carbon emissions of the country". (Source: Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations). When I was in Nigeria in 2018, the executive director of the premier green NGO, the Nigeria Conservation Foundation, Aminu Kanu, was quoted in local media as saying that Nigeria has lost over 95% of its primary forests. My closest friend in Nigeria, now a communications and outreach consultant for the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) sent a release to me on World Environment Day, June 5, 2019 - raising alarms about rapid deforestation in southeast Nigeria. Is that information relevant to us in Sierra Leone? It is! Let's look at the situation in Nigeria a bit more. Over 95% of the export of Nigeria - and its GNP - is petroleum. The economics, and politics, of Nigeria, hinges on the export of petroleum. All the fierce competition among the political elite of Nigeria is to get a bigger bite of the petroleum wealth. Nigeria is still ranked among the top ten poorest countries in the world, and over 60 percent of its people still live in poverty. So, what will happen when the importing countries - like the United States - have lower demand for petroleum as man-made Climate Change realities force them to change to 'green energy' and there is less easy money flowing into Nigeria? Including the frightening situation of rapid deforestation in Nigeria, there is also accelerated desertification in Nigeria. The tropical rainforests are being speedily lost in the South of Nigeria, the desert is rushing to the South from the North of Nigeria: what will the about 200 million people in Nigeria do as man-made Climate Change worsen their scary environmental scenario? SIERRA LEONE: MEANING OF DEFORESTATION Sierra Leone is different from Nigeria only because of its land size (47,000 square kilometers of land to Nigeria's 900,000 square kilometers of land), and its population size (7 million people to Nigeria's 200 million)... and the lack of an advancing desert (but, with chilling vast swathes of its land transformed from forests into grassland all over the country, especially in the Northern Province). Robinson Sesay Snr. (a.k.a. Big Brother) posted in the SLAVE SHIP-FREEDOM SHIP Group 4-Youth thus: "The alarming signs (of environmental degradation) are clearly being seen, even in Makeni where I live. For instance, my childhood neighbourhood was swampy; now no water around absolutely; and we are yet to see the rain. If checks are not put in place, this crisis... risks million of lives (being prematurely lost). Progressives (should) concentrate on matters of nature, not party politics". Edward O. Conteh, Jnr. also writing in the SLAVE SHIP-FREEDOM SHIP Group 4-Youth forum, posted these words: "You go to the North and see the devastation going on in timber logging. That policy is as crude as the black man's civilization. No more forest in that part of the country, thereby worsening (ecological, agricultural, and economic... ) situation... ". There is reported to be intensified logging in Koinadugu and Karene districts in the Northern Province by largely Chinese companies. The last remaining forests in the Northern Province are only left in those two districts. It appears as if some people want to completely destroy what remains for the barely manageable livelihoods of the majority of already poverty-stricken people in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. If you have any sense of environmental degradation, you would cry when you drive through districts in the Northern Province - like Kambia, Bombali, and Tonkolili. You see largely grass!! What does it mean? It means that with the forest cover gone, the soils have been made largely sterile. There is less agriculture yield for those who choose to do farming. Most youth choose not to continue farming on largely sterile soils. They migrate to the cities - Makeni, Freetown, Bo, Koidu, Kono, Kenema. But, especially Freetown. In Freetown, they squat on any land available. They cram in slums. They engage in largely petty trading. They spend what little money they earn on fine clothes. They 'produce' babies. They are producing children who have to live tomorrow as adults; but they are living today as if there is no tomorrow. The National Medium-Term Development Plan (NMTDP) of the Bio Administration published in January, 2019, states that Sierra Leone has one of the fastest population growth rates in the world - at 4.3 percent growth rate between 2004 and 2016, the population of Sierra Leone spiked from 5 million people to 7 million people within about a 15 year period. The governing elite appear oblivious to this connection between deforestation in the country, spiralling population growth and massive youth unemployment... AND the politics of the country. Apparently, Bintumani III did not make these interconnections: loss of forest cover leads to increased migration to cities; youth in cities have higher expectations and demand more from government; but in cities, they produce very little. Their expectations are fuel in the fire of political disenchantment of youth. The educated elite are obsessed with getting the best jobs in cities. Jobs they expect government to miraculously create. Sierra Leone gets almost all its foreign currency through exports of diamonds, iron ore, titanium, bauxite... . Over the past fifty years, foreign currency earned by Sierra Leone have not been used to create industries; not even agro-processing facilities. It would be used to import largely consumables - from imported orange juice, rice, toothpicks, clothes... to cars, and marble for mansions by the rich. All the intense political conflict between the two parties that have governed Sierra Leone since 1957, the APC and SLPP have been competition for government jobs; the poisoned and ferocious political conflict between Southeasterners and Northwesterners... have been over competition to get jobs in government to buy these consumables. There is almost no political competition between the APC and SLPP over ideas to generate sustainable wealth. The tropical rainforests are taken as an infinite resource - like our diamonds and titanium. They are not. As environmentalists like us write unceasingly about looming man-made Climate Change and the nightmarish scenarios being predicted by leading scientists and credible scientific institutions around the globe, the bureaucratic elite and political elite cocooned in their air-conditioned offices and posh homes in the mountains of Freetown act as if the urgency we write about is far removed from their comfort zones. We have to raise awareness on these interconnections before there are more conflicts and social and political explosions all over Africa; a relapse to a civil war in Sierra Leone. At the United Nations General Assembly in 2018, Nigeria's president, Retired General Muhammadu Buhari, said that environmental degradation in Northern Nigeria have been a primary cause for the Boko Haram insurgency there; and a catalyst for the violence in Northern Cameroon, and Southern Chad. Credible scientists are predicting a dramatic increase in violent conflicts in Africa, and wars, as man-made Climate Change forces mass movements of people. Africa must go into Green Preventative War Mode... .! That's why I have been making this 'war cry': "$2trillion annually for man-made Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation measures in Africa from the richest nations of the world". No country in Africa can mobilize the financial resources necessary to take timely mitigation and adaptation measures when man-made Climate Change gains momentum. Africa is not asking for aid. Africa has to demand Reparations for over three hundred years of the Atlantic Slave Trade. Another thing: demand for equity in the global economic arena can help to prevent worse case scenarios for Africa. My $2trillion demand from the richest nations of the world to Africa may appear outlandish. But, it's the best option out for Africa. It's not a panacea, but, it would enhance billions of trees being planted by Sierra Leoneans and Nigerians, and other Africans; including other green measures to be taken. To the media: widely spread these green messages I put out . Sierra Leone, and Africa, are on a precipice. On the Christiane AMANPOUR talk show on CNN, on June 4, 2019, the now world-famous 16 year old Swedish environmental crusader, Greta Thunberg, typically lashes out at adults in control of the politics and economics of the world who are "... stealing our future and selling it for profit". The soft-spoken Swede warns: "We will not let you get away with it anymore". We, the greens, the enlightened, will not let you get away with it anymore! The almost entirely over 50 years of age political class in Africa - including the President of Sierra Leone, Retired Brigadier Maada Bio- are being warned to ride the green wave or they are certain to be swept aside by a 'green youth-tsunami' building up. That's my message for WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY - June 5, 2019. I pause, Oswald Hanciles, The Guru. Read the original article on Concord.

[avakong788-blog]

THE DIFFERENT SORTS OF HARDWOOD FLOOR COVERING

The aesthetic worth of hardwood floor covering has actually made it one of the most preferred type of flooring for decades and is still held in high regard by house owners. Wood flooring comes in multiple kinds and also styles for all the diverse requirements and also budget plans of people. Putting hardwood floors is among the very best steps for a home as the house constantly values in worth. The different hardwood floors are all special and have an undefined charm that blends right into any home setting. The floorings are suitable to emphasize any kind of decor from modern decor, conventional decor, country decoration and even African design. Hardwood flooring could be installed in any kind of location of the house, nevertheless, requires interest and a great deal of preventative measure when installing in cellar and kitchen areas. This is as a result of the rising and fall wetness as well as moisture content of both locations. If you are required making installment in the bathroom, basement or kitchen area, be keen to seek producer's advice or a specialist service provider for the process. This will conserve you from being spared of warranties by producing firms. Think about the setup type, the varieties, the construction type, whether the wood will certainly be ended up or incomplete, strong timber flooring or crafted, shade and structure options.

ENGINEERED HARDWOOD FLOORING VS STRONG HARDWOOD FLOOR COVERING To accomplish both warmth as well as convenience, wood flooring is simply the kind you should enhance your home. Genuine wood floor covering adds a lot more value to your house as well as highlights every corner and corridor. Both crafted, as well as strong hardwood floor covering is made of authentic hardwood floor covering yet has refined differences when it concerns their building and construction.

Engineered wood flooring is an instance of flooring option wherein a plywood or a High-Density Fiber board is topped with a layer of hardwood veneer on the surface. The floorboard usually has 3 or 4 layers of timber resulting right into 14 mm thick. The wood veneer which is 4mm thick as well as above enables sanding. Therefore, ensuring that engineered wood floor covering has more security compared to strong wood flooring. This just means that the floorings will certainly not broaden or acquire relying on modifications in temperature level or humidity. The expense varies from 19$ per square meter to more than 150$ each square meter for high-grade, pricey timbers. Engineered hardwood flooring adds a great deal of heat and also increases the value of your house making it look like the display. There exist various ranges, finishes, and also widths when it comes to this type of floor covering, offering a customer a different sight of all the styles. Discovering a layout that matches your taste is very easy. Engineered wood flooring is simpler to install and way a lot more pocket-friendly. They are also attractive as as compared to laminate flooring. Engineered wood floor covering is adaptable enough can be installed in any type of space of the house as well as has no restrictions. This sort of flooring appropriates for listed below quality installment. That crafted wood is a collection of wood with hardwood positioned on top makes it one of the most steady flooring there is, making it an excellent option for your home. However, might verify loud and also picky when installing on staircases. Various other locations like the commode and stands are difficult to attain a smooth coating. The thickness as well as the width of the wood veneer result on the number of times the flooring can undergo sanding and also redecorate. The majority of engineered flooring can be sanded one or two times as soon as mounted as well as not exceptionally extra as it will result in damage and the plywood being subjected. When looking for redecorating it is essential to seek specialist recommendations before taking any kind of effort therefore avoiding any kind of damages to the floors as well as unneeded replacements.

The plywood made use of in making the crafted wood flooring impacts the security. The number varies from 2 to 10 plywood; there is a considerable difference between a 5 ply board and a 2 ply board when it comes to security. Nonetheless, the variety of plywood made use of is not a significant variable unless the house owner is checking out utilizing glowing floor heating for the home. The greater the variety of plywood utilizing the a lot more costly the floor boards. When the High-Density Fiber board is made use of instead of many plywoods, the cost is aggravated. This is because a High-Density Fiberboard tends to provide more stability as compared with many plywoods infatuated together. The veneer of the syntheticed wood floor covering has different methods of being reduced that make them distinct. These three methods have differed effect on the timber and also consequently distinct end results. They consist of; Dry solid-sawn includes reducing the timber in a defined humidity degree environment as well as letting the timber completely dry gradually in the very same low degree of moisture. This guarantees that the cells of the timber preserve their initial state with minimal danger of cupping. The completely dry solid-sawn is considered the most costly kind of engineering flooring and has close resemblance to strong hardwood. Sliced-peel much like the rotary-peel procedure, the log is boiled at a specific temperature level for a really defined quantity of time until the timber is ready. Unlike the rotary-peel, the timber is cut from the end and after that pushed to create a veneer. The thicker the veneer, the greater the cost of the floor covering and the more the number of times one can refinish. Nevertheless redecorating is still limited. There are some engineered timber floor covering much less compared to 2mm and could not be reconditioned at any kind of instance also the hand scuffed syntheticed floorings regardless of the density. The tongue-and-groove could prove crafted wood floor covering rather simple to mount as as compared to mount the click-lock flooring. One can easily mount their floors without any expert help. At times this flooring might be more expensive compared to laminate timber flooring, but it is cheaper compared to solid hardwood. Engineered timber flooring can easily be floated and could be mounted on all qualities even listed below grade. The setup is additionally not restricted as concrete subfloor could be layered by engineered hardwood flooring Dallas, TX installer. Strong hardwood is 100% wood as well as measures regarding 0.63 to 0.8 inches thick. Timber is vulnerable to adjustments depending on temperature as well as humidity; this element makes solid wood floor covering to be set up above quality. Strong wood floor covering is not suitable for kitchen or utility room locations unless under advice. The cost of setup varies relying on the cost of the timber. From a minimum of 5$ per square meter for para timber to 82$ per square meter for IPE tropical timber. The price and security of the different solid wood flooring relies on these 3 saws; Apartment or plain sawn which is one of the most made use of cut in solid wood floor covering leaves the timber with various as well as different variations compared to others. Quarter sawn is where the log is first to reduce into quarters afterwards reduced into strips of timber resulting into attractive wood flooring boards. Rift sawn produces the best of timber floor covering as compared with the prior. This process includes reducing the log at an angle compared with the quarter sawn. Then, they are after that cut right into hardwood floor covering boards. The boards are extra costly compared to various other flooring boards resulting from different sawn. The break sawed likewise produces more steady floor covering material. Mounting the solid flooring will leave your home looking awesome as well as increase the value of your home when you make a decision to market it. Dallas Flooring Warehouse 8717 Directors Row Dallas, TX 75247 (214) 205-0116. Solid timber tends to increase as well as contract in the presence of wetness and high temperature which restricts its setup in every room. The setup process could be overwhelming for solid wood floor covering. You might need to seek help from a specialist service provider as soon as you have purchased the private items or often before. The solid wood tends to use up different forms after producing making its fitting cumbersome for the home owner. To add to the installment process, one requires a specified adhesive by the supplier and also at times nailing. Solid wood flooring is not suitable when it pertains to concrete subfloors. But other rooms could welcome the look.

[carloskirkland014-blog]

THE VARIOUS TYPES OF HARDWOOD FLOORING

The aesthetic value of hardwood floor covering has made it one of the most preferred type of flooring for decades as well as is still kept in high regard by homeowners. Wood flooring comes in multiple kinds and also designs for all the diverse requirements as well as budget plans of individuals. Placing wood floorings is just one of the most effective actions for a home as the house constantly appreciates in worth. The different wood floors are all special and have an undefined appeal that mixes into any residence setup. The floorings are suitable to highlight any decoration from modern-day design, standard dcor, country dcor and even African dcor. Hardwood flooring can be installed in any type of location of your house, nonetheless, needs attention as well as a lot of safety measure when installing in cellar and also kitchens. This is because of the changing wetness and also moisture web content of both areas. If you are required making setup in the shower room, cellar or kitchen area, be eager to look for supplier's suggestions or an expert specialist for the procedure. This will conserve you from being spared of warranties by manufacturing business. Consider the installation type, the types, the construction kind, whether the wood will certainly be completed or incomplete, strong timber flooring or crafted, color and structure options.

ENGINEERED HARDWOOD FLOOR COVERING VS SOLID HARDWOOD FLOOR COVERING To attain both heat as well as convenience, hardwood flooring is just the type you have to improve your house. Authentic hardwood flooring includes much more value to your residence and also emphasizes every corner and also hallway. Both syntheticed, and strong hardwood flooring is made from real hardwood flooring however has subtle distinctions when it comes to their building and construction.

Engineered hardwood flooring is an example of flooring option wherein a plywood or a High-Density Fiberboard is topped with a layer of wood veneer externally. The floorboard usually has 3 or 4 layers of wood resulting into 14 mm thick. The hardwood veneer which is 4mm thick as well as above enables sanding. Thus, making sure that crafted wood flooring has actually even more security compared to solid timber floor covering. This just implies that the floors will certainly not expand or contract relying on modifications in temperature or humidity. The price differs from 19$ per square meter to greater than 150$ per square meter for top quality, costly woods. Engineered wood floor covering includes a lot of warmth and also increases the value of your residence making it look like the showcase. There exist various varieties, finishes, and also sizes when it pertains to this type of floor covering, providing a customer a various sight of all the styles. Locating a layout that suits your preference is easy. Engineered wood floor covering is less complex to set up as well as way much more pocket-friendly. They are additionally appealing as compared with laminate floor covering. Engineered hardwood floor covering is flexible sufficient could be installed in any kind of room of your house and has no restrictions. This type of floor covering is suitable for below grade installment. The fact that crafted timber is a series of wood with wood put on top makes it one of one of the most secure floor covering there is, making it an excellent option for your home. Nonetheless, could prove loud and fussy when mounting on stairs. Other areas like the toilet and pedestals are difficult to accomplish a smooth coating. The density and the size of the hardwood veneer impact on the number of times the floor could undergo sanding and refinish. Many engineered floor covering can be fined sand one or two times when installed and not extremely more as it will bring about damage as well as the plywood being revealed. When in need of redecorating it is essential to seek expert guidance prior to taking any type of campaign thus protecting against any type of damage to the floorings as well as unneeded replacements.

The plywood utilized in manufacturing the syntheticed hardwood floor covering affects the security. The number varies from 2 to 10 plywood; there is a considerable distinction between a 5 ply board and a two ply board when it involves stability. Nevertheless, the variety of plywood utilized is not a significant aspect unless the homeowner is exploring making use of radiant flooring heating for the home. The greater the number of plywood using the more expensive the floor boards. When the High-Density Fiber board is used in place of many plywoods, the expense is intensified. This is due to the fact that a High-Density Fiber board tends to supply even more stability as as compared to many plywoods infatuated with each other. The veneer of the syntheticed wood floor covering has different techniques of being reduced that make them distinct. These 3 approaches have actually varied influence on the timber and also consequently special outcomes. They include; Dry solid-sawn entails cutting the timber in a defined moisture degree atmosphere as well as letting the wood completely dry gradually in the very same low degree of moisture. This makes certain that the cells of the wood preserve their original state with marginal risk of cupping. The completely dry solid-sawn is considered as one of the most pricey sort of design floor covering and also has close resemblance to solid hardwood. Sliced-peel much like the rotary-peel procedure, the log is boiled at a specific temperature for an extremely defined quantity of time until the timber prepares. Unlike the rotary-peel, the timber is cut from completion as well as afterwards pushed to create a veneer. The thicker the veneer, the higher the price of the floor covering and the even more the variety of times one could refinish. Nevertheless refinishing is still limited. There are some syntheticed wood floor covering much less than 2mm and can not be refurbished at any kind of instance also the hand scraped syntheticed floors in spite of the thickness. The tongue-and-groove might confirm engineered hardwood flooring quite easy to install as as compared to mount the click-lock floor covering. One can easily install their floorings without specialist assistance. Sometimes this flooring might be a lot more expensive than laminate timber flooring, yet it is more economical than solid hardwood. Engineered wood flooring can quickly be floated as well as could be set up on all qualities also listed below quality. The installment is additionally not restricted as concrete subfloor could be layered by crafted hardwood flooring Dallas, TX installer. Strong hardwood is 100% timber as well as gauges concerning 0.63 to 0.8 inches thick. Timber is vulnerable to changes depending upon temperature as well as moisture; this aspect makes strong timber floor covering to be installed above quality. Strong timber flooring is not appropriate for kitchen area or utility room areas unless under advisement. The expense of installment differs depending upon the expenditure of the timber. From a minimum of 5$ each square meter for para timber to 82$ per square meter for IPE exotic timber. The expense and stability of the different strong timber floor covering relies on these 3 saws; Flat or plain sawn which is the most made use of cut in strong wood flooring leaves the wood with different as well as numerous variants compared to others. Quarter sawn is wherein the log is first to reduce right into quarters then reduced right into strips of timber resulting right into stunning wood floor covering boards. Break sawn generates the finest of timber flooring as as compared to the previous. This procedure involves reducing the log at an angle compared with the quarter sawn. Afterwards, they are after that reduced right into hardwood floor covering boards. The boards are a lot more expensive as compared to various other flooring boards resulting from various sawn. The rift sawed also produces even more steady floor covering material. Installing the strong floor covering will certainly leave your home looking spectacular as well as boost the worth of the house when you decide to sell it. Dallas Flooring Warehouse 8717 Directors Row Dallas, TX 75247 (214) 205-0116. Solid wood has the tendency to expand and acquire in the existence of dampness and heat which restricts its installment in every room. The installation process could be frustrating for solid timber flooring. You could have to seek aid from a specialist specialist as soon as you have actually acquired the specific items or occasionally before. The strong wood tends to take up various kinds after producing making its suitable difficult for the property owner. To contribute to the installation process, one needs a defined glue by the supplier and at times toenailing. Solid hardwood flooring is not ideal when it involves concrete subfloors. Yet other rooms could embrace the appearance.

[benjaminwise735-blog]

THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF HARDWOOD FLOOR COVERING

The aesthetic value of wood flooring has actually made it one of the most popular sort of floor covering for years and also is still kept in prestige by house owners. Wood floor covering can be found in numerous kinds and also styles for all the varied needs as well as budgets of individuals. Placing hardwood floorings is one of the best actions for a house as your house always appreciates in worth. The various hardwood floors are all one-of-a-kind and have an undefined charm that mixes right into any house setting. The floors appropriate to highlight any type of design from contemporary decor, standard decor, nation dcor as well as African dcor. Hardwood flooring could be mounted in any type of area of your home, nonetheless, needs focus and also a lot of precaution when mounting in basement as well as kitchens. This is due to the changing dampness and moisture material of the two locations. If you are obliged to make setup in the bathroom, cellar or kitchen area, be keen to seek manufacturer's guidance or a specialist contractor for the procedure. This will certainly conserve you from being spared of guarantees by manufacturing companies. Consider the installation type, the types, the building and construction type, whether the wood will certainly be ended up or incomplete, solid timber flooring or crafted, color and structure alternatives.

ENGINEERED HARDWOOD FLOOR COVERING VS STRONG HARDWOOD FLOORING To achieve both warmth and convenience, wood floor covering is simply the kind you should improve your residence. Genuine hardwood flooring includes more worth to your residence and highlights every edge and also corridor. Both crafted, and strong wood flooring is made from authentic hardwood floor covering yet has subtle distinctions when it involves their construction.

Engineered hardwood flooring is an example of floor covering option where a plywood or a High-Density Fiberboard is covered with a layer of hardwood veneer on the surface. The floorboard typically has 3 or four layers of timber resulting right into 14 mm thick. The hardwood veneer which is 4mm thick as well as above enables sanding. Therefore, guaranteeing that crafted hardwood floor covering has actually even more security compared to strong timber flooring. This merely suggests that the floorings will certainly not expand or contract relying on modifications in temperature or moisture. The price varies from 19$ per square meter to greater than 150$ per square meter for high-grade, costly timbers. Engineered hardwood flooring adds a lot of warmth and also raises the value of your house making it resemble the display. There exist different varieties, surfaces, and sizes when it concerns this type of floor covering, offering a customer a different sight of all the styles. Locating a style that suits your taste is easy. Engineered wood floor covering is easier to set up and also way a lot more pocket-friendly. They are additionally eye-catching as compared with laminate flooring. Engineered hardwood flooring is flexible sufficient could be set up in any type of space of your house and also has no limitations. This sort of flooring appropriates for listed below quality setup. The fact that syntheticed timber is a series of wood with hardwood placed on leading makes it one of one of the most secure floor covering there is, making it an outstanding choice for your house. Nevertheless, may confirm noisy and also picky when mounting on stairways. Other places like the bathroom as well as pedestals are difficult to achieve a smooth surface. The density and also the width of the hardwood veneer effect on the number of times the floor can undergo sanding and also refinish. A lot of engineered flooring could be fined sand once or twice as soon as mounted and also not extremely a lot more as it will certainly cause harm and the plywood being exposed. When seeking redecorating it is crucial to seek professional suggestions prior to taking any initiative thus avoiding any type of damages to the floors as well as unnecessary replacements.

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A Tourist Guide to West Virginia

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1. INTRODUCTION

West Virginia, endlessly covered with forests and known as the “Mountain State,” offers breathtaking scenery, natural resource-related sights, and year-round, outdoor activities.

Once rich in coal and timber, it was shaped by the mines and logging railroads which extracted them, but when decades of removal began to deplete these commodities, their rolling, green-carpeted mountains yielded secondary byproducts-namely, hiking, biking, fishing, rafting, climbing, and hunting to tourists and sports enthusiasts alike. Its New River Gorge, which offers many similar activities, is equally beautiful with its rugged banks and azure surfaces, while the principle city of Charleston, revitalized during the 1970s and 1980s, now features museums, art, shopping malls, restaurants, and world-class performance venues.

2. CHARLESTON

Located on the Kanawha River, and sporting an easily negotiable street grid system, it is subdivided into the Capitol Complex and the downtown area with the East End Historic District linking the two.

From the former, which is the heart of state government, juts the ubiquitously visible, gold-domed Capitol Building itself. Constructed of buff Indiana limestone and 4,640 tons of steel, which themselves required the temporary laying of a spur rail line to transport them, the building had been laid in three stages during an eight-year period: 1924 to 1925 for the west wing, 1926 to 1927 for the east wing, and 1930 to 1932 for the connecting rotunda. It was officially dedicated by Governor William G. Conley on June 20, 1932, on the occasion of West Virginia’s 69th birthday as a state.

Its gold dome, which extends five feet higher than that of the Capitol in Washington, is gilded in 23 ½-karat gold leaf, applied between 1988 and 1991 as tiny squares to cover the otherwise copper and lead surface.

Two-thirds of its interior, which encompasses 535,000 square feet subdivided into 333 rooms, is comprised of Italian travertine, imperial derby, and Tennessee marble, and the chandelier in the rotunda, its center piece, is made of 10,180 pieces of Czechoslovakian crystal illuminated by 96 light bulbs. Weighing 4,000 pounds, it hangs from a 54-foot brass and bronze chain.

Across from the State Capitol, but still within the complex, is the West Virginia Cultural Center. Opened in 1976 and operated by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, it was created to showcase the state’s artistic, cultural, and historical heritage, and houses the West Virginia State Museum, the archives and history library, a gift shop, and a venue for cultural events, performances, and related programs.

The former, a collection of items which represents the state’s land, people, and culture, is subdivided into 24 significant scenes covering five periods: Prehistory (3 million years BC to 1650 AD), Frontier (1754-1860), the Civil War and the 35th State (1861 to 1899), Industrialization (1900 to 1945), and Change and Tradition (1954 to the 21st century). The 24 representations themselves trace the state’s evolution and include such periods as “Coal Forest,” “River Plains,” “Wilderness,” “The Fort,” “Harper’s Ferry,” “Building the Rails,” “Coal Mine,” “Main Street, West Virginia,” and “New River Gorge.”

Thirteen monuments, memorials, and statues honoring West Virginians for their contributions to the state and the nation grace the Capitol Complex’s landscaped grounds.

Culture can also be experienced at the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences, a modern, 240,000-square-foot, three-level complex which opened on July 12, 2003 and represents one of the most ambitious economic, cultural, and educational projects in West Virginia’s history. Offering sciences, visual arts, and performing arts under a single roof, the center houses the dual-level Avampato Discovery Museum, an interactive, youth-oriented experience with sections such as Health Royale, KidSpace, Earth City, and Gizmo Factory. A 9,000-square-foot Art Gallery, located on the second floor, features both temporary and permanent exhibits, the latter emphasizing 19th and 20th century art by names such as Andy Warhol, Stuart Davis, Alexander Calder, Frank Stella, Vida Frey, and Albert Paley. The ElectricSky Theater, a 61-foot domed planetarium, offers daily astronomy shows and wide screen presentations. Live performances are staged in two locations: the 1,883-seat Maier Foundation Performance Hall, which is home to the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, but otherwise offers a variety of performance types, from comedy to popular singers, bands, repertory, and Broadway plays, and the 200-seat Walker Theater, which features plays and dances with cabaret-style seating for the Woody Hawley singer-songwriter program. The Douglas V. Reynolds Intermezzo Café and three classrooms are located on the lower level.

Shopping can be done at two major venues. The Charleston Town Center Mall, located adjacent to the Town Center Marriott and Embassy Suites Hotel, and near the Civic Center, is a one million square foot, tri-level complex with more than 130 stores, three anchor department stores, six full-service restaurants, and a food court with ten additional fast food venues, and is accessed through three convenient parking garages. Sporting a three-story atrium and fountain, the upscale, Kanawha Valley complex was the largest urban shopping center east of the Mississippi River when it opened in 1983.

The Capitol Market, located on Capitol and Sixth Streets in the restored and converted, 1800s Kanawha and Michigan Railroad depot, is subdivided into both in- and outdoor markets, the latter of which can only be used by bona fide farmers and receives daily, fresh, seasonal deliveries, usually consisting of flowers, shrubs, and trees in the spring; fruits and vegetables in the summer; pumpkins, gourds, and cornstalks in the fall; and Christmas trees, wreaths, and garlands in the winter. The indoor market sells seafood, cheeses, and wines, and offers several small food stands and a full-service Italian restaurant.

An evening can be spent at the TriState Racetrack and Gaming Center. Located a 15-minute drive from Charleston in Cross Lanes, the venue offers 90,000 square feet of gaming entertainment, inclusive of more than 1,300 slot machines, live racing, a poker room, blackjack, roulette, and craps, and four restaurants: the French Quarter Restaurant and Bar, the First Turn Restaurant, the Café Orleans, and Crescent City.

3. POTOMAC HIGHLANDS

The Potomac Highlands, located in the eastern portion of the state on the Allegheny Plateau, is a tapestry of diverse geographic regions and covers eight counties. Alternatively designated “Mountain Highlands,” it had been formed some 250 million years ago when the North American and African continental collision had produced a single, uplifted mass. Subjected to millennia of wind- and water-caused erosion, it resulted in successive valleys and parallel ridges, and today the area encompasses two national forests: Canaan Valley, the highest east of the Mississippi River, and Spruce Knob, at 4,861 feet, West Virginia’s highest point. Its green-covered mountains yielded abundant timber, the logging railroads necessary to harness it, two premier ski resorts, and a myriad of outdoor sports and activities.

The Potomac Highlands can be subdivided into the Tygart Valley, Seneca Rocks, Canaan Valley, and Big Mountain Country.

A. Tygart Valley

The town of Elkins, located in the Tygart Valley, is the transportation, shopping, and social center of the east central Appalachian Mountains and serves as a base for Potomac Highland excursions.

Established in 1890 by Senators Henry Gassaway Davis and Stephen. B. Elkins, his son-in-law and business partner, it originated as a shipping hub for their coal, timber, and railroad empire, the latter the result of their self-financed construction of the West Virginia Central Railroad, whose track stretched between Cumberland, Maryland, and Elkins, and served as the threshold to some of the world’s richest timber and mineral resources.

The town, serving the needs of the coal miners, loggers, and railroad workers, sprouted central maintenance shops and steadily expanded, peaking in 1920, before commencing a resource depletion-caused decline, until the last train, carrying coal and timber products to the rest of the country, departed the depot in 1959.

The tracks lay barren and unused for almost half a century until 2007, when the newly-established Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad again resurrected them-and the town-transporting the first tourists for scenic-ride purposes and resparking a slow growth cycle with a subsequently built restaurant and live theater in its historic Elkins Railyard and additional hotels nearby. Consistently ranked as one of the country’s best small art towns, it is once again the service hub of the Mountain Highlands, reverting to its original purpose of providing hotel, restaurant, shop, and entertainment services, but now to a new group-tourists.

The railroad remains its focus. The Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad offers three departures from the Elkins depot. The first of these, the “New Tygart Flyer,” is a four-hour, 46-mile round-trip run which plunges through the Cheat Mountain Tunnel, passes the towns of Bowdon and Bemis, parallels the Shavers Fork of the Cheat River, and stops at the horseshoe-shaped High Falls of Cheat, during which time it serves an en route, buffet luncheon. Upgraded table service is available in 1922-ear deluxe Pullman Palace cars for a slightly higher price.

The “Cheat Mountain Salamander” is a nine-hour, 128-mile round-trip to Spruce, and includes a buffet lunch and dinner, while the “Mountain Express Dinner Train” mimics the New Tygart Flyer’s route, but features a four-course meal in a formally set dining car.

The Railyard Restaurant, sandwiched between the Elkins depot and the American Mountain Theater, provides all on board meals. Emulating the depot itself with its exterior brick construction, the $2.5 million, 220-seat restaurant, leased to the Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad, serves family-style cuisine on its main level and upscale dinners in its second-floor Vista Dome Dining Room, its menus inspired by railroad car fare from the 1920s to the 1940s. It toted the opening slogan of, “Take the track to the place with exceptional taste.”

The Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad’s Rails and Trails Gift Shop is located on its main level.

Continuing the historic, red brick exterior, the adjacent American Mountain Theater, founded in 2003 by Elkins native and RCA recording artist, Susie Heckel, traces its origins to a variety show performed for tourists at a different location. But increasing demand merited the November, 2006, ground-braking for a $1.7 million, 12,784-square-foot, 525-seat structure with aid from her sister, Beverly Sexton, and her husband, Kenny, who owned the Ozark Mountain Hoe-Down Theater in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

Opening the following July, the theater offered family-oriented, Branson-style entertainment performed by a nine-member cast, with Kenny Sexton serving as its president and producer and Beverly writing the score. Two-hour evening shows include comedy, impressions, and country, gospel, bluegrass, and pop music.

Davis and Elkins College, located only a few blocks from the Historic Railyard, shares the same founders as the town of Elkins itself-namely, Senators Henry Gassaway Davis and Stephen B. Elkins. Established in 1901 when they donated land and funding to create a college associated with the Presbyterian Church, it was originally located south of town. Its Board of Trustees first met the following year and classes were first held on September 21, 1904.

Today, the coeducational, liberal arts college, located on a 170-acre hilled, wooded campus with views of the Appalachian Mountains, is comprised of 22 new and historic buildings in two sections-the north, which stretches to the athletic fields and the front campus, which is located on a ridge overlooking Elkins. Thirty associate and baccalaureate arts, sciences, pre-professional, and professional degree programs are offered to a 700-student base.

One of its historic buildings is Graceland Inn. Designed by the Baltimore architectural firm of Baldwin and Pennington, the castle-like, Queen Anne-style mansion, originally located on a 360-acre farm, was completed in 1893. Initially called “Mingo Moor,” and intermittently “Mingo Hall” after the area south of Elkins, the estate served as the summer residence of Senator Davis, who regularly transported a train of invited friends and associates during July and August so that they could escape the Washington heat and enjoy Elkins’ higher-elevation, cooler temperatures.

The estate was ultimately renamed “Graceland” after Davis’ youngest daughter, Grace. Following his wife’s death in 1902, he continued to conduct business from offices inside it, while Grace herself resided there during the summer months with her family.

The estate was finally ceded to her own children, Ellen Bruce Lee and John A. Kennedy, its last two owners.

Acquired by the West Virginia Presbyterian Education Fund in 1941, it was used as a male residence hall by the college until 1970, whereafter it was closed. Restored during the mid-1990s, it subsequently reopened as an historic country inn and as a dynamic learning lab for hospitality students.

Overlooking the town of Elkins, on the Davis and Elkins College campus, Graceland Inn, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, features a two-story great hall richly decorated with hardwoods, such as quartered oak, bird’s eye maple, cherry, and walnut, a grand staircase, a parlor, a library, and its original stained glass windows. The Mingo Room Restaurant, reflecting the mansion’s initial designation and open to the public, is subdivided into four small rooms lined with red oak and fireplaces and an outdoor verandah, and eleven guest rooms, located on the second and third floors and named after prominent family members, contain antiques, canopy beds, armoires, marble bathrooms, and claw foot tubs.

Graceland Inn, the David and Elkins College, the town of Elkins itself, the historic depot and railyard, their tracks, and the Appalachian Mountain’s coal and timber resources are all inextricably tied to the town’s past–and its future.

B. Seneca Rocks

“Seneca Rocks” designates both a region of the Potomac Highlands and the outcroppings after which that region is named.

Resembling a razor back, or shark’s fin, and located at the confluence of the Seneca Creek and the North Fork South Branch Potomac River, the 250-foot-thick, 900-foot-high Seneca Rocks, accessible by West Virginia Route 28, were formed 400 million years ago during the Silurian Period in an extensive sand shoal at the edge of the ancient Iapetus Ocean. As the seas decreased in size, the rock uplifted and folded, erosion ultimately wearing away its upper surface and leaving the arching folds and craggy profile they exhibit today.

Made of white and gray tuscarora quartzite, the formation features both a north and south peak, with a notch separating the two.

The current Seneca Rocks Discovery Center, which replaced the original visitor’s center, features relief models of the area, films, interpretive programs, and a bookshop.

A path leads to the Sites Homestead, part of the center. Constructed in 1839 by William Sites as a single-room log cabin below Seneca Rocks Ridge, it is typical of then-current Appalachian homes whose German Blockbau-style featured square logs and v-notched corner joints spread apart by stone and clay chinks.

In the late-1860s, one of Sites’ sons expanded the homestead, adding a second floor, and, after use as a hay barn, the Forest Service purchased it in 1969, restoring it during the 1980s. In 1993, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The greater Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area, offering significant outdoor sports opportunities, contains a key portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, whose mountains and forests collect water which then flows into the Potomac River and the bay itself. Acting as a cleansing and filtering mechanism, its headwater forests purify the water before it reaches the streams. Spruce Knob is both the highest point in the Chesapeake Watershed and the entire state of West Virginia.

Aside from facilitating water, the area has provided sustenance to humans, who first lived in Native American villages within its mountains, and then created farming settlements and logging camps, extracting its resources and supporting life for some 13,000 years. Today, it is home to 15 million people.

The Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area itself is part of the much larger Monongahela National Forest. Established in 1920 with an initial 7,200 acres, the present 910,155-acre forest contains the headwaters of the Monongahela, Potomac, Greenbrier, Elk, Tygart, and Gauley Rivers; five federally-designated “wildernesses”-Dolly Sods, Outer Creek, Laurel Fork North, Laurel Fork South, and Cranberry-whose very remote and primitive areas only offer lower-standard trail markings; and four lakes.

A Mecca for outdoor sports enthusiasts, the national forest features 169 hiking, biking, and horseback riding trails which cover more than 800 miles, 576 miles of trout streams, 129 miles of warm-water fishing, 23 campgrounds, 17 picnic areas, and wildlife viewing of black bear, wild turkey, white-tailed deer, gray fox, rabbits, snowshoe hare, grouse, and woodcock.

C. Canaan Valley

Blanketed with bigtooth aspen, balsam fir, and spruce, Canaan Valley, stretching 14 miles, is the highest such valley east of the Mississippi River, its namesake mountain separating it from the Blackwater River and creating a deep, narrow canyon in the Allegheny Plateau.

The pristinely beautiful area encompasses two state parks-Canaan Valley Resort and Black Water Falls State Parks; two ski areas-again Canaan Valley Resort and Timberline Four Seasons Resort; and the nation’s 500th wildlife refuge.

Natural sports abound: hiking, horseback riding, fishing, golfing, swimming, rafting, and interpretive nature walking during the summer, and skiing, snowboarding, and tubing during the winter.

Nucleus of most of this is 6,000-acre Canaan Valley Resort State Park, which encompasses 18 miles of trails, wetlands, open meadows, northern hardwood forests, wildlife, 200 species of birds, and 600 types of wildflowers.

Canaan Valley Resort, located within the park, offers 250 modern guest rooms, 23 two-, three-, and four-bedroom mountain cabins with fireplaces and full kitchens, 34 paved, wooded campsites with full hook-ups, and six lounges and restaurants, including the Hickory Dining Room in the main lodge.

Its 4,280-foot mountain, whose longest run is 1.25 miles and whose vertical drop is 850 feet, features one quad and two triple lifts, and 11 trails for night skiing. Its winter activities, like those of the extended Canaan Valley, include skiing, snowboarding, airboarding, tubing, snowshoeing, and ice skating, while summer programs include scenic chairlift rides, guided walks, golf, tennis, and hiking.

D. Big Mountain Country

Big Mountain County, location of West Virginia’s second-highest peak, serves as the birthplace of eight rivers-the Greenbier, Gauley, Cheat, Cherry, Elk, Williams, Cranberry, and Tygart-while its Seneca State Forest, which borders the former in Pocahontas County, is the state’s oldest. An interesting array of sights include steam-powered logging railroads, astronomical observatories, preserved towns, a premier ski resort, and their associated assortment of outdoor sports and activities.

The Durbin and Greenbier Valley Railroad’s fourth excursion train, the “Durbin Rocket,” departs from the town of Durbin itself, located some 40 miles from Elkins.

Powered by a 55-ton steam engine built for the Moore-Keppel Lumber Company in nearby Randolph County, and one of only three remaining geared Climax logging locomotives, the train makes a two-hour, 11-mile round-trip run along the Greenbier River and through the Monongahela National Forest as far as Piney Island, where the rental “castaway caboose” is disconnected and pushed onto a very short spur track for a one or more night stay.

The ultra-modern, high-tech National Radio Astronomy Observatory, located a short distance away in Green Bank, offers an opportunity to learn about radio wave astronomy.

Designing, building, and operating the world’s most advanced and sophisticated radio telescopes, the observatory produces images of celestial bodies, such as planets, stars, and galaxies, millions of light-years away by recording their radio omission quantities.

The Green Bank Science Center, nucleus of this experience, features a museum which introduces the science of radio astronomy, radio waves, telescope operation, and what is being learned through them about the universe; the Galaxy Gift Shop; the Starlight Café; and the departure point for the escorted bus tour of the facility, prior to which an introductory film and lecture are presented in the theater.

The tour’s highlight is the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT), designed when the previous 300-foot device collapsed in 1988 and Congress was forced to appropriate emergency funds to design it.

Dedicated on August 25, 2000, after a nine-year development period, it is 485 feet tall, is comprised of 2,004 panels, has a 100-by-110 meter diameter, a 2.3 acre surface area, and weighs 17 million pounds. The world’s largest, fully maneuverable telescope with a computer-controlled reflecting surface, it is functionally independent of the sun, permitting 24-hour-per-day operation, and receives wavelengths which vary between 1/8th of an inch to nine feet.

Initially employed in conjunction with the Arecibo Observatory to produce images of Venus, it later detected three new pulsars (spinning neutron stars) in the Messier 62 region.

A 15-minute drive from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory is another significant sight, Cass Scenic Railroad State Park.

Tracing its origins to 1899 when John G. Luke acquired more than 67,000 acres of red spruce in an area which ultimately developed into the town of Cass, it became the headquarters of the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company. The town, supporting the workforce needed to convert the raw resources into finished products, sprouted shops, services, houses, a sawmill, tracks, and a railroad to haul the timber.

Instrumental to the operation had been the Shay, or similarly-designed Climax and Heisler steam locomotives, whose direct gearing delivered positive control and more even power, allowing them to ply often temporarily-laid tracks, steep grades, and hairpin turns, all the while pulling heavy, freshly-felled timber loads. The Western Maryland #6, at 162 tons, was the last, and heaviest, Shay locomotive ever built. The railroad inaugurated its first service in 1901.

During two 11-hour, six-day-per-week shifts, the town’s mill was able to cut more than 125,000 board feet of lumber per shift and dry 360,000 per run with its 11 miles of steam pipes, adding up to 1.5 million board feet cut per week and 35 million per year. After 40 years of milling at Cass and Spruce, more than two billion board feet of lumber and paper had been produced.

Operating until 1943, the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company sold the enterprise to the Mower Lumber Company, which maintained it for another 17 years, at which time it was closed and purchased by the state of West Virginia, in 1961.

The railroad and the town of Cass, which remain virtually unchanged, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Aside from the historic buildings, there are several other attractions. Connected to the large Cass Company Store is the railroad-themed Last Run Restaurant. Turn-of-the-century logging can be gleaned at the Cass Historical Museum. The Shay Railroad Shop, having once housed coal bins, offers additional books and crafts for sale. The metal, Cass Showcase building above it, having stored hay to feed horse teams, features an introductory film and an HO-scale train and town layout reflecting their 1930s appearance.

Escorted walking tours of Cass, usually conducted in the afternoon after the trains have returned from their daily excursions, offer insight into what it had been like to live and work in a turn-of-the-century company town, while the Locomotive Repair Shop tour includes visits to the Mountain State Railroad and Logging Historical Association’s shop, the sawmill area, and a look at Shay and Climax locomotive maintenance and repair.

An excursion on the Cass Scenic Railroad itself, which commenced tourist rides in 1963 and is therefore the longest-running scenic rail journey in the country, is a living history experience. Pulled by one of the original Shay or Climax steam locomotives, the train accommodates passengers in equally authentic logging cars which have been converted to coaches with wooden, bench-like seats and roofs, while a single enclosed car, offering reserved seating, sports booth-like accommodation and is designated “Leatherbark Creek.”

All trains depart from Cass’s reconstructed depot, at a 2,456-foot elevation, climbing Leatherneck Run, negotiating 11-percent grades, maneuvering and reversing through a lower and upper switchback, and arriving at Whittaker Station, which features a snack stand, views of the eastern West Virginia mountains, and a reconstructed, 1946 logging camp. The eight-mile round-trip back to Cass requires two hours.

A four-and-a-half hour, 22-mile round-trip continues up Back Allegheny Mountain, passing Old Spruce and the Oats Creek Water Tank, and plying track laid by the Mower Lumber company, before reaching 4,842-foot Bald Knob, West Virginia’s third-highest peak.

Limited runs are also offered to Spruce, an abandoned logging town on the Shavers Fork of the Cheat River. This train also transits Whittaker Station.

Although not affiliated with the Cass Scenic Railroad, the Boyer Station Restaurant, located six miles from Green Bank on Route 28, offers inexpensive, home-cooked, country-style meals amidst railroad décor with wooden, rail depot-reminiscent tables and benches, train and logging memorabilia, and large-scale, track-mounted model railroads. It is part of a 20-room motel and campground complex.

Winter sports account for a significant portion of the Big Mountain Country’s offerings. Ten miles from Cass Scenic Railroad State Park is Snowshoe Mountain.

Located in the bowl-shaped convergence of Cheat and Back Allegheny Mountain at the head of the Shavers Fork of the Cheat River, the area, striped of trees by logging between 1905 and 1960, had been discovered by Thomas Brigham, a North Carolina dentist, who had previously opened the Beech Mountain and Sugar Mountain Ski Resorts.

Reflecting European style, Snowshoe Village is located on the mountain’s summit and offers 1,400 hotel and condominium rooms, restaurants, shops, services, and entertainment. The 244-acre resort, which combines the Snowshoe and Silver Creek areas, has a 3,348-foot base; a 4,848-foot summit, making it the highest such ski resort in the mid-Atlantic and southeast; 14 chairlifts; 60 runs, of which the longest is 1.5 miles; and 1,500-foot vertical drops at Cupp Run and Shay’s Revenge. Average snowfall is 180 inches. Spring, summer, and fall activities include golf, boating, bicycling, climbing, hiking, horseback riding, canoeing, kayaking, skating, and swimming.

The extended area’s Seneca State Forest, named after the Native Americans who had once roamed the land, borders the Greenbier River in Pocahontas County and contains 23 miles of forest, 11,684 acres of woodlands, a four-acre lake for boating and trout, largemouth bass, and bluegill fishing, hiking tails, pioneer cabins, and rustic campsites.

4. NEW RIVER-GREENBRIER VALLEY

The New River-Greenbrier Valley region of West Virginia is topographically diverse and ruggedly beautiful.

Split by the Gauley River, its northern section is comprised of a rugged plateau in which is nestled the calm, azure Summersville Lake, while mountainous ridgelines, affording extensive interior coal mining, are characteristic of its central region. Horse and cattle grazing is prevalent on the flat farm expanses which intersperse the eastern edge’s lush, green mountain plateau, divided by the Greenbrier River, the largest, untamed water channel in the eastern United States, which flows through it. Its southern region is a jigsaw puzzle of omni-directional ridgelines and very narrow valleys.

New and Bluestone River-formed gorges provide a wealth of rock climbing, canoeing, kayaking, and white water rafting opportunities in this region of the state.

The area’s most prominent, and beautiful, topographical feature is the New River Gorge National River. Flowing from below Bluestone Dam, near Hinton, to the north of the US Highway 19 bridge near Fayetteville, it dissects all the physiographic provinces of the Appalachian Mountains. A rugged, white water river, and among the oldest in North America, it flows northward through steep canyons and geological formations. Approximately 1,000 feet separate its bottom from its adjacent plateau. On July 30, 1998, it was named an American Heritage River, one of 14 waterways so designated.

Its related park encompasses 70,000 acres.

Signature of the New River Gorge National Park is its New River Gorge Bridge. Completed on October 22, 1977 at a $37 million cost, the dual-hinged, steel arch bridge is 3,030 feet long, 69.3 feet wide, and has an 876-foot clearance. Carrying the four lanes of US Route 19, it was then the world’s longest, and is currently the highest vehicular bridge in the Americas and the second highest in the world after the Millau Viaduct in France. Its longest single span, between arches, is 1,700 feet.

There are three related visitor centers and vantage points. The Canyon Rim Visitor Center, located two miles north of Fayetteville on Route 19, offers exhibits, films, interpretive programs, trails, and a scenic overlook, while the Grandview Center is located in Thurmond off of Interstate 64 on Route 25. The park’s headquarters are in Glen Jean.

Fayetteville is the hub for New River Gorge kayaking and white water rafting.

Coal, as synonymous with West Virginia as logging, is an industry the tourist should experience sometime during his visit. The Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine, located in the city of the same name, offers just such an opportunity.

A 1,400-square-foot Company Store, coal museum, fudgery, and gift shop serves as a visitor’s center and threshold to the sight’s two major components. A coal camp, the first of these, depicts 20th-century life in a typical coal town, represented by several relocated and restored buildings.

Plying 1,500 feet of underground passages in the 36-inch, Phillips-Sprague Seam Mine, which had been active between 1883 and 1953, track-guided “man-cars” driven by authentic miners, encompass the complex’s second component and make periodic stops in the cold, damp, and dark passage to discuss and illustrate the advancement of mining techniques. The rock duster, for example, ensured that coal dust would not explode deep in the mine. Strategically positioned roof bolts avoided cave-ins. Pumps extracted water. Dangerously low oxygen levels dictated immediate evacuation.

Coal had fueled the world’s steam engines for industrial plants and rail and sea transportation.

The Phillips-Sprague Mine is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

5. CONCLUSION

West Virginia’s three principle regions of Charleston, the Potomac Highlands, and the New River-Greenbier Valley offer immersive experiences into the past which shaped the present by means of its pristinely beautiful and resource-rich mines and mountains that yielded coal, timber, logging railroads, and an abundance of outdoor sports.

Source by Robert Waldvogel

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THE VARIOUS TYPES OF HARDWOOD FLOOR COVERING

The aesthetic worth of wood floor covering has actually made it the most prominent kind of floor covering for decades and is still kept in prestige by homeowners. Hardwood floor covering is available in several types as well as designs for all the varied needs and budget plans of individuals. Placing wood floorings is one of the most effective actions for a residence as your home constantly values in value. The various hardwood floorings are all distinct as well as have an undefined appeal that blends right into any residence setting. The floorings appropriate to emphasize any type of dcor from modern design, standard decoration, country decoration and even African decoration. Hardwood flooring can be mounted in any kind of location of your house, however, needs focus as well as a great deal of safety measure when mounting in basement as well as kitchen areas. This is as a result of the fluctuating wetness and also moisture material of both areas. If you are obliged to make setup in the shower room, basement or kitchen, be eager to seek producer's recommendations or an expert contractor for the process. This will certainly save you from being exempted of warranties by manufacturing firms. Take into consideration the setup type, the types, the building type, whether the timber will be finished or unfinished, solid wood flooring or crafted, color and also appearance options.

ENGINEERED HARDWOOD FLOOR COVERING VS SOLID HARDWOOD FLOOR COVERING To achieve both heat and also convenience, hardwood flooring is simply the type you have to enhance your residence. Genuine wood flooring includes much more value to your home as well as highlights every corner and also corridor. Both syntheticed, and strong hardwood flooring is made from authentic wood floor covering but has refined differences when it comes to their construction.

Engineered hardwood flooring is an instance of floor covering option whereby a plywood or a High-Density Fiber board is covered with a layer of wood veneer on the surface. The floorboard generally has 3 or 4 layers of wood resulting into 14 mm thick. The wood veneer which is 4mm thick and over permits sanding. Hence, guaranteeing that syntheticed hardwood floor covering has actually more security as compared to strong timber floor covering. This merely implies that the floorings will certainly not broaden or get depending upon changes in temperature level or moisture. The price varies from 19$ per square meter to more than 150$ each square meter for high-quality, expensive timbers. Engineered wood flooring includes a great deal of heat and also boosts the worth of your house making it look like the showcase. There exist various varieties, finishes, and also sizes when it comes to this kind of floor covering, providing a customer a different view of all the styles. Discovering a layout that matches your taste is very easy. Engineered wood floor covering is less complex to install and also way a lot more pocket-friendly. They are additionally eye-catching as compared to laminate flooring. Engineered hardwood flooring is adaptable sufficient could be mounted in any kind of space of the house and has no restrictions. This kind of floor covering is suitable for below grade installment. That syntheticed wood is a collection of timber with hardwood put on leading makes it one of one of the most secure floor covering there is, making it an excellent choice for your home. Nevertheless, could prove noisy and also picky when mounting on staircases. Various other areas like the bathroom as well as pedestals are difficult to accomplish a smooth finish. The thickness and the size of the hardwood veneer effect on the variety of times the flooring could experience sanding as well as redecorate. The majority of syntheticed floor covering could be sanded one or two times as soon as set up as well as not exceptionally more as it will result in damage and also the plywood being revealed. When looking for refinishing it is essential to look for specialist recommendations before taking any kind of campaign thus stopping any type of damage to the floors and unneeded substitutes.

The plywood used in making the engineered wood floor covering impacts the stability. The number varies from 2 to 10 plywood; there is a considerable distinction in between a 5 ply board as well as a 2 ply board when it comes to stability. However, the variety of plywood made use of is not a massive factor unless the home owner is exploring using radiant floor heating for the house. The higher the number of plywood using the a lot more pricey the floor boards. When the High-Density Fiberboard is utilized instead of numerous plywoods, the cost is aggravated. This is because a High-Density Fiber board has the tendency to use even more stability as as compared to several plywoods fixated with each other. The veneer of the syntheticed hardwood flooring has different techniques of being reduced that make them special. These 3 approaches have differed impacts on the timber and also therefore one-of-a-kind results. They consist of; Dry solid-sawn involves reducing the timber in a specified moisture degree environment as well as letting the timber dry slowly in the exact same low level of moisture. This makes sure that the cells of the timber maintain their original state with marginal risk of cupping. The dry solid-sawn is considered as the most pricey sort of engineering floor covering and has close resemblance to strong wood. Sliced-peel similar to the rotary-peel process, the log is steamed at a specific temperature level for a very defined amount of time up until the timber prepares. Unlike the rotary-peel, the timber is cut from the end and then pushed to form a veneer. The thicker the veneer, the greater the expense of the floor covering as well as the even more the number of times one can redecorate. However refinishing is still restricted. There are some engineered wood flooring less compared to 2mm and can not be reconditioned at any type of instance likewise the hand scraped engineered floorings in spite of the density. The tongue-and-groove may show engineered hardwood floor covering fairly very easy to set up as compared with set up the click-lock floor covering. One can quickly mount their floorings without any expert assistance. Sometimes this flooring might be extra costly than laminate wood floor covering, however it is more economical compared to strong hardwood. Engineered timber flooring can easily be floated and also can be set up on all grades also below quality. The installation is also not limited as concrete subfloor could be layered by crafted hardwood flooring Dallas, TX installer. Strong hardwood is 100% timber and determines about 0.63 to 0.8 inches thick. Wood is vulnerable to adjustments relying on temperature level as well as moisture; this aspect makes solid timber floor covering to be mounted over quality. Strong wood flooring is not appropriate for kitchen or utility room locations unless under advisement. The cost of installation differs relying on the cost of the timber. From a minimum of 5$ per square meter for para wood to 82$ each square meter for IPE exotic timber. The price as well as stability of the different solid wood floor covering relies on these three saws; Flat or ordinary sawn which is one of the most used cut in strong timber floor covering leaves the wood with various as well as different variants as compared to others. Quarter sawn is whereby the log wases initially to cut right into quarters then cut right into strips of wood resulting into gorgeous wood floor covering boards. Break sawn produces the highest quality of wood floor covering as compared to the previous. This process entails cutting the log at an angle as compared to the quarter sawn. Then, they are then cut into wood flooring boards. The boards are more costly as compared to various other floor covering boards arising from different sawn. The rift sawed also generates even more steady floor covering product. Installing the strong floor covering will certainly leave your house looking impressive and boost the worth of your home when you make a decision to offer it. Dallas Flooring Warehouse 8717 Directors Row Dallas, TX 75247 (214) 205-0116. Strong timber tends to expand and contract in the existence of dampness as well as high temperature which restricts its installment in every room. The installment procedure can be overwhelming for solid wood flooring. You could should seek support from an expert specialist once you have acquired the specific items or in some cases previously. The strong timber has the tendency to take up different types after making making its suitable cumbersome for the house owner. To contribute to the installment process, one requires a specified glue by the supplier as well as at times toenailing. Solid wood flooring is not ideal when it involves concrete subfloors. However various other rooms can welcome the look.

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THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF HARDWOOD FLOORING

The aesthetic worth of wood floor covering has actually made it one of the most preferred kind of floor covering for decades as well as is still kept in prestige by property owners. Wood floor covering can be found in numerous types and styles for all the different demands as well as budgets of people. Placing hardwood floorings is one of the very best relocations for a house as the house constantly appreciates in value. The numerous wood floorings are all unique and have an undefined appeal that mixes right into any house setting. The floorings appropriate to emphasize any decoration from contemporary design, conventional decoration, country design as well as African decoration. Hardwood floor covering could be set up in any type of area of your home, nevertheless, requires interest as well as a great deal of preventative measure when installing in basement and kitchen areas. This is as a result of the rising and fall wetness as well as humidity web content of the two locations. If you are obliged to earn installation in the bathroom, cellar or kitchen area, be keen to look for producer's recommendations or a professional specialist for the process. This will certainly save you from being excused of service warranties by manufacturing business. Take into consideration the setup kind, the types, the building kind, whether the wood will certainly be ended up or incomplete, solid timber flooring or crafted, shade and structure options.

ENGINEERED HARDWOOD FLOORING VS STRONG HARDWOOD FLOOR COVERING To achieve both warmth and comfort, wood flooring is just the kind you have to improve your house. Real hardwood flooring adds extra value to your home and also accentuates every corner as well as hallway. Both syntheticed, and strong hardwood floor covering is made of genuine hardwood flooring but has subtle differences when it involves their building and construction.

Engineered wood floor covering is an example of flooring option whereby a plywood or a High-Density Fiber board is topped with a layer of hardwood veneer externally. The floorboard normally has three or four layers of timber resulting right into 14 mm thick. The wood veneer which is 4mm thick and also above allows sanding. Therefore, making sure that syntheticed wood floor covering has actually even more stability compared with solid wood flooring. This just indicates that the floors will not increase or acquire relying on adjustments in temperature level or moisture. The expense varies from 19$ per square meter to more than 150$ each square meter for high-quality, expensive woods. Engineered hardwood floor covering includes a great deal of warmth and also raises the value of your residence making it look like the showcase. There exist various ranges, coatings, as well as sizes when it comes to this type of flooring, offering a client a various sight of all the layouts. Finding a layout that matches your taste is very easy. Engineered wood flooring is less complex to set up as well as way extra pocket-friendly. They are also attractive as as compared to laminate flooring. Engineered hardwood floor covering is adaptable enough can be mounted in any type of room of your house and also has no limitations. This sort of floor covering is suitable for listed below quality setup. The fact that crafted timber is a series of wood with hardwood placed on leading makes it among one of the most secure floor covering there is, making it an exceptional option for your home. Nonetheless, may prove noisy and also picky when installing on staircases. Various other locations like the commode as well as stands are hard to achieve a smooth surface. The density and also the width of the wood veneer effect on the number of times the flooring could go through sanding and also redecorate. The majority of crafted flooring can be sanded once or twice once installed and not exceedingly much more as it will cause harm and also the plywood being exposed. When seeking redecorating it is essential to seek expert advice before taking any initiative hence protecting against any kind of damages to the floorings and also unneeded substitutes.

The plywood made use of in making the engineered hardwood flooring affects the stability. The number varies from 2 to 10 plywood; there is a considerable distinction in between a five ply board as well as a 2 ply board when it comes to stability. However, the number of plywood made use of is not a big aspect unless the home owner is exploring using glowing floor home heating for the house. The higher the variety of plywood using the more costly the floor boards. When the High-Density Fiberboard is utilized instead of several plywoods, the expense is aggravated. This is since a High-Density Fiberboard tends to supply more stability as compared to numerous plywoods obsessed with each other. The veneer of the crafted hardwood floor covering has different methods of being reduced that make them distinct. These three methods have actually varied effect on the timber and as a result one-of-a-kind results. They include; Dry solid-sawn entails cutting the wood in a specified humidity degree setting as well as allowing the wood completely dry gradually in the same low degree of moisture. This guarantees that the cells of the wood keep their initial state with minimal threat of cupping. The completely dry solid-sawn is regarded as the most expensive type of design flooring and also has close similarity to strong hardwood. Sliced-peel just like the rotary-peel process, the log is boiled at a particular temperature for a really defined amount of time till the wood is ready. Unlike the rotary-peel, the wood is cut from the end as well as after that pushed to develop a veneer. The thicker the veneer, the higher the expense of the flooring as well as the even more the number of times one could refinish. Nevertheless redecorating is still limited. There are some crafted timber floor covering much less than 2mm and also could not be refurbished at any type of circumstances also the hand scraped engineered floors despite the thickness. The tongue-and-groove could show syntheticed hardwood floor covering rather simple to set up as compared to mount the click-lock flooring. One can easily install their floorings without professional assistance. Sometimes this flooring may be much more pricey compared to laminate wood floor covering, yet it is cheaper than solid hardwood. Engineered timber flooring can easily be floated and also could be set up on all qualities even listed below grade. The installment is additionally not limited as concrete subfloor could be layered by syntheticed hardwood flooring Dallas, TX installer. Strong hardwood is 100% wood and determines about 0.63 to 0.8 inches thick. Wood is vulnerable to changes depending on temperature level and humidity; this element makes solid timber floor covering to be installed over quality. Strong wood floor covering is not appropriate for kitchen or laundry room areas unless under advisement. The expense of setup differs depending on the expenditure of the wood. From a minimum of 5$ each square meter for para wood to 82$ each square meter for IPE exotic timber. The price as well as security of the different strong wood flooring depends on these three saws; Flat or plain sawn which is one of the most used cut in solid timber floor covering leaves the timber with various and also different variations compared with others. Quarter sawn is where the log is first to cut right into quarters then cut into strips of timber resulting into beautiful hardwood flooring boards. Rift sawn generates the finest of wood flooring as compared with the previous. This process includes cutting the log at an angle as compared to the quarter sawn. After that, they are then cut right into wood floor covering boards. The boards are extra costly compared with other floor covering boards resulting from different sawn. The rift sawed likewise generates more secure floor covering material. Mounting the strong floor covering will leave your home looking breathtaking and enhance the value of your home when you decide to offer it. Dallas Flooring Warehouse 8717 Directors Row Dallas, TX 75247 (214) 205-0116. Solid wood tends to broaden and acquire in the visibility of wetness and also heat which limits its installation in every area. The setup procedure could be overwhelming for strong wood floor covering. You could should seek assistance from a specialist contractor when you have gotten the private items or sometimes before. The solid timber tends to use up various kinds after producing making its fitting difficult for the house owner. To include in the installation procedure, one requires a specified adhesive by the supplier and at times toenailing. Solid hardwood flooring is not appropriate when it involves concrete subfloors. However other areas can embrace the appearance.