Left to right: Angie Sheldon, Education & Outreach Coordinator for Appalachian Trail Conservancy Todd Morland, GIS Tech II for Roanoke County Community Development Department Chief Richard E. Burch, Jr., Roanoke County Fire & Rescue Mike Vaughn, President, Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club (back) Division Chief Steve Simon, Roanoke County Fire & Rescue Jim Campbell (presenting award), Executive Director of VACo Volunteer Fire Chief Emerson Schoonover, Masons Cove Volunteer Fire Company (back) Richard Flora, Chairman, Roanoke County Board of Supervisors (receiving award) Laura Belleville, Director of Conservation for Appalachian Trail Conservancy

On August 1, 2012 the Virginia Association of Counties (VACo) announced that Roanoke County Fire & Rescue Department had been selected as one of 11 winners in the VACo 2012 Achievement Awards Program. Tuesday, Jim Campbell, VACo Executive Director, was present at the Board of Supervisors meeting to officially present Roanoke County with the Achievement Award.

The Fire & Rescue Department received the Public Safety award for their entry entitled “Public Safety on the Appalachian Trail”.  Over the last five years, Roanoke County Fire & Rescue witnessed a dramatic increase in rescue calls for lost or injured hikers on or near the Roanoke County portion of the Appalachian Trail (AT). Most of these rescues were for minor injuries or lost day-hikers who were ill prepared. It was not uncommon for day- hikers to have little or no water, inappropriate clothing, and no flashlight, as well as being in poor physical condition for an entire day of hiking.

To effectively manage these types of rescues the Fire & Rescue Department realized that additional training needed to be completed to help mitigate these types of incidents, and moreover to ensure the safety of Fire & Rescue Department personnel who were tasked with responding. During this training, it was realized that a vast majority of hikers becoming lost stated that there were very few signs or trail markings to keep them on the correct path.

Submitted by Jennifer Conley Sexton.

Read on for more information about the award.

A public-private partnership was developed with all the stakeholders that have a responsibility to the AT to identify solutions to the problem of people becoming lost or injured. The group consisted of Roanoke County Fire & Rescue representing local government, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC), U.S. Park Police, U.S. Park Service, U.S. Forestry Service, Virginia Department of Forestry and Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club.   The initial challenge of this group was to develop a shared vision on ensuring that all the stakeholders’ priorities were met.  There was a very significant concern by the ATC and RATC that the natural experience of the outdoors would be impacted by an overabundance of signs for the day-hiker.  Through a number of stakeholder meetings these concerns were addressed and a plan was developed to improve the signage on the trails while not taking away the natural experience of hiking on the AT.

This group moved the meetings from the office to the trail with two stakeholder hikes to actually identify where lost hikers and injuries occurred through detailed GIS mapping. During the hikes the representatives of each group developed strategies on what type of signage would work best, where additional information kiosks should be placed and improvement of public documents of the trail such as brochures and maps.

This Appalachian Trail Partnership took over three years and required multiple organizations that had very different missions to work together for a common goal. The outcome has been a tremendous success in reducing the responses to lost or injured hikers but more importantly has made hiking in Roanoke County a more enjoyable and safer destination for all citizens who want to experience some of Virginia’s most breath taking natural venues.

VACo processed 37 entries for the competitive statewide contest. The judges were very impressed by the quality of the program submitted. The competition was extremely fierce.

“It always amazes me the level of competition for Achievement Awards,” said James Campbell, VACo executive director. “This year is no exception. Competition is fierce. All 37 entries were deserving but only the best received an award. I’m grateful we have outstanding judges because the task to pick winners is not an easy one.”

This was the eighth consecutive year Povar has served as judge. “This year the entries were particularly strong in community/economic development and regional collaboration,” Povar said. “This tells me that counties are working together to improve their service delivery systems. Regional collaboration works, and counties are proud to show examples of it.”

Blake, who served as judge in 2010, also raved about the quality of the entries. “As judges, we appreciate the time counties invest to prepare and submit award nominations,” Blake said. “Many of these submissions required hours of detailed preparation to fully describe the project and its surrounding context. Counties understand it’s important to be recognized for superior work, but it’s even more vital to share innovative ideas and programs with each other. The Achievement Awards program allows counties and the public to view the creative work that’s happening today in local government.”

The VACo Achievement Awards is a competitive program open to local government members of the association.

Submitted by Roanoke County