ROANOKE -- Appalachian Power Co. announced yesterday that it is placing about 5,000 acres at Smith Mountain Lake in a conservation easement that will keep the scenic land pristine forever.

The easement, to be held by the state and the Virginia Outdoor Foundation, a quasi-state agency, will put Smith Mountain, at the eastern end of the lake, permanently off-limits to the kind of development that has engulfed the manmade lake's shores since the lake was created four decades ago. Today, more than 20,000 people live around the reservoir.

"Keeping these kinds of assets for generations to come is just an unmatchable opportunity to do some good for the community," said Michael G. Morris, president of American Electric Power, Appalachian Power's parent company, as he announced the donation at a news conference with Gov. Timothy M. Kaine in Roanoke.

The land to be conserved straddles Smith Mountain Dam. About 4,022 acres are in Pittsylvania County, and 964 acres are in Bedford County.

Morris said the company has never had any intention to develop the wooded land and has kept it open to hunters. One company official estimated its value in the tens of millions of dollars.

"The value of the land didn't mean that much to us," Morris said. "We could really find no higher use than dedicating it under this particular structure."

The power company's gift comes as it is trying to get the State Corporation Commission to reconsider its disapproval of a planned coal-burning power plant in West Virginia. Appalachian Power says the 629-megawatt plant would cost $2.23 billion to build, but the SCC last week dubbed that figure "not credible."

West Virginia regulators have approved construction of the plant, but the company also needs Virginia to sign off because the company serves customers in both states. Yesterday, Appalachian Power officials said the donation has no connection to the SCC decision and has been under consideration since 2006.

Kaine credited L. Preston Bryant Jr., Virginia's secretary of natural resources, for working with the company over the past year to get the conservation easement.

"We don't do many things in public life that are forever, but open space conservation easements really are forever," Kaine said. "This is a very strategic and beautiful property and the knowledge that it will always be beautiful is something that gives me a deep sense of pride and comfort."

When he took office more than two years ago, Kaine set a goal of protecting 400,000 acres from development. The Appalachian Power gift, he said, brings the total acreage protected during his administration to 250,000.

The company, which owns the reservoir, releases water through the Smith Mountain Dam to create electricity.
Contact Rex Bowman at (540) 344-3612 or rbowman@timesdispatch.com.