For Immediate Release: October 27, 2009

For More Information:
Annette Barnette
Public Relations & Marketing Director
Glenville State College
Glenville, West Virginia
(304) 462-4115

Glenville, WV – Glenville State College students will spend Friday, October 30th at Yeager Airport again continuing their work on ‘Adopt Yeager Airport’ activities. GSC Land Resources Professor Milan Vavrek’s Soils and Land Reclamation class will perform the next intervention as part of the ongoing effort to reclaim the mountainside that was moved to extend the runway at Yeager Airport. The class will be evaluating the survival rate of 1,500 poplar trees that were planted last spring. The students will also be gathering data on the sprouting of native trees’ seeds that were mixed with hydro-seeded grasses. The class will also be planting additional trees. The nationally recognized GSC Land Resources Department has created a comprehensive plan for reforestation and will be revising it according to evolving conditions at the disturbed site for the next two years.

On October 16th, about 35 Stonewall Jackson Middle school students helped the project by planting hundreds of trees at the base of the mountain. Glenville State College’s efforts began in September 2008 and are being supported by Yeager Airport, the Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation, Capitol Conservation District, Smith Land Surveying, the Dow Chemical Company, BBL Carlton Contractors, the Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad, and Dr. William Harris.

Reporters planning to cover this event can meet at the airport terminal at noon to be guided to the site. For more information about the project, contact GSC’s Dr. Bob Henry Baber at bob.baber@glenville.edu or by calling (304) 462-4125 (office) or (304) 904-2440 (cell).