Friends of Blackwater’s mission is to protect the Blackwater Canyon and Blackwater River region, a stunningly beautiful area of the Appalachian Allegheny Highlands -- and to promote economic development that maximizes biodiversity and outdoor recreational opportunities.  To advance this mission, Friends of Blackwater has carried out campaigns to defend and enforce environmental and community protection laws and values.  They include protecting the public Blackwater Canyon Trail in the Monongahela National Forest, protecting Ginny the endangered flying squirrel, cleaning up mining pollution in the North Fork of the Blackwater River, protecting sensitive areas of the Monongahela National Forest from gas drilling, protecting the Allegheny Front from badly sited industrial wind turbines and moving private land in the Blackwater Canyon into public ownership. The Friends of Blackwater also runs the JR Clifford Project which teaches folks about the life and legacy of West Virginia’s first African American lawyer whose famous civil rights case came from the Blackwater Canyon.