June 1998: Blackwater Summer “Costumed Critters” circulate Save Blackwater Canyon petitions statewide at Cheat Fest, Wildflower Pilgrimage, Glenville, Folk Festival, 24 Hours of Canaan, Elkins: “Pickin in the Park”, (photos) 28,000 sign petitions.

October 1998: Citizens file Notice of Intent to Sue.

December 1998: Fish and Wildlife Service tells AWP to stop road building and logging in endangered species habitat.

December 1998: Campaign to create Blackwater Canyon National Park begins. Campaign endorsed by: United Mine Workers, League of Women Voters, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Mountaineer Chapter of Trout Unlimited, West Virginia Rivers Coalition, West Virginia Chapter of Sierra Club, Appalachian American Indian Council, Appalachian Restoration Campaign, Blue Heron Environmental Network, Brooks Bird Club, Friends of the Earth, Heartwood, Potomac Audubon, Religious Campaign for Forest Conservation, West Virginia Citizens Action Group, West Virginia Environmental Council, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, West Virginia Organizing Project More petition photos, scan of Blackwater NP brochure

April 1999: Citizens file lawsuit against logging in Endangered Species Habitat.

October 1999: Backpacker Magazine features Blackwater Canyon Campaign.

November 1999: Endangered bat surveys in Blackwater Canyon; Indiana and Virginia big-eared bats identified.

December 1999: Citizens file suit to stop logging along Blackwater Canyon Trail:  Lawsuit forces company to restrict logging plan to protect wildlife habitat.

January 2001: In State of the State address incoming West Virginia Governor Wise commits to preserving special places like Blackwater Canyon.

May 2001: FOB receives National Wildlife Federation grant to protect rare butterflies in Blackwater Canyon.

November 2001: Friends of Blackwater kicks off the “Special Places” Campaign with mass mailing, e-mail, and TV ads. 3,000 postcards are sent to Governor Wise to nominate Blackwater Canyon as the most special place in West Virginia

January 2002: Governor Wise buys 500 acres along the Blackwater River from Allegheny Power to add to Blackwater Falls State Park. Click here to view the 500 acre addition.

March 2002: FOB’s North Fork Watershed Project begins. North Fork Watershed office opens in Thomas in Tucker County. The Project’s goal is cleaning up acid mine drainage in the North Fork of the Blackwater River. click here to visit the North Fork website.

June 2002: United States Forest Service considers request by Allegheny Wood Products to turn the Blackwater Canyon Trail into a logging road.

September 2002: Friends of Blackwater Botany Project begins. Artist Anna Hess does field studies and drawings of Blackwater Canyon’s unique flora.

November 2002: FOB spearheads Campaign to stop AWP from turning the Blackwater Canyon Trail into a logging road. 10,000 comments are sent to the Forest Service. FOB gets help from The Wilderness Society, American Rivers, American Lands, American Hiking Society, Canoe Cruisers Association, Endangered Species Coalition and West Virginia groups.

June 2003: North Fork History Project begins, with Coketon Labor History Workshop in Thomas funded by the West Virginia Humanities Council.

September 2003: Friends of Blackwater Open House in Asbury Church. West Virginia Department of Natural Resources Director Ed Hamrick accepts 3,030 Blackwater Canyon “Special Places” postcards on behalf of Governor Wise.

August 2003: The US Forest Service agrees to do a full Environmental Impact Statement on AWP's  proposal to turn the public  Blackwater Canyon Trail into a  logging road.

January 2004: Friends of Blackwater launches the Blackwater Election Petition to make sure West Virginia political candidates make Blackwater Protection part of their political platform.

April 2004: Friends of Blackwater one of five organizations in America awarded $32,000 by The Conservation Alliance.

pril 2004: Fifteen candidates running for statewide political offices issue public statements proclaiming their support for protection of West Virginia's Blackwater Canyon.

April 2004: Stemming from Friends of Blackwater's North Fork History Symposium in June 2003, curiosity and mounds of research lead to the first reenactment of an 1898 "separate, but equal" case argued and won first in Tucker County, and again in Charleston at the State  Supreme Court by West Virginia's first African-American lawyer, John Robert Clifford.

July 2004: Blackwater Falls State Park is named a "21st Century American Heritage Place" by Americans for Our Heritage and Recreation. Blackwater Falls was chosen for the national award because of the Park’s ability to provide close to home recreation and a variety of recreational opportunities like hiking, fishing, swimming and horseback riding.

September 2004: Friends of Blackwater hosts "Visioning Blackwater Canyon National Park" conference.

September 2004: Second Annual Acid Mine Drainage Tour in Thomas

October 2004: Friends of Blackwater -- backed by coalition of five other groups -- notifies Allegheny Wood Products (AWP) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“Service”) of AWP’s violations of the Endangered Species Act in an attempt to save the critically imperiled Indiana bat and Cheat three-toothed snail from AWP’s logging and roadbuilding in Cheat River Canyon.

October 2004: Friends of Blackwater joins Citizens for Responsible Wind Power in seeking moratorium on the construction of any industrial wind facilities in the state until the General Accounting Office (GAO) does a study of the effects of these huge projects on the Allegheny Mountains. The GAO study is called for by Congressman Allan Mollohan, in whose District several projects have been proposed, and by Congressman Nick Joe Rahall.

October 2004: Friends of Blackwater publishes West Virginia gubernatorial candidates' proclamations to protect Blackwater Canyon for future generations.

December 2004: Friends of Blackwater hosts its first Blackwater Canyon photo contest

January 2005: Governor Bob Wise includes Blackwater Canyon in his farewell address

March 2005: Senator John Yoder introduces Senate Concurrent Resolution 38 requesting the Joint Committee on Government and Finance study the feasibility and utility of a National Park in the High Allegheny Region of the State of West Virginia. Yoder is joined by seven additional Senators as co-sponsors of SCR 38: Senators McCabe, Hunter, Bowman, Bailey, White, Unger, and Foster.

April 2005: Forest Service in Elkins begins new scoping period on Environmental Impact Study by issuing "Opportunity to Comment: Allegheny Wood Products (AWP) Easement" notification. Scoping period to end May 31, 2005.

December 23, 2005: Forest Service in Elkins opens 45-day comment period on its Draft Environmental Impact Statement's Preferred Alternative Plan to allow logging haul road easement rights to the Blackwater Canyon Rail Trail to Allegheny Wood Products.