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A River Runs Through It
St. Paul, Virginia
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Revitalizing a small community through economic development and environmental awareness.
The town of St. Paul is located in Southwestern Virginia in the middle of the Appalachian coalfields. St. Paul is a small community rich in Appalachian culture and beautiful natural resources. The community, which once depended on the coal industry for its economy, now finds itself suffering economically because of a decline in the industry. This is causing many of the youth to leave the area for better-paying jobs. The Clinch Valley and its watershed is also suffering the negative ecological impacts that the coal industry has caused the valley. A number of broad projects have been initiated to address the decline of the Clinch Valley watershed. An example of one of these projects is an ecological risk assessment of the watershed, funded by the EPA, Commonwealth of Virginia, and the Nature Conservancy. At the same time a group of citizens in the small town of St. Paul felt they needed to do something locally to improve the quality of life in their community. This group will focus a lot of their efforts on the economic component of creating a sustainable community. They seek to improve their economy, however, by promoting the unique environmental setting of where they live.
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What is St. Paul Tomorrow?
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In 1998, with the help of the Nature Conservancy, a group of local residents established "St. Paul Tomorrow." The group's purpose is to create a vision of the future for the town, both environmentally and economically, and lay out a clear plan on how to get there. St. Paul Tomorrow is a reflection of its community. The members are linked together through the local high school, churches, businesses, town council, family, friends, and neighbors. An example of this linkage can be found in their support of their high school. They assist and encourage teachers and students to work on the environmental projects. This show of support and interest has provided St. Paul Tomorrow with a strong community network.
Role of Non-Governmental Organization: The Nature Conservancy
A major supporter of St. Paul Tomorrow comes from The Nature Conservancy. The Nature Conservancy considers the Clinch Valley to be one of the 40 most important ecological places on Earth! The Clinch Valley is home to more than 400 rare plants and animals. The Clinch River, along with the Powell River, are the only uninterrupted tributaries of the Tennessee River and these rivers are the last remaining habitat for groups of freshwater mussels that can be found nowhere else on earth. There were once 60 different species of mussels living in these rivers, currently that number has shrunk to 40 species, 26 of which are considered globally rare and 13 are on the endangered species list.
 Banks of the Clinch River in St. Paul, Virginia
The Nature Conservancy has assisted St. Paul Tomorrow through a process that helps the community group make important decisions regarding its goals and objectives. The Nature Conservancy also provided the group with funding. They choose to work with St. Paul Tomorrow because the group has a well-rounded interest in the environment, economy, and culture.
Good Planning Leads to Good Projects
St. Paul Tomorrow group worked hard to create a clear plan to help them achieve their goals. The group developed the St. Paul Plan, which set the general goals, the objectives to meet those goals (usually projects), and the specific actions needed to accomplish the objectives. This plan detailed the goals the group must complete in order to be successful. Many of the objectives in the St. Paul Plan list specific projects. For instance, under the goal, "Be a model for environmentally friendly downtown revitalization in a small town", one objective is to purchase and renovate two important historical structures in the downtown area for use as a museum and as potential commercial or retail space.
St. Paul Tomorrow Goals
Be a model for environmentally friendly downtown revitalization in a small town.
Promote nature-based tourism in St. Paul
Promote business development compatible w/ town's image
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St. Paul Tomorrow Makes a Difference
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Community Gathering Place
To St. Paul Tomorrow, success comes in all shapes and sizes. It can be stated as simply as the start and finish of a project. As the old saying goes; "Money makes the world go round". To St. Paul Tomorrow, receiving grant money is a fundamental part of their success. Grant money and donations allow St. Paul Tomorrow to take on major projects such as the renovation of part of the downtown into a community gathering area. The group is acting as a catalyst for the community to purchase two historic buildings. The project will also seek to renovate a historic railroad building, and to convert donated land to a neighborhood park. They envision the renovation of a third building, but are still in the process of obtaining the money to make the purchase.
St. Paul Tomorrow Objectives
Creating and publishing the "Strategic Plan for the Town of St. Paul"
Clinch River Festival
Making river trails accessible to the public
Establishing canoe and boat launches
Placing a popular lake trail into State maintenance program
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Clinch River Festival
Environmental and Economic Indicators
St. Paul Tomorrow has held the Clinch River Festival for the past three years. This festival is focused on bringing the community together to celebrate the town's cultural and environmental heritage, particularly the unique mussel species found only in the Clinch River. It has been effective in creating public awareness about Clinch River mussels and their endangerment. The festival also encourages nature-based tourist dollars and has been successful in obtaining corporate sponsorship. This festival provides an excellent example of the linkage between one of the goals ("Promote nature-based tourism in St. Paul") and one of its objectives stated as a project ("Create a Clinch River Days Festival to capitalize on St. Paul's unique location and heritage."). Although the group did not develop a specific "Indicator" for this objective they did offer the following thoughts when asked to identify how they would know if the festival was successful in achieving the goal of promoting nature-based tourism. A member stated that since the festival had increased attendance both in visitors and vendors every year that he felt it was a success. An indicator, therefore, could be "counting the number of attendees and the number of vendors each year and tracking changes (increases or decreases)."
Youth Involvement
Social Indicators
The involvement of young people in environmental projects has been a very popular program. The high school has a unique spring feed pond, called Estonia Pond, which has the focus of an Appalachian Ecology class. The class' popularity can be seen in the 400% increase in the number of students taking the class over the last 5 years.
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Revitalizing St. Paul
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A significant part of the St. Paul Plan deals with the downtown area. One section, the plan states that the "flavor and character of downtown St. Paul will be maintained and enhanced." While it might be obvious to many of the citizens of St. Paul that the downtown area is improving based on their own observations, others might require more substantive evidence. Providing a good indicator of the gains made in the downtown area might prove invaluable in obtaining grants to fund other downtown renovation projects in the future.
There are several possible ways to go about this. One way might be to count the number of vacant retail or commercial properties in the downtown area on a periodic basis. It seems reasonable that the number of these vacant spaces would decrease as Saint Paul Tomorrow moves towards achieving its goals. Using this type of indicator to illustrate the group's successes might improve their chances of receiving grants for more downtown improvements. Another measure might be to count the number of businesses within a specific category or industry. As restaurants return to the area, counting them and pointing out the change might be a particularly convincing indicator of success to local residents.
"Fresh Market" Provides an Opportunity to Monitor Outcomes
Another excellent opportunity to create indicators can be found in the group's goal of promoting specific business development opportunities. The goal was to create a fresh market for locally made products such as produce, breads, and crafts. As the fresh market project gets under way, the group can measure success in several ways. The easiest would probably be to count the number of vendors that show up to sell their products. Another would be to count total receipts or receipts per vendor. A slightly different approach would be to count the number of customers that show up to purchase goods. The group has the opportunity to establish baseline data right from the beginning because the market does not yet exist. This means that any success that they do find was probably achieved primarily through the effort of the group.
The group might also try to measure success of the Fresh Market in terms of the surrounding downtown areas. For instance, they could monitor total sales of local establishments close to the market on days when it operates. In this case it would be important to measure the conditions as they exist before the market begins operating. In this manner, the group could provide the before and after differences as indicators of successes which, once again, were due primarily to the efforts of the group.
Potential Economic Indicators
Increase or decrease in total commercial office space
Number of businesses in the downtown area
Number of vendors at the "Fresh Market"
Number of customers that show up to purchase goods at "Fresh Market"
Achieving non-profit status for the group
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What St. Paul Tomorrow Would Do Different
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St. Paul Tomorrow was quick in responding to the question of what they would change if they had to do it all over again: seek non-profit status sooner. The reason for this became clear with their explanation and, not surprisingly, it had to do with money. The group was not eligible to receive funding from outside sources until they achieved non-profit status. As a result they had to ask other organizations to pursue and accept funds on their behalf. St. Paul Tomorrow actually found itself in a situation where they were awarded funds to improve hiking trails (Sugar Hill Loop Trail) around the local Oxbow Lake (a scenic location for visitors and locals alike). However, they could not directly receive the funds because they were not a non-profit organization so they went to local officials to seek their assistance. Much to their disappointment the officials were reluctant to accept the funding since they didn't want to commit to maintaining privately owned property. It quickly became apparent to St. Paul Tomorrow that all their hard work could be lost if they couldn't find an agency to act on their behalf. Fortunately for them, county officials supported the project and gladly accepted the funds. For the group, gaining non-profit status became an important step in their development as an effective advocate for local environmental protection. It empowered them to more effectively take charge of their future as a catalyst for change in the Clinch River Valley.
 Caboose in downtown St. Paul, Virginia
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How Does It All Fit Together?
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St. Paul Tomorrow focused on the economic vitality of their community. The citizens of this group concentrated theirs goals, projects, and indicators in the area that they felt was most relevant to their situation. But they did not lose sight of the value and benefits of their environmental setting or the importance of social considerations. It was the appreciation of the uniqueness of their river valley that inspired many of their economic projects (such as the Clinch River Days Festival). Additionally, they promoted the involvement of their local High School not only for the support of environmental awareness but also for the cross-generational connections that allowed folks from many different age groups to share in the special beauty of their town. These citizens readily understood how the protection of their environment would improve their economy and strengthen the social fabric of their community.
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