County will acquire Potomac trail right of way through wildlife refuges

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WOODBRIDGE — Prince William County officials today will sign off on a 50-year right of way plan to build new segments of the Potomac Heritage Scenic Trail.

The new trail sections will run through the Occoquan Bay and Featherstone national wildlife refuges in Woodbridge, adding to some 13 miles of the trial already constructed in the county.

When completed, up to 45 miles of the trail along the Potomac River between the Chesapeake Bay and Pennsylvania will traverse the county.

The trail winds into Prince William from Fairfax County on a footbridge in Occoquan. In Woodbridge, the trail traverses urban terrain in the northern section and crosses Route 1 into Belmont Bay. Further south at Featherstone, the trail will incorporate the entrance Rippon Virginia Railway Express station.

“The Potomac Heritage Scenic Trail is not just your traditional scenic trail. We’re also incorporating everyday human uses, like transportation,” said Ryan Delaney, a trails planner with the Prince William County Government.

The trail will also be a new way to see the Potomac River, along with the national wildlife refuges, long hidden from view from view along busy Route 1 and Interstate 95.

“Winding the trail through scenic areas is important if you want to get people off of the roads and to use the trail,” said Jennifer Wampler, with Virginia’s Department of Conservation and Recreation.

A group of state and local government employees on July 13 took a boat tour a long the Potomac River to see sections of the trail from the Occoquan refuge to Possum Point near Dumfries.

Several dead trees were spotted along the at the Featherstone Refuge. The county must pay a merchantable timber fee to the federal government for any trees cut down along the trail path, according to the right-of-way agreement.

“We don’t want to have to pay a timber fee for dead trees,” said Gary Rzepecki, with the Prince William County Parks and Recreation Department.

Those trees appeared to have died over the past two years, he added.

The county will acquire the right of way from the National Fish and Wildlife Service that maintains both refuges. The service waived all permit, monitoring, and occupancy fees it could have charged the county because the “construction and maintenance of the trail by Prince William County benefits the refuge,” according to the right-of-way agreement.

Along the trail south of the Featherstone Refuge, a $4 million boardwalk will be built at Julie Metz Wetlands.