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Benner said its farms appear to make less money than neighboring counties.
With'only two villages, the county has little retail sales, she said.
Rappahannock has a wide variety of wildlife, the group agreed, including a large population of migratory birds.
But, even though in Rappahannock the environment is in better shape than many other areas, it faces stress from loss of habitat, due to housing sprawl, and erosion from over-grazing.
Wastewater treatment was also seen as a problem, and there was concern about the supply of groundwater for wells.
The CCED initailly invited a few representatives from a lot of communitities to their seminar, but for the third one invited a larger group of representatives from a smaller number of communities. She sees this as a good sign for Rappahannock.
“I think the reasons that the CCED is interested in Rappahannock are that it’s easier to be interested in a community where people (who live there) are interested in the community, and because it’s a magnificent community. If we don’t do something now, 20 years from now it may not be here.”
The Rappahannock group agreed that if the county’s economy was to grow, it would have to seek “niche” markets, find ways to add value to farm products, and provide some type of infrastructure, both institutional and physical, to support and control growth.
The representatives from Rappahannock who attended want to set up a meeting with interested groups and residents in the county to discuss what they have learned. Anyone interested in meeting with the group should call Sue Benner at 987-7206.
Rappahannock News staff writer . Jan LaValley contributed to this story.
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