West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has announced he is leading a bipartisan coalition of nine state Attorneys General in a lawsuit challenging a new rule from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency that unlawfully expands the federal government’s regulatory reach over small streams, land and farms.

"This rule is a staggering overreach by the federal government and violates the very law it claims to enforce," Attorney General Morrisey said. "It will have dire consequences for homeowners, farmers and other entities by forcing them to navigate a complex federal bureaucracy and obtain costly permits in order to perform everyday tasks like digging ditches, building fences or spraying fertilizers."

As we return from our annual meeting at the Canaan Valley Resort & Conference Center, (and take time to catch our collective breath) we can report good times, renewed acquaintances and, importantly, another recent-record attendance; i.e., over 220 for the BBQ alone.

We will be reporting more in coming issues, as our records are calculated and reports are gathered...

Have you noticed the leaves of poplar trees turning brown in West Virginia? We find that this is caused by an invasion of yellow poplar weevils; the black beetle native to our state.

"The weevils have been here since before people settled this country. This is not something new. Some years are worse than others. This is one of those years," according to West Virginia Department of Agriculture Plant/Pest Biologist, Dr. Berry Crutchfield in a recent statement to WBOY News in Morgantown.

Most healthy poplar trees will be able to withstand the damage. But they will transformed by the encounter. Added stressors, such as drought, may cause a tree damaged by weevils to not return to normal.