GREEN PASTURES RECREATION AREA formerly Longdale Recreation Area
THE STORY OF GREEN PASTURES RECREATION AREA Public lands we now recognize as belonging to everyone had restricted access less than a century ago. But the National Forest Service, under the direction of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, created a safe space for AfricanAmericans and their families to visit. Green Pastures Recreation Area opened to the public on June 15, 1940, on the George Washington Jefferson National Forest near recently opened Douthat State Park. Since the early 2000s, the National Forest Service has worked closely with a group of volunteers that includes long-time residents and the Alleghany Historical Society to help maintain this once segregated and now very historic recreation site. In 2018, Green Pastures was placed on the list of Virginia’s Most Endangered Historic Places by Preservation Virginia, a national leader in historic preservation. There has been a grassroots movement to reopen the beloved recreation site and restore it to its former condition. Recently, the state of Virginia announced its plans to restore the Longdale Recreation Area in Alleghany County under its historic name, Green Pastures. Under the plan, the state would also work with the Forest Service to take possession of Green Pastures and reopen it as an outpost of Douthat State Park.
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