A meeting was held in Shepherdstown June 17 to discuss the Eastern Panhandle’s participation in the development of a new West Virginia Geotourism website.

The meeting was held at the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies on the campus of Shepherd University.

Attendees included local business owners, trail planners and representatives from county and town governments and the National Parks Conservation Association.

The meeting was led by Doug Abrogast, of Travel Green Appalachia, and the Two Rivers Heritage Partnership.

Travel Green Appalachia is a statewide organization aimed at encouraging sustainable tourism in West Virginia.

The Two Rivers Heritage Partnership is a local group pursuing similar goals in the Eastern Panhandle.

The new West Virginia Geotourism website is being developed in cooperation with National Geographic, which has been promoting Geotourism since 2002, and in partnership with the West Virginia Sustainable Tourism Advisory Council.

The first step will be development of a pilot website that will focus on the Eastern Panhandle and the New River Gorge region.

The Two Rivers Heritage Partnership will be taking the lead locally on this pilot project, reaching out to additional local stakeholders and forming a local stewardship council.