Governor Abigail Spanberger announced more than $52 million in federal funding Tuesday for projects across Southwest and Western Virginia, money aimed at repairing trails, forests and infrastructure still scarred by Hurricane Helene more than two years after the storm tore through the region. The funding will flow through Good Neighbor Agreements signed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, giving state and federal agencies a decade-long framework to rebuild what the hurricane destroyed.
According to WSET, the agreements were signed through the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest, the Virginia Department of Forestry, and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. The arrangement is designed to provide a framework for cooperative restoration efforts that enhance forestlands, adjacent areas and watersheds, with the Department of Conservation and Recreation, Department of Forestry and U.S. Forest Service partnering to address concerns affecting Virginia's national forestlands and state parks. Spanberger said the funding will support local infrastructure, outdoor recreation and resilience to future disasters, adding that rebuilding and strengthening Southwest Virginia communities remained necessary two years after Hurricane Helene struck.
Hundreds of Miles of Trails to Be Rebuilt
A $13.9 million allocation is earmarked for recreational infrastructure recovery, which will restore, rebuild and relocate approximately 400 miles of trails and related recreational infrastructure damaged by the storm. That work includes trail reconstruction, hazard tree removal, drainage improvements, erosion control, and repairs to roads, bridges, trailheads and other facilities, with projects planned at Grayson Highlands State Park in Grayson County and Douthat State Park in Alleghany and Bath counties.
Hurricane Helene tore through the southern United States in late September 2024, and more than 800,000 acres of forestland across the region suffered varying degrees of damage, according to The Nature Conservancy. The economic fallout has lingered in trail-dependent towns; in Damascus, business was reported down roughly 60% to 70% for local bike shops after the storm, per Cardinal News. Virginia State Forester Terry Lasher said the funding will assist Virginia and forest landowners with ongoing recovery efforts.
Forest Restoration and Wildfire Mitigation
A separate $5.3 million is allocated for ecological restoration of state forests, focused on aquatic and terrestrial watershed restoration to improve water quality and aquatic health. That work spans Moore's Creek, Old Flat, First Mountain and Matthews state forests, and will address U.S. Forest Service needs in the Ewing Mountain area of Grayson, Wythe and Carroll counties as well as Potts Creek in Alleghany County, including road and stream crossings across the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest and adjacent state and private lands.
Another $9.5 million will fund ongoing wildfire hazard mitigation and prescribed burning, with plans calling for mechanically treating 250 acres a year and conducting prescribed burns on at least 1,000 acres annually. The biggest category overall, $15.5 million, goes toward native forest vegetation regeneration, expected to treat approximately 500 acres per year and expand nursery and seedling capacity benefiting oak, red spruce, chestnut, pitch pine, shortleaf pine and table mountain pine regeneration.
Invasive Species and a Lexington Dam
The package also sets aside $3.2 million for invasive species control, targeting between 1,000 and 5,000 acres per year against threats including the spongy moth and invasive plants, plus $1.28 million for community forestry work on gateway communities and lands, with at least 12 projects planned in the affected area. A $3.5 million allocation will go toward the City of Lexington's Moore's Creek Dam project, intended to address dam safety concerns to protect downstream people and property.
Nikki Rovner, director of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, is among the officials tied to the initiative. Planned project work will leverage financial resources, forestry expertise and capacity for project management, planning, analysis, implementation and assessment, with the broader aim of restoring ecological systems, infrastructure and economic connections to communities.
Congressional Delegation Weighs In
U.S. Senator Mark Warner said he helped secure the federal disaster relief funding that made the $52 million possible, while fellow Senator Tim Kaine said he helped secure the money for reconstruction across Southwest and Western Virginia. U.S. Representative Morgan Griffith, who represents the Ninth District, said the Good Neighbor Agreements direct the $52 million toward forest management, trail reconstruction and pedestrian safety projects.
The Virginia funding lands amid a wider regional recovery effort that has stretched well beyond the Commonwealth. In Western North Carolina, the Forest Service and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission entered into a $290 million Good Neighbor Agreement of their own, and FEMA this week announced $101 million for more than 50 Helene recovery projects there, according to WLOS. Congress had already approved $660 million in December 2025 for Helene-related repairs, watershed restoration and forest work as part of the American Relief Act, Cardinal News reported, with the Virginia Creeper Trail alone — where 18 of 31 trestles were destroyed between Damascus and Whitetop Station — expected to cost $200 million to $300 million to fully restore.
