Feb. 25—Tourism and the Coalfields Expressway combined with coal are the foundation for an expanding economy in Wyoming County.

"Coal employment and production are up," said Sen. David "Bugs" Stover, R-Wyoming."Our population is increasing some, after years of declining."

Stover also noted there are now a few bed and breakfast inns in addition to other rental properties used by recreational trail riders in Mullens.

New possibilities

In addition to traditional mining operations, new technologies are bringing long-abandoned coal waste onto the center stage in an exploding global market.

For generations, waste from long-ago coal operations has been sitting in sludge ponds, gob piles, and impoundments across the county and the coalfields of southern West Virginia.

With the new technologies, those waste products can now be extracted and processed into products that are in great demand across the globe.

AmeriCarbon Products and Omnis Sublimation Recovery Technologies, both headquartered in Morgantown, have committed to constructing processing plants in Wyoming County.

AmeriCarbon Products is building the United States' first coal-to-carbon processing plant in Wyoming County's new $7 million Barkers Creek Industrial Park, located near Mullens.

In three to five years, converting coal into carbon products is projected to jump from the current $10-billion-a-year industry to a $100-billion-a-year industry — and Wyoming County is expected to play a significant role in the market, according to company officials.

Omnis will extract rare earth metals from coal waste, then sell them for components in cell phones, computers and other electronic devices.

Omnis' technology can extract pure metals from coal impoundment mineral waste using ultra-high heat without acids or harmful chemicals.

The technology recovers 100 percent of the metals, including all critical, strategic, and rare earth metals, with zero waste and no harmful emissions, according to officials.

Coal waste impoundments and gob piles are rich in critical metals, including strategic metals and rare earth metals. Millions of tons of these metals are concentrated from the natural coal seam sources. The coal mining process has concentrated these minerals, and they are available in the multitude of waste impoundments.

Reaching new audiences

The companies locating in the county are the result of months of work by Wyoming County Economic Development Authority Chairman Mike Goode and Director Christy Laxton.

"Coal is doing great and tourism is up," emphasized Jason Mullins, who serves as county commission president and is also owner of Rebel Smokehouse in Mullens.

"The new national park just two counties away has increased the traffic here.

"We see new people here constantly," Mullins said.

"I didn't know it was such a big deal, but people come here to see the national park. They see our (restaurant) reviews online and come here for dinner. With the four-lane to Mullens, it doesn't take long to drive here," he said. "Now, if it was a curving, two-lane road, I don't think people would make the drive."

Established in 1978 as a national river, then re-designated in 2020 as the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, the park and preserve extends for 53 miles — from just downstream of Hinton to Hawks Nest State Park near Ansted.

Visting every national park in the country is on the bucket list of a lot of people, Mullins explained.

With newer side-by-side all terrrain vehicles, the recreational trail season is also getting longer, Mullins noted.

The season used to end in the fall; now, with heated side-by-sides, Mullins said they are seeing riders into January.

"Not as many riders, but we're seeing a few in January," he said.

Also, with more places to stay in Mullens and the surrounding areas, people are waiting to make their reservations. In the past, people made reservations six months in advance. Now they may make them on Monday or Tuesday for the upcoming weekend, Mullins said.

Additionally, visitors to the area are looking for property to buy, he noted.

"Real estate prices are going up here in Mullens," Mullins said.

Improving recreation opportunities

In addition to the Hatfield-McCoy Trails, a 1,000-mile system that winds through the coalfields in southern West Virginia; Mullens also hosts a portion of the Coal Heritage (Highway) Trail — a National Scenic Highway; the Virginian Railway Heritage Trail that extends from Norfolk, Va., to Deep Water, W.Va.; the Great Eastern Trail that extends 1,800 miles from Alabama to New York; and the Guyandotte (River) Water Trail that begins at Stonecoal Junction (between Rhodell and Amigo) and ends 160 miles downstream at the Ohio River.

The City of Mullens Foundation has also completed a $300,000 overhaul of the municipal pool that includes a renovated baby pool, new 8- and 10-foot commercial pool slides, a splash pad, wrought iron fencing, and larger pool deck and additional picnic space.

The Foundation has already refurbished the parks in Mullens, with plans to tackle the tennis courts and create pickleball courts next.

Another factor is the nearby Twin Falls Resort State Park that features a 47-room lodge, cabins, campground, 18-hole golf course, among numerous other attractions.

The county also boasts R.D. Bailey Lake, which encompasses 647 acres and is maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The lake is surrounded by 18,000 wooded acres that includes the state Division of Natural Resources' R.D. Bailey Lake Wildlife Management Area, which offers trophy-size bucks for hunters.

The R.D. Bailey Lake Project also includes a visitor's center overlooking the dam with exhibits outlining the lake's construction and flood control history, boat launch areas, picnic facilities, campground, hiking trails, among other attractions.

The Coalfields Expressway is a big part of bringing in tourists, Mullins emphasized.

Gov. Jim Justice has made the new four-lane — Wyoming County's first — a priority.

But will the Expressway be completed all the way to the Virginia border when Justice no longer sits in the governor's office?

"I believe it will," Stover said. "They are cutting trees now to begin construction from Mullens to Pineville as well as from Pineville to Welch."

Justice cut the ribbon Oct. 1, 2020 on the Mullens section, finally opening the Coalfields Expressway into Wyoming County — 32 years after the four-lane project was first launched with a legislative resolution.

That new section — just under 9 miles between Slab Fork and Mullens, with another mile of two-lane road into Mullens, carrying a price tag of nearly $45 million — was originally graded more than a decade ago.

The 9-mile section extended the useable length of the Coalfields Expressway to 18 miles — from Beckley to Mullens.

The first section of the Coalfields Expressway, from Beckley to Slab Fork, opened in 2009.

In McDowell County, the four-lane has been at grade, but never paved, since 2001 near the federal prison site on Indian Ridge. From there, the new highway will eventually be extended to the Virginia border.

Justice broke ground on a $150 million McDowell County section in August 2022. The contract involves the construction of a five-mile stretch from the federal prison, near Welch, to the Wyoming County line.

"Once the Coalfields Expressway is completed from Beckley all the way to the Virginia line, it will bring in more visitors than we can imagine," Stover believes. "And we have numerous outdoor recreation attractions to keep them coming back.

"Coal will be part of our economy for decades to come," Stover said, "but tourism is the big, bright star of our economy."

"It's only going to get bigger," Mullins emphasized. "We haven't peaked yet."