West Virginia Land Trust Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Freshwater Mussel Habitat To Get Federal Grant For Protection

The West Virginia Land Trust will receive $500,000 to help the endangered James spinymussel. It has been listed as endangered since 1988.

West Virginia will receive a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for restoration of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

The West Virginia Land Trust will receive $500,000 to help the endangered James spinymussel. It has been listed as endangered since 1988.

The grant will help protect its habitat on Potts Creek near the Virginia border.

Mike Slattery, landscape partnership coordinator with the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Northeast Region, said the spinymussel is a critical indicator of the health of the watershed.

“Native freshwater mussels, over the course of several decades, have been canaries in an aquatic coal mine,” he said.

The West Virginia project, which has nearly $300,000 in matching funds, will protect 40 acres of the mussels’ habitat. Though it is remote and far upstream from the bay, Slattery said the spinymussel helps maintain the balance of nutrients and sediments in the water that flows there.

West Virginia Land Trust is an underwriter of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Easement to Protect Monroe County Farm From Development

A land trust has obtained a conservation easement protecting more than 600 acres of farmland in Monroe County.

The Dickson family donated the easement for Spring Valley Farm to the West Virginia Land Trust. The family has owned the farm near Union since 1776.

The land trust says in a news release that the property was a popular stop for travelers due to its location near U.S. Route 219.

The property includes about 2 miles of Second Creek, which once was home to more than 20 mills.

A majority of the farmland has been protected since 2012 under an earlier easement donated by the family.

Trust to Preserve 665 Acres Along Gauley River

More than 600 acres in the Gauley River National Recreation Area will be protected from development.

The West Virginia Land Trust said Monday that it has acquired 665 acres from Bright Forestland Properties, Larry Deitz, and the Anne E. Deitz Trust. The property is an area known as the Gauley Canyon downstream from the river’s confluence with the Meadow River.

The land trust says in a news release that the gorge provides rafting, kayaking, hiking, fishing and other recreational opportunities.

Adventures on the Gorge vice president Dave Arnold says rafting companies run the Gauley River year-round. He says the land trust’s acquisition of the property offers a potential public access point when the river is low.