Monongahela National Forest

From Beth Wheatley and Thomas Minney, Wheeling Intelligencer, February 16, 2019

Whether it is the forests of Monongahela or the winding waters of New River Gorge, the lands and waters of West Virginia create and define our history, our character and our way of life. The wild and scenic spaces that surround us here are more than just land and waterways; they are an important part of our heritage and identity.

Many of these places that we treasure have been protected thanks to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), one of our country’s most effective conservation tools. At no cost to the taxpayer, LWCF works in West Virginia and across the country to protect the land and water important for a wide range of values, such as wildlife habitat, hiking, hunting, clean water and support for growing the tourism and outdoor recreation economy.

Supported by federal revenues from offshore oil and natural gas drilling, LWCF investments have expanded public access to lakes and streams, conserved working forests, protected national park landscapes and built sports fields, trails and local parks.

In West Virginia, The Nature Conservancy has partnered with others to conserve forests that provide wildlife habitat and products such as timber. The outcomes also represent some of the state’s most cherished landscapes, such as the New River Gorge scene on the back of the state quarter enjoyed by thousands during Bridge Day; Cheat Canyon where West Virginia University students study and recreate; and the Monongahela National Forest where people hunt, hike and fish.

We see these places as part of what makes West Virginia so “wild and wonderful”–part of our success story. We see these places as hubs of conserved lands supporting nature-friendly economic activities that are helping to grow our economy.

But Congress has repeatedly let LWCF expire over the years, making it harder to carry out the long-term planning landowners depend on to conserve their lands and waters and that many communities depend on as they plan for their future.

The latest expiration occurred just this past September, and we have seen a groundswell of support from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for making the program permanent since then. On February 12, the U.S. Senate moved to save this important conservation program forever, voting 92-8 to permanently reauthorize LWCF!

We owe great thanks to Senator Manchin and Senator Capito for championing LWCF, voting in favor of saving LWCF and being instrumental to making the vote one of lawmakers’ first priorities of the year!

Senator Manchin and Senator Capito understand how important LWCF is to West Virginia and the country, to our natural and cultural heritage, to our economy and to families who treasure the forests and wildlife habitat where they hike, hunt and enjoy weekend drives. We thank them for their leadership.

Every year, America loses an area the size of Delaware to development, and once these places disappear, they are gone forever. Along with the land, we also lose the values that these places bring to people and communities–clean water, flood mitigation, carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, fishing opportunities and support for the forest products, tourism and outdoor recreation industries.

The outdoor recreation, conservation and historic preservation economy in West Virginia–which LWCF helps drive–is responsible for $9 billion in consumer spending and 91,000 jobs, according to the Outdoor Industry Association. Implementing LWCF in our community helps increase tourism, create jobs and boost our economy.

The Senate’s overwhelming bipartisan vote in favor of reauthorization reflects the program’s long track record of success and broad support from lawmakers, landowners, conservation organizations, communities and state and local officials.

We urge Reps. David McKinley, Alex Mooney and Carol Miller to follow the incredible example of their Senate counterparts and vote in favor of permanently reauthorizing LWCF when the House of Representatives consider the measure.

For over half a century, LWFC has protected lands and waters in every county in every state in this country by helping to conserve natural ecosystems that people, wildlife and local economies need to survive. It is too important to continue leaving its future in doubt.

Now is the time for Congress to get LWCF the permanent authorization it and West Virginia deserves.

Wild Wonderful WV for Kayaking & Whitewater Rafting

Cheat River Canyon Preserved  in Northcentral WV

From an Article by Rebecca Olsavsky, The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register, April 13, 2014

Tucked away in the rocks of north-central West Virginia is the secret to a multi-million dollar conservation effort – a “threetooth” snail that actually has just one tooth. Cheat Canyon, the only place on Earth the Cheat threetooth snail calls home, will be protected for future generations by a conservation partnership that includes The Nature Conservancy, The Conservation Fund, and the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. The snail is federally listed as a threatened species.

The groups announced the partnership on Thursday. When the $7 million project is completed, it will conserve most of the canyon not already included in Cooper’s Rock State Forest and Snake Hill Wildlife Management Area.

The canyon, a deep gorge through which the Cheat River flows between Rowlesburg in Preston County to Cheat Lake in Monongalia County, is a popular whitewater rafting destination and home to diverse wildlife such as the endangered Indiana bat. (The newly preserved section is from Albright downstream to the Big Sandy and includes Cornwall cave where the Indiana bat resides.)

Within the Cheat, the threatened threetooth snail lives in deep, cool rocky habitats often identifiable by their coverage from rhododendrons. WVDNR Wildlife Specialist Craig Stihler said the snail’s name can be misleading – it has one tooth on its shell, not three. The tooth keeps snail-eating beetles from pulling the creature out of its protective flat shell. Stihler said the quarter-sized Cheat threetooth snail never ventures more than a meter – a little more than 3 feet – from its habitat.

Acquiring a 7-mile stretch of one of West Virginia’s most iconic landscapes turned out to be no small feat, as there have been various conservation efforts under way since 1976. This particular effort has been in the works for the past five years.

In partnership with The Nature Conservancy, The Conservation Fund acquired 3,800 acres along the Cheat River. The Conservation Fund negotiated the purchase from The Forestland Group, a timber investment firm that currently owns the property. The Nature Conservancy is providing $3 million in private funding and is acquiring 2,300 acres of the property, and will retain 1,300 acres as the new Charlotte Ryde Nature Preserve, funded from a bequest from the estate of Charlotte Ryde. The DNR will acquire the remaining acreage – about 2,500 acres – to complement existing public recreation lands on the lower Cheat River.

Additional funding comes from money dedicated for land conservation from the West Virginia Outdoor Heritage Conservation Fund, a $1.5 million grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund, and $400,000 from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.

“Private, state and federal funds used for conservation not only leverage each other; they also reflect the national significance of the state’s land, water and wildlife resources, the commitment of West Virginia’s citizens through our public investment in our ‘Wild and Wonderful’ outdoors, and the creativity to bring together various partners to go the distance and reach this milestone,” said Reggie Hall, West Virginia state director for The Conservation Fund.

Hall thanked Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin for recognizing the value of the landscape to West Virginians. “We are very lucky that a lot of things came together,” added Rodney Bartgis, state director of The Nature Conservancy in West Virginia.

Bartgis believes without the Cheat threetooth snail’s need for protection, gathering the proper funding for the project would have proven near impossible. Curtis Taylor, chief of the WVDNR Wildlife Resources Section, said every management decision the group makes moving forward will center on the question, “Is this good or bad for the snail?”

Along with working to protect the snail’s habitat, the groups also are considering a plan to re-open a section of the Allegheny Trail that had been turned into a logging road. “It’s not a matter of opening a gate,” Bartgis said, citing trail uses, safety regulations and funding terms as items to consider beyond maintaining the snail’s habitat.

In terms of connecting the trail to the Cheat River, the groups are treading carefully on the idea of developing additional put-ins or take-outs for fishermen and whitewater rafters to have increased access to the water. Steve Brown, stream restoration program administrator for the DNR, said there are limited places for such access. One possible spot, located between the rapids of Big Nasty and Even Nastier, already shows the remains of a path to the river. Plus, the access point doesn’t feature a prime snail habitat.

The river, having dealt with mine drainage over the years, is steadily recovering because of the decades of work and millions of dollars in investments by local people, state agencies, and groups such as Friends of the Cheat.

Friends of the Cheat Executive Director Amanda Pitzer believes the true sign of success is when visitors can walk down to the river and catch a fish. As a population of smallmouth bass is growing as a result of investments to improve water quality, Pitzer’s vision of success is becoming a reality. “Over 20 years we’ve worked with many partners. We’re seeing the Cheat River come back,” Pitzer said about efforts to mitigate the acid mining drainage problem. “The water quality is only going to get better.”

Although Bartgis emphasized “there’s a fair amount of work to go,” the Cheat Canyon conservation partnership is ready to progress carefully with projects that will conserve the area for wildlife to live and outdoor enthusiasts to enjoy – even if it moves at a snail’s pace.

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NOTE: It is time to acknowledge the longstanding work of Ken Hotopp, conservation biologist, for his studies and advocacy to protect the Cheat Canyon and its natural habitat in the 1990’s.  And, of great importance was the work of Charlie Wallbridge and many others in 2002 to promote public access and public ownership in the Cheat Canyon.

The Cheat Lake Environment & Recreation Association (CLEAR) has been one of the leaders over the past 10 or more years to preserve the Cheat snail and Indiana bat in the Cheat Canyon, including the legal action filed on April 6, 2005 shown below.  And, CLEAR has been an active participant in efforts to bring this Canyon into the public domain, including a routing there for the Allegheny Trail.

PROTECTING NATURAL HABITAT:  CLEAR et al. v. Allegheny Wood Products, Inc.

The Cheat Lake Environment and Recreation Association, the Friends of Blackwater, and the Sierra Club of WV  brought suit against Allegheny Wood Products, a timber company, concerning the company’s logging activities in Cheat River Canyon, West Virginia, which harm the endangered Indiana bat and the threatened flat-spired three toothed-land snail — an extremely rare species known to occur in the Cheat River Canyon — in violation of Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act. The parties entered into a settlement agreement in February 2007, under which AWP agreed to set aside permanent reserve areas as habitat for the snail; to engage in a collaborative scientific process to identify and protect additional snail habitat; and to adopt measures for minimizing impacts on the Indiana bat.