Raleigh County, WV (WOAY) – An Ohio-based land conservancy is asking West Virginians to help it win an auction that could decide the future of nearly 2,770 acres of forest next to New River Gorge National Park. The eight parcels go up for public sale in Beckley on June 30.
The Arc of Appalachia, which has protected forests across Appalachia for about three decades, has expanded its work into West Virginia in recent years. The group is racing to raise enough money to bid on the land and preserve it.
“Our goal is to save the beauty, balance and biodiversity of these ancient forest communities that are often thought of as trees, but really are communities,” said Nancy Stranahan, director of the Arc of Appalachia.
The eight parcels border the national park along Piney Creek and the New River. The Summit Bechtel Reserve lies to the north, and land already protected by the West Virginia Land Trust sits to the south. Because the Arc cannot afford the full acreage on its own, it is asking the public to pledge support ahead of the sale.
“Those pledges will only be called in if we win, and will only be called in to the amount that we need to buy them,” Stranahan said.
Two of the parcels along Piney Creek are the group’s top priority. According to the Arc, the West Virginia Land Trust already owns six miles of trail just outside Beckley, and winning the two parcels would close a four-mile gap to complete a 12-mile trail linking the city directly to the national park.
“If we are able to purchase that particular parcel, we’ll have wonderful public access, and it will be maintained by volunteers and probably paid staff as well, through Beckley connections,” Stranahan said.
Stranahan said the land’s value reaches beyond its scenery, pointing to the life the forests support and West Virginia’s standing among the country’s remaining woodlands.
“It has the third highest forest cover in the United States, at 79.1%,” she said. “Nobody knows exactly how many plants and animals live in a healthy forest, but we’re probably guessing at least 60,000. We have a crown jewel in our midst. Let’s protect the best of the best. That, my friend, is why we’re at this auction.”
The auction is scheduled for June 30 in Beckley. The Arc says it will keep collecting pledges up to the day of the sale. For donors in Raleigh County, the group says an anonymous donor is matching every pledge dollar for dollar, up to $5,000 per person.
More information about the parcels and the pledge campaign is available at https://www.arcofappalachia.org/new-river-wilderness
