Outdoor Hospitality News

For owners, operators, team members, and anyone else interested in camping, glamping, or the RV industry.

Green Expansion: Shenandoah Valley Expands Natural Area Restoration

In a boost to environmental restoration, the Shenandoah Valley has expanded with an addition of more than 35 acres to two of its natural area preserves in Augusta County, Virginia. This expansion is a key component of a larger initiative to revitalize the South Fork Shenandoah River watershed, which became contaminated by mercury decades ago.

The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, responsible for the state’s natural area preserve system, has acquired 26 acres of forest land adjacent to the Lyndhurst Ponds Natural Area Preserve. This expansion brings the total acreage of the preserve to 376 acres, facilitating land management practices such as prescribed burns and invasive species control.

“This new addition will better enable DCR’s natural area stewards to manage the rare species habitats at Lyndhurst Ponds Natural Area Preserve, which will include restoring portions of the preserve to the native grasslands and open woodlands of the historic Shenandoah Valley,” Jason Bulluck, director of the Virginia Natural Heritage Program, said in a press release.

Lyndhurst Ponds, located near the community of Lyndhurst, was designated as a natural area preserve in 2020. It is known for its Shenandoah Valley sinkhole ponds and hosts rare plant and animal species, including the federally threatened Virginia sneezeweed (Helenium virginicum) and Valley Doll’s Eyes (Boltonia montana).

The expansion was facilitated by the former property owners, Waynesboro Nurseries and the Quillen family, who had also contributed to the establishment of the original natural area preserve. 

“Waynesboro Nurseries and the Quillen family are delighted to contribute this additional acreage to the Lyndhurst Ponds Natural Area Preserve and protect more of this incredible natural habitat for future generations. It was a wonderful opportunity to cooperate with DCR again and know that under their stewardship this legacy is in good hands,” Ed Quillen, president of Waynesboro Nurseries, said in the same press release.

Cowbane Wet Prairie Natural Area Preserve in Augusta County. Image by Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation via dcr.virginia.gov

In September, the agency added a 9-acre parcel along the South River adjacent to the Cowbane Wet Prairie Natural Area Preserve, bringing the total acreage of that preserve to just over 156 acres. This parcel includes floodplain habitat along the river’s south bank, providing a buffer between the river and a residential area. It supports two rare plant species and a globally rare wetland type known as the Shenandoah Valley Prairie Fen.

The Cowbane Wet Prairie is located on the western slope of the Blue Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley and preserves wet prairies, mesic prairies, and calcareous spring marshes, ecosystems once common in the valley.

The funding for these expansions came from the DuPont Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration settlement. This settlement was in response to environmental damage caused by DuPont’s facility in Waynesboro, Virginia, which released mercury-containing wastewater into the South River during the 1930s and ’40s.

The contamination affected over 100 miles of river and habitats for various wildlife. In 2017, DuPont agreed to a $42 million settlement for restoration projects, becoming Commonwealth of Virginia and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the trustees of the settlement funds.

Featured image by Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation via dcr.virginia.gov

Advertisement

Send this to a friend
Hi, you might find this article from Modern Campground interesting: Green Expansion: Shenandoah Valley Expands Natural Area Restoration! This is the link: https://moderncampground.com/usa/virginia/green-expansion-shenandoah-valley-expands-natural-area-restoration/