38,000 Acres of Working Forest, Waterways, and Recreation Lands Permanently Protected
In a historic milestone for land conservation, the West Virginia Land Trust (WVLT) has finalized the largest private conservation project in the state’s history — protecting 38,000 acres of land in Monroe, Summers, and Fayette counties (with additional acreage in Nicholas and Greenbrier counties). This significant project retains large timber tracts forever under forest cover, ensures their management with professional sustainable forestry, provides special attention to waterways and special wildlife resources, and considers the expansion of public recreational access for specific locations in the future.
The project began in June 2025, when Aurora Sustainable Lands approached The Conservation Fund with the opportunity to conserve thousands of acres of privately owned forestland through permanent conservation easements. Because The Conservation Fund does not hold easements, the organization turned to the WVLT.
A Statewide Conservation Achievement
The effort includes five separate easements:
• Monroe County: Forestland bordering Back Creek, protecting headwaters and wildlife habitat.
• Summers County: Land surrounding Keeney Knob, safeguarding high-elevation forests and downstream water quality.
• Fayette County (three easements including acreage within Nicholas and Greenbrier Counties): A large forestland adjoining the New River National Gorge, offering new opportunities for recreation, hunting, fishing, hiking, and rock climbing, particularly along the Meadow River corridor.
“This project is extraordinary not only because of its size, but because of the lasting benefits it creates for West Virginians,” said Ashton Berdine, The Conservation Fund’s West Virginia state director. “These easements protect drinking water, strengthen outdoor recreation economies, sustain working forests, and preserve places that communities have valued for generations.”
The project delivers several major outcomes for West Virginia’s lands, waters, wildlife, and communities. First, it protects significant working forestlands by preserving large, contiguous tracts that support sustainable forest management.
These protections strengthen local economies tied to timber, recreation, and tourism, buffer public lands with conserved forests, sustain critical wildlife habitat and ecologically important areas, and safeguard forests along waterways, wetlands, and headwater streams.
Second, the project safeguards vital waterways and watersheds that supply drinking water for communities throughout the Greenbrier and New River basins, including designated Source Water Protection Areas. In total, it protects 81 miles of streams and rivers.
By keeping forests intact, the easements ensure natural filtration of sediment and pollutants, reduce municipal water treatment and stormwater management costs, and lessen flood impacts by allowing forested watersheds to capture, store, and gradually release rainfall and snowmelt.
Third, the conserved lands protect rare species and critical wildlife habitats, including federally listed endangered and threatened species. Habitat for Virginia spiraea along the Meadow River, multiple endangered bat species such as the northern long-eared, Indiana, and Virginia big-eared bats, the proposed endangered tricolored bat, and endangered mussels in high-quality streams will now be permanently protected. The project also preserves habitat for eight globally rare plant species, two dozen plant species rare to West Virginia, and a dozen rare animal species — including snails, salamanders, butterflies, and bats – as well as four species found only in the Central Appalachians, such as shale barren wildflowers and a burrowing crayfish. These protections align with priorities established by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.
Fourth, the project expands opportunities for potential non-motorized outdoor recreation. The easements support future development of new public access points and trails, enhance recreational use for hiking, fishing, and climbing, maintain open space around public lands, and ensure continued access for hunting and fishing in designated areas.
Finally, these conservation easements serve as powerful tools for community resilience. By preserving forests, waterways, and outdoor recreation landscapes, the project strengthens local tourism and outdoor economies, protects beloved natural places, ensures cleaner water and healthier ecosystems, and reduces long-term environmental and municipal costs.
“This project sets a new standard for conservation in West Virginia. Thanks to the collaboration of the West Virginia Land Trust, The Conservation Fund, and local partners, 38,000 acres of unique working forests are now permanently protected. Aurora is proud to have helped make this happen and looks forward to continuing this work together,” said Aaron Paul, Chief Commercial Officer at Aurora Sustainable Lands.
A Legacy for Future Generations
By preserving a historic stretch of forest and watershed, WVLT and its partners have created a generational conservation success that will benefit local residents, outdoor enthusiasts, and West Virginians across the state.
By preserving these lands as sustainable, working forests, the project ensures that West Virginia’s timber industry can continue to thrive – supporting local jobs, strengthening rural economies, and providing a steady supply of high-quality hardwoods for generations.
The project builds on West Virginia’s growing national reputation as an outdoor recreation destination and protects the landscapes that make the state unique — its rugged mountains, clear rivers, and wild, unfragmented forests.
“These forests are more than just individual parcels on a map – they are vast, connected landscapes of mountains, valleys, streams, and wildlife habitat. Across this 38,000-acre conservation project, we are protecting individual forest tracts of more than 4,000 acres, as well as connected groupings of parcels exceeding 10,000 acres. That scale is incredibly meaningful. It means these forests can remain intact, healthy, and economically viable working forests for generations to come. In a state where forest fragmentation and parcelization are among the greatest threats to our forest resources, protecting large, unbroken tracts is one of the most important things we can do for the future of West Virginia’s forests. Knowing that 38,000 acres will remain forests forever is something we can all be incredibly proud of,” said Amy Cimarolli, WVLT Land Protection Program Director.
