Department of Conservation and Recreation
Conserve. Protect. Enjoy.
Department of Conservation and Recreation
LOCALITY |
OWNER |
ACRES |
ACCESS |
NEWS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isle of Wight | Isle of Wight | 815 | No Public Access Yet |
SITE DESCRIPTION:
Both the uplands and bottomlands along the Blackwater River in southeast Virginia support many significant natural areas. From the sandhills adjoining the river which once supported longleaf pine to bottomland hardwoods and saturated swamps, these natural areas have been the target of private and public land conservation organizations for many years. Isle of Wight County is now the owner of 2,348 acres and five and a half miles of frontage on the east side of the Blackwater River. The county sold an open space easement over that acreage to the Virginia Department of Forestry and the Department of Conservation and Recreation. This protection success is part of a larger project underway to protect bottomland hardwoods and restore longleaf pine communities on the lower Blackwater River.
Approximately 1/3 of the county property, about 815 acres, has been dedicated as the Blackwater Sandhills Natural Area Preserve. This natural area preserve includes 500 acres of old-growth tupelo-baldcypress bottomland and helps protect more than five miles of the Blackwater River. In addition to the old-growth bottomland forest, the preserve includes over 300 acres of sandhills and upland forests where longleaf pine reforestation and frequent prescribed burning will be used to restore fire-maintained Longleaf Pine / Scrub Oak Sandhill communities.
This preserve is owned by Isle of Wight County and is not yet open to the public.
CONTACT:
