Department of Conservation and Recreation
Conserve. Protect. Enjoy.
Department of Conservation and Recreation
Media inquiries: Please contact Dave Neudeck, dave.neudeck@dcr.virginia.gov, 804-786-5053.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: August 03, 2022
Contact: Emi Endo, Senior Public Relations and Marketing Specialist, 804-786-8442, emi.endo@dcr.virginia.gov
175 acres along Powell River preserved to protect biodiversity and critical habitats
(Editors: Follow this link to download an image. Photo caption: The Cedars Natural Area Preserve. Photo by Gary P. Fleming, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation)
RICHMOND, VA – About 175 additional acres in Lee County have recently been added to The Cedars Natural Area Preserve along the Powell River, which is home to endangered freshwater mussel species.
The Cedars, now 2,265 acres, is one of Virginia’s 66 natural area preserves. The statewide natural area preserve system protects habitat for rare species of plants and animals and is managed by the Natural Heritage Program in the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Funding for five parcels added to The Cedars since May 2021 came from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Recovery Lands Acquisition program, which funds land conservation directly supporting the recovery of imperiled species.
“This nearly three-year effort would not have been the success it is without our strong partnerships with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources and The Nature Conservancy, and financial support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,” said Jason Bulluck, director of the Virginia Natural Heritage Program. “This region is known as a global biodiversity hotspot: caves and karst features with some of the rarest species on the planet; healthy waters and native aquatic communities, including several imperiled fish and mussel species; and unique natural communities providing habitat for dozens of native plant and animal species.”
The Cedars and the surrounding area are part of a “karst” landscape, where limestone bedrock dissolves to create sinkholes, caves and springs. In this region, water quality is not only impacted by what flows over the surface of the land along river frontage. Water from upland areas flows into sinkholes or streams that go underground, to resurface again in drinking water and in rivers.
“The conservation and restoration of habitat in the Upper Tennessee River system is one of our top priorities for supporting the incredible diversity of wildlife that lives in Virginia, particularly in those rivers,” said Becky Gwynn, deputy director of the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. “This work is an important part of our efforts to restore populations of rare freshwater mussels and fish and manage healthy, robust communities of aquatic wildlife.”
In addition to threatened or endangered mussels and fish that live in the Powell River, rare animals have also been discovered by Natural Heritage scientists in nearby springs and caves. One parcel includes natural springs where the endangered Lee County Cave isopod (a small, freshwater crustacean) lives.
Expanding the patchwork of contiguous parcels of The Cedars improves the agency’s ability to manage the land, such as through the use of prescribed fire. While some of the parcels acquired were in a pristine condition, habitats on others will be enhanced with prescribed fire and invasive species control.
The acquisitions also enhance protection of habitat for gray bats and rare plants at The Cedars.
Agency scientists have observed gray bats, an endangered species, returning to the Gibson-Frazier cave at the natural area preserve.
Rare plants, which have adapted to the region’s thin soils and climate, include running glade clover (Trifolium calcaricum) and yarrowleaf ragwort (Packera millefolium).
Along with protecting habitat for rare species, the Natural Heritage Program documents the location and conservation status of the best examples of Virginia’s natural communities. A natural community is an assemblage of native plants and animals that occurs repeatedly on the landscape under similar ecological conditions. Two natural communities rare to Virginia are found at The Cedars. The Dry-Mesic Calcareous Forest community features stunted hardwoods such as chinquapin oak, white oak and hickories. Limestone/Dolomite Barrens have prairie grasses and stunted eastern red cedar.
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