BLACKSBURG, Va. – Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment announced on Thursday that they will be leading a $2 million project to help restore red spruce forests in the Central Appalachian Highlands region. They have received funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
Over the course of four years, the following groups will be working to restore high-elevation red spruce forests in Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland:
- Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources
- U.S. Forest Service
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources
- Virginia Department of Forestry
- West Virginia Division of Forestry
- The Nature Conservancy
- The Appalachian Conservation Corps
Red spruce forests are relatively rare, but they play a vital role in many ecosystems on the planet. Workers will release and plant spruces, and work on headwater stream restoration areas of need in the Allegheny Highlands.
“This work literally has been 30 years in the making and finally all the pieces are set to engage in forest restoration at scale that will have a positive impact on forest condition and health for decades to come.”
Mark Ford, associate professor in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation
The following locations will be primary locations for the project:
- Garrett County in Maryland
- Giles, Grayson, Highland, Russell, and Tazewell counties in Virginia
- Greenbrier, Nicholas, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Randolph, Tucker, and Webster counties in West Virginia
For more information on the project, click here.