Restoring 500 Acres of Old Mine Lands at New River Gorge

The New River, one of the oldest rivers on the continent. NPS.

The project

With $1,450,000 in FY24 funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the National Park Service will restore about 500 acres of New River Gorge National Park and Preserve where old mining left the land unable to support native forest.

The work includes removing invasive plants, loosening compacted soil, replanting native plants and improving water quality — for biodiversity, connected habitat, pollinators, carbon storage and a better visit. The Park Service will also develop a monitoring protocol to judge success and decide whether follow-up treatment is needed.

Why it's needed

The degraded land has suffered invasive species, fragmented forest, acid mine drainage, sedimentation and erosion, limiting the ecosystem's resilience. Restoring it to healthy native forest will bring back the ecological functions and services it once provided. The park is home to about 1,400 plant species, nearly 100 rare plants, and neotropical birds and amphibians of global importance.

Similar work has been done on former mine lands across Appalachia, including the Plant a Tree project at Flight 93 National Memorial and the Mower Tract restoration. Their success helped inspire the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and IRA funding for New River Gorge's forests.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests in restoring America's lands, skies and waters — repaired trails and campgrounds, invasive species removal, and healthy wetlands, grasslands and forests.

Sources

Based on "Project Profile: Restore 500 Acres of Mine Lands at New River Gorge," National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain.