The Shadow
MONTGOMERY COUNTY Va. (VR) – A new natural area preserve intended to protect one of the most at-risk cave-adapted species in Virginia has been created in Montgomery County, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation announced.
The state’s 68th natural area preserve, named Eastern Divide, is comprised of two tracts totaling just under 34 acres within a developing region outside of Blacksburg. The Virginia Natural Area Preserve system is managed by DCR’s Virginia Natural Heritage Program, whose mission is to conserve the state’s biodiversity.
Dedicating public land as part of Virginia’s natural area preserve system provides the highest possible level of protection against incompatible development. This preserve will help improve water quality in the upper reaches of the North Fork of the Roanoke River and support the flora, bats and other fauna who live in the forested karst landscape.
Funding was supported by the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation, with an initial grant awarded in 2022.
“We are deeply grateful to the previous landowners whose partnership with DCR made this project possible and helped prevent the extinction of a species found nowhere else on Earth but here in Virginia,” said Lesley Starke, chief of natural areas stewardship for Natural Heritage.
The former owner of one of the tracts had discovered the Ellett Valley millipede (Pseudotremia cavernarum) on his property, which had previously been thought to be extinct.
Wil Orndorff, karst protection coordinator at DCR, said subsequent efforts to find the millipede in the Blacksburg area showed that the range of the species is extremely limited: about 10 square miles between the Eastern Continental Divide in Blacksburg and the North Fork of the Roanoke River. Cave owners who want to know whether the millipede lives on their property can contact the DCR cave and karst team.
These two acquisitions will form the core of a preserve that the agency hopes to grow in the future to protect a significant portion of the millipede’s habitat, along with other cave animals and native plants. The site is surrounded by privately owned land; there is no public access.
While the primary purpose of all natural area preserves is to protect habitats for rare species and ecosystems, with recreation a secondary objective, more than 20 throughout the commonwealth provide public access for low-impact recreation activities.
