Saving
Five Miles on the Gauley River
a 1336-acre land campaign in Nicholas County, WV
Project Cost: $3,654,572
Current balance yet to raise: $3,157,972- as of 7/16/2025
Stewardship Funds are critically needed
Here at the Arc of Appalachia, we have been buying and protecting wildlands for 30 years, primarily in southern Appalachian Ohio. In that span of time, we have made over 13,000 acres of protected natural areas possible, and we have closed on 185 properties. However, never in our history have we ever pursued a project as large, or with the degree of extraordinary beauty and national significance as this property on the Gauley River. We have until December 31, 2025 to save five extraordinary miles of it.
A World-Class River. The legendary Gauley River is one of the top ten whitewater rafting rivers in the world. Before Summersville Lake was constructed in 1965, the Gauley flowed entirely wild and free. Today, the dam releases water six weeks each fall, providing thrilling adventures for rafters who prepare to drop 688 feet in elevation as they travel 24 miles through the Gauley River National Recreation Area, located just downstream of the dam. Rafters encounter no less than 100 whitewater rapids along the route, several of them Class V and bearing evocative names such as Lost Paddle, Pillow Rock, and Pure Screaming Hell. Downstream of the recreation area, the river current slows as it approaches its confluence with the New River, just a few miles downstream of New River Gorge National Park. When the waters of the Gauley and the New River merge, they form the mighty Kanawha River, which flows north to the Ohio River. Protecting Five Miles on the Gauley will help protect the water quality downstream for 60,000 boaters a year!
Mountain Born. Five Miles on the Gauley is located immediately north of Summersville Lake in a peaceful, rarely visited portion of the river. A particularly beautiful fast-moving tributary of the Gauley, Big Beaver Creek, runs through the property for an entire mile. Two smaller tributaries, Crooked Run and Little Run, also dissect the land. Both of these exceptionally handsome waterways have carved out deep, rhododendron-filled ravines. Far to the east of Five Miles on the Gauley, the river finds its mountain origins in the immense 919,000-acre Monongahela National Forest.
West Virginia, with a 79% forest cover, is the third most forested state in the nation and the only one 0f the top three that is located in the Appalachian heartland. (Because you’ll want to know, Maine is #1 with 89% forest cover; New Hampshire is #2 with 83% forest cover.) Many properties enter the West Virginia real estate listings each year with extraordinarily high conservation potential - properties made even more compelling by the fact that real estate prices in West Virginia are a third to a quarter of rural land values in neighboring states. Conservation dollars stretch far in West Virginia. The challenge is to raise, then use them there.
Preservation in West Virginia has been underfunded nationally for far too long. We would like to see MUCH more private philanthropy flowing into West Virginia to save some of our country’s most spectacular landscapes. Dollar for dollar, no other eastern OR western state provides greater returns in conservation. Five Miles on the Gauley, along with the Arc’s 2024 WV acquisition, 1200-acre Wild Rock Canyon, are just the beginning of our long-term commitment to save premier wildlands in West Virginia. If we can complete the Five Miles on the Gauley project soon, we know two more properties for sale on the Gauley that are worth pursuing. The time is now to dream big and to move fast so that our dreams can come true. It is safe to say no one else is going to do this for us….Saving land in West Virginia will only be accomplished through private philanthropy.
Buying land for wildlands protection is simple, straight-forward, effective, and deeply, deeply satisfying. It is also forever.
A Haven for wildlife. As soon as we signed the purchase contract to buy Five Miles on the Gauley, the Arc’s staff and volunteers made arrangements to perform field studies to inventory the wildlife. Field biologists from both Ohio and West Virginia came together to mist-net for bats, set up moth lighting stations, seine for fish, turn over rocks for salamanders, and listen for birds. They found an unusual abundance of wildlife. Large numbers of lichen-colored Green salamanders were discovered in rock crevices, and many other salamander species were inventoried as well - always a dependable indicator of healthy forests. Dozens of Red efts, the immature terrestrial stage of the Eastern newt, were enthusiastically photographed by our volunteer field biologists as the salamanders lumbered fearlessly along the forest floor.
Rhododendron tangles resounded with the cheerful call of the Swainson’s warbler, a species of conservation concern. The Swainson’s warbler is typically a denizen of low-elevation humid forests in the southeast, where it is associated with rivercane, but in West Virginia it uncharacteristically adapts to rhododendron thickets. Two charismatic bird species, the common merganser and the belted kingfisher, ruled the open waters of the river. The signature hooded warbler’s vibrant “away, away withchu” song could be heard in nearly every glen and hollow, often against a backdrop of singing ovenbirds and Louisiana waterthrushes. The etheric songs of the wood thrush, the flutist of the forest symphony, were ever present.
Our game cams uncovered ample evidence of black bear, bobcat, coyote, wild turkey, mink, beaver, and white-tailed deer. This section of the Gauley is known to harbor hellbenders and mudpuppies, and it lies on the edge of the range for the federally endangered candy darter. Unfortunately, the river’s swift current hampered our aquatic inventories, literally sweeping us off our feet. Needless to say, we are eager to get into the river and continue our inventories.
Once & Future Forest. The property’s medium-aged woodlands are in good health, providing a solid canopy cover and a wide range of tree ages. Oaks, beech, and hemlock—some quite large in size—dominate the forest. Four species of magnolias are present: Fraser, Umbrella, Cucumber, and Tulip. Rhododendrons border the Gauley River and fill every hollow, nourished by the cool mists that frequently fill the deep river valley. In late May, a scattering of mountain laurels on the hillsides bursts into glorious bloom. The presence of invasive plants is minimal, found primarily near the steam engine railway that bordered the river at the turn of the century to remove the Gauley’s primeval forest. West Virginia’s forests were some of the last of America’s old-growth forests to be felled. The only recent disturbance to the property was on its relatively flat ridgetop. Here, the forest was selectively cut just last year, including a clearing of about 40 acres of the ridgetop, altogether representing roughly 10% of the property.
Riverscour. The most interesting habitat on the property is riverscour, a plant community that inhabits certain sections of the cobbly/sandy shoreline of the Gauley. This highly disturbed vegetation zone alternates between dessication in the hot sun and submersion under high-velocity waters. Only a few plants and trees can adapt to these harsh extremes. Riverscour habitat has been destroyed across most of our eastern waterways because the niche requires untamed, high-energy rivers that flood several times each year - rivers without dams or development. It has been claimed that over 40% of West Virginia’s rarest plants are found in riverscour habitats. Species common to this zone include bluets, black gum trees, royal fern, ninebark, several highly specialized asters, and sweet azalea, Rhododendron arborescens. Just a few feet higher in elevation, the thorny and very peculiar Hercules Club, Zanthoxylum clava-herculis, grows in the river’s sandy banks.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the timeline to save this property? A sympathetic nonprofit is holding the Gauley property for the Arc of Appalachia, giving us until December 31, 2025, to fully raise the campaign funds. If we do not meet this deadline, interest rates will begin, which will negatively affect both organizations. Completing this project by year’s end is of utmost importance. Because of our partner non-profit’s devotion and assistance, we are able to guarantee that all donations will be applied to this campaign.
What expenses are covered by the campaign? The campaign total of $3,654,572 includes the sale price, closing costs, and a small percentage of funds (7% or less) to cover the cost of preparing the closing papers, running the campaign, and processing the gifts and checks. All of this is accomplished in-house with our Arc staff. Stewardship funds are not included in this campaign and will be raised separately. For more information on how the Arc stewards its preserves, read this article, “Stewardship Forever.”
Customize your gift! Naturally, how much you give is up to you, but we encourage you not to set a goal so high that you end up not giving. Every heartfelt donation adds magic to the campaign, whether it be $10 or $100,000. If your resources allow, consider buying an acre in your name or the name of someone you love at a cost of $ 2,736. Or get creative! A wood thrush, which is common at Five Miles on the Gauley, can live and breed in as little as 2 acres. Consider supporting a wood thrush family’s summer home for a gift of $5472. Too much? Then how about a chipmunk’s half-acre home for $ 1,368. Or a wood frog’s 477-square-meter home for $320. Or one square yard with two trilliums, one pipevine, and a Jack-in-pulpit, which costs you only 60 cents. (That’s way cheaper than buying these flowers at a nursery!) Armed with a search engine and your favorite creatures in mind, you could come up with some pretty unique gift amounts! Be sure to tell us if you come up with!
Can I visit the property? Although the Arc of Appalachia is renowned for developing some of Ohio’s most stunning trails, currently maintaining over 80 miles of them, we are not yet sufficiently staffed to maintain trails in West Virginia—yet. However, our stewardship capacity has more than doubled in the last two years, thanks to the benevolence of especially generous donors. We believe that if we build the preserves in West Viriginia, funding for stewardship will be forthcoming, just as it has been for our Ohio preserves. For now, Five Miles on the Gauley is not suitable for visitation because the property has no road frontage. The only entry is through an easement lane over private land. We will likely have future opportunities to expand the preserve with the purchase of additional parcels and one of them will surely have road frontage at some point. In the meantime, we will be offering guided hikes into the property from time to time. Be sure to subscribe to our education notices via email and through Telegram, a phone app, by clicking this Subscribe button.
Is the Arc a trustworthy nonprofit? The answer is YES (and naturally we are just a wee bit biased). Our dynamic staff and committed board are all dedicated to integrity, honesty. efficiency, hard work, and transparency. Our best reviews are from our donors, nearly all of whom stay with us long-term. Many people with us when the Arc started 30 years ago are still part of our extended family of donors. For those of you interested in fiscal data, our 2024 audited financials are linked to our donation page. We invite you to read more about our mission here, and check out our recent annual news magazines - an annual celebration of the Arc’s energized land preservation achievements, combined with some truly splendid nature art. We hope you will also consider visiting us at our headquarters, the 3,000-acre Highlands Nature Sanctuary in south central Ohio, where we have 18 miles of trails and overnight rental cabins.
Would you like to contact us? Phone our office staff at 937-365-1935, or write to arcpreserveinfo@gmail.com. Our headquarters at the Appalachian Forest Museum is hosted by REAL people (that’s amazing, right?), 7 days a week from March 15 to November 15. Between those dates our phones and emails are staffed Monday through Friday.
Help us spread the word about this campaign! Each of us is a unique networker—separated from every other human being on the planet by no more than six handshakes. Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but it is a lovely assertion of our interconnectedness. If you would like to share your circle of handshakes to help promote the Gauley campaign, know that our front door is wide open to help. Here at the Arc we delight in putting broken lands back together again and removing the fences between them. And you know what? We feel exactly the same way about people.
Something in this campaign has your name on it. Let us help you find it!