A Forest Runs Through It

Sorry.  No Brad Pitt here.  But much of Virginia is woodland and many of our public lands are managed by the Virginia Department of Forestry and are designated as “State Forests.”  Virginia currently has 21 State Forests spread across the state and recently added a new oneBig Woods State Forest in Sussex County. Big Woods is a classic example of an Eastern Savanna, an ecosystem that has been virtually unchanged during the last 20,000 or so years, and is full of Loblolly and Longleaf Pines, various Oaks, and is a home to Virginia’s rarest bird, the red-cockaded woodpecker.

Our State Forests range in size from the almost 20,000 acre Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest to the quiet little 121 acre Hawks State Forest in Carroll County.  You can see trees from pines to chestnuts, maples, black gums, hickory, and cypress.  If a woodpecker is not your fancy how about an Eastern Hellbender? Our forests are the territory of bears, foxes, flying squirrels, deer, bats, plover, raccoon, and more.  Rumor has it that we have some Pumas roaming around but nobody can confirm it.  Do you want to see a real, live raptor?  Go to a State Forest and catch a Bald Eagle or Red Tailed Hawk.  Like little furry guys?  Woodchucks and rabbits abound, but watch out for the occasional fisher.

The Virginia Department of Forestry looks at these woodlands as a resource for commerce, but they also understand and want to maintain the opportunities for recreation, wildlife, and preserving natural watersheds.  Not all of the forests started out that way, though.  Many had more genteel beginnings.

Zoar State Forest is on land originally roamed by the Mattaponi Indians.  In the late 1700’s Robert Pollard bought a property near the town of Aylett.  Aylett was known as a rough and tumble trading town with gamblers and drinkers, and Pollard named his home “Mount Zoar” after the biblical city to which Lot fled when God got godly on Sodom and Gomorrah.

If you go to Cumberland State Forest between Richmond and Lynchburg you might see the tombstone of Charles Irving Thornton.  Thornton lived there with his family but died at 13 months.  Charles Dickens (yes, THAT Charles Dickens) had recently travelled through Virginia and was kind enough to compose the epitaph on young Thornton’s gravestone.  It is one of only two that Dickens was known to have done.

Cumberland also was the homestead of “The Other Paul Revere”, Col. Jesse Thomas.  Thomas caught wind that British Lord Cornwallis was on a mission to capture Governor Thomas Jefferson and snag the troops of Baron Von Steuben.  Thomas rode his trusty steed, “Fearnaught”, through the night and across a rain-swollen James River to warn his Continental comrades.  Jefferson escaped, Von Steuben saved his troops and munitions, and Thomas was a hero.

Our forests range from the coastal old cypress swamps of Crawford’s and Dragon Run to the scenic vistas of Moore’s Creek and Old Flat near the summit of Mount Rogers in the Grayson’s Highlands State Park.  There are opportunities to hike, bird watch, fish, bike, and horseback ride.  Many of the State Forests allow some hunting, so check with your ranger before tromping off into the woods.  Most of the State Forests are sanctuaries for either flora or fauna, so bring what you need and take what you bring.  It’s a “leave no trace” mentality.

Some of these woodland areas are also protected.  At Lesesne State Forest in Nelson County they’re doing research on the American Chestnut.  There is a soil-borne fungus that we can carry on our shoes that kills the chestnut trees so look out for their research areas.

We’re really into scenic vistas here at Keep Virginia Beautiful.  With almost 60,000 acres of woodlands our friends at the Virginia Department of Forestry and Virginia’s State Forests certainly do their part to help.