Back Creek Adventures
This project seeks to protect via a perpetual conservation easement 301 acres and 1.3 miles of front along Back Creek in Berkeley County, WV. Back Creek, a priority watershed for Potomac Conservancy and this parcel is designated as among the "Highest Priority" for protection under the WV DEP's 2014 Back Creek Watershed Protection Plan. The easement will cover the highest conservation value portion of the property, including floodplan wetlands, upland wetlands, all the stream frontage, and prime forest. The property includes habitat for a large variety of Species of Greatest Conservation Need listed below. The parcel is in an area without zoning that is seeing intense development pressure, raising the risk of conversion if not protected.
The project will store carbon by protecting 301 acres of forest, including upland wetlands, and will limit any future timber harvesting to projects done solely for wildlife habitat purposes and approved by PC as such. The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) Resilient Land Mapping Tool illustrates that the property has Above Average Connectivity and Climate Flow, High Resilience, High Flow, and Recognized Biodiversity Value. Back Creek is classified among freshwater with the Highest Relative Resilience (TNC, Assessing Freshwater Ecosystems for Their Resilience to Climate Change, 2013.)
This project is an essential effort to protect a valuable piece of ecosystem that is home to a variety of species, critical wetlands, and vast amounts of stored carbon. Success will mean safeguarding an invaluable resource for decades to come.