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The Partners for Fish and Wildlife (PFW) Program staff from the West Virginia Ecological Services Field Office and Appalachian Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office recently collaborated with a number of partners to improve habitat and benefit off-road vehicle (ORV) riders in West Virginia. With the help of the Hatfield-McCoy Trail System, Tread Lightly, Applied Trails Research, Can-Am, Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area AmeriCorps, and Canaan Valley Institute, PFW was able to complete the project in the Upper Guyandotte River Watershed. The goal of the restoration project is to reconnect 1.2 miles of stream habitat and implement numerous best management practices along Trail 36 of the Pinnacle Creek portion of the Hatfield-McCoy Trail System, in the towns of Mullens and Pineville, West Virginia.
During the week-long project completed in early April, PFW Program staff, partners, and volunteers removed an undersized 18-inch diameter pipe culvert. This small culvert was prone to clogging during large rain events. It was replaced with a much larger (96-inch diameter) culvert and a robust native vegetation buffer was established along the trail and surrounding riparian riparian
Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.
Learn more about riparian areas.
Overall, the project will improve the condition and flood resilience of the trail system. It will also reduce maintenance costs and enhance rider鈥檚 experiences while restoring aquatic organism passage. The reduction of sedimentation will also benefit the critically endangered Guyandotte River crayfish which is native to the Upper Guyandotte River Watershed. Based on this project鈥檚 success, the partnership is planning to improve several other off-road vehicle trails and stream crossings throughout the Hatfield-McCoy Trail System.
