Arc of Appalachia
Active Land Campaigns
Cliff Run by Brian Prose
The Arc of Appalachia’s 2026-2027 Land Campaign is coming together!
SO MANY WETLANDS THIS YEAR! In the coming weeks, we will be sharing deeper information on each LAND PURSUIT.
If the title is underlined, more info is already available - just click on the title or photo to view
AUCTION - JUNE 30, 2O26!!!
2700-acre EMERGENCY CAMPAIGN
New River Wilderness in WV
next to New River Gorge National Park
How often does this happen? Remarkably, eight large parcels of land immediately adjacent to one of the East’s most spectacular National Parks are heading toward the auction block! We are talking nearly 2800 acres of cliffs, gorges, deep forests, and whitewater creeks in the New River Watershed. The National Park Service wants to see these parcels protected, but they lie outside the park’s legislated boundaries. Only a citizen-funded effort can save these iconic Appalachian landscapes, and only if we move very quickly. More INFO. PLEDGES NEEDED NOW!
Just a few miles south of the Highlands Nature Sanctuary, the Arc’s headquarters in Ohio, an impressively towering swamp forest known as ‘Beechflats’ once grew. With the demise of the beaver and the invention of drain tile, however, Beechflats literally disappeared off the face of the earth. Today, it exists only as a passing mention in the older local history books. Until, that is, someone dared the impossible dream of breathing Beechflats back to life. The result was a wildly successful wetlands restoration project. Then, uddenly, the dream got a whole lot bigger!
KILLBUCK SWAMP EXPANSION
186 more acres; 2 acquisitions
Black Creek Swamp & Bowfin Bottoms Holmes Co, OH
Killbuck Swamp Preserve is centered in the largest wetlands in interior Ohio, second in size only to the marshes of Lake Erie. The preserve was founded in 2021 and 2022 with two phases of expansion that brought the swamp to 350 acres. Thanks to Clean Ohio grants, we are now increasing the preserve to 538 acres, and need to raise private funds for the 25% match. Two H2Ohio restoration grants have also beein awarded. The drain tiles are being removed and the WATER IS RISING!! Killbuck is home to breeding sandhill cranes and trumpeter swans!
Beaver Wetlands is the Arc’s first, but not our last, pursuit in Gallia County, OH, a c0unty that borders the Ohio River. Dirty Face Creek is a tributary of Symmes, a creek that drains directly into the Ohio River. The parcel borders Wayne National Forest and has natural wetlands lining both sides of Dirty Face. This region on the Jackson/Gallia county line is WET, and one of the best places in Ohio for wetlands restoration projects. The creek is an absolute magnet for beaver. Their dams are common on Dirty Face, slowing down the rate of flow, deepening the water, and contributing to high wildlife biodiversity.
How often do properties this stunning and this large come along for sale? The Gauley River is mountain-born, its origins in the highlands of the 919,000-acre Monongahela National Forest.Five miles of the Gauley, along with one mile of Big Beaver Creek, carve out deep valleys shrouded with hemlocks and rhododendrons. This property lies immediately upstream of Summersville Lake in a peaceful, rarely visited portion of the river. Downstream from Summersville Lake, the Gauley provides one of the world’s most beloved white water adventures in the 24-mile span of the National Recreation Area. Deeper information.
FIVE MILES ON THE GAULEY
A crown jewel among our Eastern Rivers
1,136 acres in Nicholas County, WV
Five Miles on the Gauley is stunningly beautiful, vast, remote, and hard to get into. To enter, we have to go through a private gate with five locks on it, travel a half mile over a narrow easement lane, and then travel another half mile over the old logging lane to get to a parking pull-off. on our property. We recently discovered that the private land we travel over to get to the Gauley property was for sale. Worried that its relatively flat terrain might be divided into small lots by some future owner, we decided it would be wise to get it into contract. This purchase will give us road access, and ensure its wildlands character.
Our dream is to build a one-mile preservation corridor between these two large, pre-existing conservation blocks. Emerald Forest project is critically placed to further our progress! The property boasts pristine, sand-bottomed streams, beaver ponds, striking rock formations, extensive skunk cabbage wetlands, and dense colonies of wet-loving cinnamon ferns. We are enchanted with the wildlife diversity on this VERY wet property (notably its salamanders,) and the profusion of ferns covering every nook and cranny. Click here for deeper information.
THE EMERALD FOREST
Connecting Clear Creek w/Hocking Hills
210 Acres, 2 acquisitions
Hocking County, OH
WELKIN RING
A rare sandstone-bluff community
13 species rare & endangered plants
45 Acres in Jackson County, OH
The protection of Welkin Ring, despite its relatively small size among Arc holdings, will represent a major conservation victory once it is funded. The site has allured generations of botanists because of its impressive, ultra-rare flora and exceptionally scenic sandstone cliffs. Welkin Ring is one of the most beautiful we have ever laid eyes on. It is dominated by a 200-foot-high sandstone-knobbed pinnacle that is crowned with Virginia pines that form a bower above colonies of wild blueberries. Click here for deeper information.
RAISING TOBACCO BARN HOLLOW!
Doubling a remote forest wilderness
468 more acres, 6 acquisitions
Pike Co, OH
We are on the last stretch of the Arc’s second-largest forest preservation campaign in Ohio. Our quest is to nearly double the Arc’s Tobacco Barn Hollow Preserve (TBH)! Of the $2,768,730 original project cost, today only $125,000 remains. TBH lies in the roadless heartland of the 12,500-acre Pike State Forest. It is a noted refuge for vulnerable populations of breeding birds that require large, unbroken forests. Only FOUR viable populations of timber rattlesnakes remain in Ohio. Tobacco Barn Hollow is one of them. Deeper information.
RECENTLY COMPLETED CAMPAIGNS
Wild Rock Canyon, WV
1,200 Acres - COMPLETED!
Greenbrier County, WV
Pickett Run Wetlands & Woods
at the Highlands Nature Sanctuary - COMPLETED! Highland County, OH
Sylvan Deep Trailhead
2-acre expansion & development - COMPLETED! Jackson County, OH
Ohio Hanging Rock Trailhead
5 Acres - COMPLETED!
Scioto County, OH
Cliff Run- Phase 2 & 3
300 Acres - COMPLETED!
Ross County, OH
Pip Ridge
60 Acres - COMPLETED!
Hocking County, OH
