Rock Skull-cap at Mudsoc Woods. Photo by Greg Snowden.
Mudsoc Woods
a 870-acre preserve in Gallia County
It is rare for large blocks of privately held land to come up for sale in Ohio. Rarer still is that the properties are of such high quality as that of Mudsoc Preserve. The Gallia County, OH property features 16 miles of waterways, 550 acres of forest, and two significant cave formations. It also protects at least three known state-listed rare species, and according to botanists with ODNR, there is potential that more could be found if further botanical inventories are able to be conducted there.
In our 30 year history, the Arc of Appalachia has protected over 13,000 acres of land in 34 preserve regions. Our acquisitions have ranged in size from 0.2 acres to the largest single acquisition at 1200 acres. Only 5 acquisitions have been over 500 acres in size, and the largest of these, Wild Rock Canyon, is in West Virginia. At 870 acres, Mudsoc Preserve would be the second-largest single acquisition in the Arc’s history.
Project Cost: $2,058,752 (Clean Ohio assisted)
One-time Stewardship Investment for
Entire Preserve: $625,000
The Arc’s first two preserves in Gallia County, Ohio. This project is one of two Arc of Appalachia land acquisition projects in Gallia County. The other, which is known as Beaver Wetlands, is located less than 11 miles from the Mudsoc Preserve as the crow flies. These projects represent the Arc of Appalachia’s first foray into Gallia County.
Mudsoc Woods would preserve 550 acres of forests ranging in age from young to fully mature, most of which are relatively free from non-native invasive species. It would also preserve a large block of contiguous, road-free woodland that is connected to the Wayne National Forest, and would support premier habitat for breeding birds and other species needing large, unbroken forest habitats.
Mudsoc Woods is Geologically Significant. The preserve protects two rare sandstone cave formations with high pH features that have been assessed by the Ohio Geological Survey as extremely significant, and furthermore assessed by the Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves as worthy of state nature preserve dedication.
Important Breeding Ground for Neotropical Birds. Mudsoc Woods lies in the National Audubon Society’s “Important Bird Area” known as “Wayne National Forest- Ironton IBA.” “Important Bird Areas” are identified as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. There have been 206 species of birds recorded in this IBA, including 5 endangered species (American Bittern, Lark Sparrow, Northern Harrier, and Upland Sandpiper), 1 threatened species (Sandhill Crane), and 19 species of concern (American Coot, Black-billed Cuckoo, Bobolink, Cerulean warbler, Chuck-will’s-widow, common nighthawk, eastern whip-poor-will, grasshopper sparrow, great egret, Henslow’s sparrow, Northern bobwhite, prothonotary warbler, red-headed woodpecker, ruffed grouse, sedge wren, sharp-shinned hawk, sora rail, vesper sparrow, and Virginia rail).
Mudsoc Woods is exceptionally rich in waterways. The property would protect approximately 16 miles of waterways, including 13.5 miles of high-quality headwater streams. It would also protect 1.2 miles along Peters Cave Creek and 1.4 miles along Sand Fork, a waterway evaluated by Ohio EPA as a waterway draining highly erodible sandy soils that is deserving of greater conservation attention.
Visitor Services Planned for Mudsoc Woods. The Arc intends to install a 2.25-mile-long trail at Mudsoc Woods. The trailhead for the Skullcap Hollow Trail will begin on Peters Cave Road, cross the flat valley floor to Peters Cave Creek, cross the creek, and loop back to the parking lot. The trail will offer scenic views of the floodplain of Peters Cave Creek and the Sand Fork Wetlands on Wayne National Forest Property just to the south of the preserve. There are numerous small sandstone rock features on the intermittent tributaries feeding Peters’ Cave Creek. Ephemeral wildflowers will be a highlight for spring hikers, while during late summer and fall, ironweed, wingstem, asters, and goldenrods will blanket the riparian area along Peters Cave Creek. The terrain is moderately steep with a 360 foot change in elevation over the course of the trail route.
A Rare Conservation Opportunity. Mudsoc presents an unusually affordable and biologically significant conservation opportunity for Ohio, made possible by a partnership between the Stream + Wetlands Foundation (S+W) and the Arc of Appalachia. Stream + Wetlands (S+W) is a non-profit corporation that is Ohio’s largest provider of compensatory mitigation for impacts to aquatic resources authorized through state and federal regulatory programs. S+W is in contract to purchase 470-acres of the property and has established 55 +/- acres of the site as the Mudsoc Farm Stream Mitigation Project. The Mitigation Project will provide environmental offsets for unavoidable stream impacts arising from the Ohio Department of Transportation’s (“ODOT”) construction of the LAW-7-2.17 roadway project within Lawrence County in the Symmes-Creek watershed.
Because it is not in the interest of S+W to hold and steward lands longterm, S+W has agreed to sell the 470 acres to the Arc of Appalachia at a major bargain sale price. This bargain sale will serve as the Arc’s match for an already-awarded Clean Ohio grant to purchase the 400 acres to the south, which the Arc is in contract to purchase from the sellers.