Cranesville Swamp celebrates 60 years as a National Natural Landmark

TERRA ALTA, W.Va. (WBOY) — Around 50 people across the region gathered on Friday to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Preston County’s Cranesville Swamp being named a National Natural Landmark.

The swamp has been under conservation efforts for years thanks to work from groups like The Nature Conservancy. This work includes the planting of around 56,000 trees in order to conserve the cool atmosphere of the area, and to rehabilitate the area after years of logging.

“Cranesville Swamp is really a cool place because it’s a cold air sink. So basically it looks like a bowl, it’s a swamp at the bottom, right? And the cold air sinks down and it creates a plant community. A special habitat that doesn’t occur elsewhere. And so when you go into the swamp you’re going to find species that are way farther north than they should be—than in West Virginia. Things like that, that make it a really unique environment,” The Nature Conservancy Executive Director for West Virginia Thomas Minney said.

Some of the visitors were first-timers, while others were there to see what the support they’ve given to The Nature Conservancy has done to help the swamp.

If you want to learn more about the TNC and the work it does, you can visit its website here.

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