Naked Mountain Natural Area Preserve

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Naked Mountain Natural Area Preserve
USA Virginia location map.svg
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Location Nelson County, Virginia
Coordinates 37°45′09″N78°49′41″W / 37.7525°N 78.828°W / 37.7525; -78.828 Coordinates: 37°45′09″N78°49′41″W / 37.7525°N 78.828°W / 37.7525; -78.828 [1]
Area 278 acres (1.13 km2)
Established 2006 (2006)
Owner Private

Naked Mountain Natural Area Preserve is a 278-acre (1.13 km2) Natural Area Preserve located in Nelson County, Virginia. The preserve was dedicated in 2006. [2]

Virginia Natural Area Preserve System System of protected areas in Virginia

The Virginia Natural Area Preserve System is a system of protected areas in the state of Virginia. It is managed by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Nelson County, Virginia County in the United States

Nelson County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 15,020. Its county seat is Lovingston.

Contents

It was created to protect an uncommon growth of shooting-stars ( Dodecatheon meadia ) and a small population of the globally rare Torrey's mountain mint ( Pycnanthemum torrei ), which occupy rocky clearings on otherwise forested slopes. The preserve includes an example of a "low-elevation basic outcrop barrens", a rare natural community that grows in dry areas with thin, basic soils and outcrops of amphibolite bedrock. The forests also represent a rare community known as "mountain/piedmont basic woodlands". [2] [3]

<i>Dodecatheon meadia</i> species of plant

Dodecatheon meadia, commonly known as shooting star, is a species of flowering plant in the primrose family (Primulaceae). It is native to North America, where it is found in the eastern United States, spanning north from Minnesota and New York, south to Texas and Florida.

<i>Pycnanthemum</i> genus of plants

Pycnanthemum is a genus of plants in the mint family (Lamiaceae). They are commonly known as mountain mints, though "the mountain mint" may also be any locally common species in particular. Some are known as koellias, after an obsolete genus name.

Pycnanthemum torrei, common name Torrey's mountainmint, is a perennial plant native to the United States.

The preserve is privately owned and protected by a conservation easement held by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). [4] It is not open to the public, although organized field trips may be arranged through the DCR and the property's private owners. [2]

In the United States, a conservation easement is a power invested in a qualified private land conservation organization or government to constrain, as to a specified land area, the exercise of rights otherwise held by a landowner so as to achieve certain conservation purposes. It is an interest in real property established by agreement between a landowner and land trust or unit of government. The conservation easement "runs with the land", meaning it is applicable to both present and future owners of the land. As with other real property interests, the grant of conservation easement is recorded in the local land records; the grant becomes a part of the chain of title for the property.

The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation is a department of the government of Virginia; it oversees all Virginia state parks and Natural Area Preserves.

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Naked Mountain". ProtectedPlanet. United Nations Environment Programme's World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "Naked Mountain Natural Area Preserve". Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  3. ↑ Koerting, Katrina (January 11, 2012). "Preserving native, rare parts of Virginia". Nelson County News. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Naked Mountain Natural Area Preserve". For the Love of the Land - 100 Conservation Stories from Across Virginia (PDF). Piedmont Environmental Council. p. 60. Retrieved December 22, 2016.


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