Discovery and Disclosure in a Treasured National Park
By Brian Kane, Outreach Coordinator & Mid-Atlantic Regional Manager
Chance Raso, a park ranger with the National Park Service’s New River Gorge Park and Preserve, knew an old-growth forest when he saw one in 2020. Chance studied old-growth forests as a student of Dr. Tom Saladyga at Concord University. When Chance came upon the Burnwood forest as an NPS employee a few years later, he reached out to his former professor to invite him to take a closer look.
Dr. Salaydga, Raso, and university students inventoried the forest’s soils, tree species, topography, tree canopy and understory. Their study confirmed that many of the trees were more than three centuries old, including several remarkable black gums that date to then seventeenth century and some very old American beech and oak.
Park Ranger Chance Raso (far left), along with OGFN Mid-Atlantic Regional Manager Brian Kane
While there are numerous hikes around the extensive New River Gorge National Park, none is closer for visitors than the Burnwood Forest trail, since it is less than a quarter mile from the central visitor’s center. The trail is relatively level, a rarity in the steep terrain and trails that run throughout the national park. Visitors can quickly enter a forest that has completely different character than the adjacent lands, and encounter hardwood and evergreen trees with enormous diameters and heights that have stood since before the area was settled by Europeans. The forest was recognized by the Old-Growth Forest Network in 2023.
Since then, Raso developed an interpretive guide to the Burnwood Trail, so that visitors from across the country could learn about the forest and about the relevance of old-growth forests to healthy ecosystems. The guide explains their role in protecting waterways and their capacity for carbon storage. Chance’s idea came full circle and his vision is reflected in a self-guided tour that visitors can read from their smartphone as they hike along the Burnwood Trail. Now, the story of this old-growth forests is accessible to thousands of the park’s visitors.
You can view the self-guided tour guide on your smartphone by visiting https://www.nps.gov/neri/planyourvisit/old-growth-forest-hike.htm
We are grateful to Mr. Raso, to Dr. Saladyga and the Concord University students, and the National Park Service for allowing the majesty of old-growth forests to be broadcast far and wide.
