Appalachian Headwaters

Restoration at Sharp's Knob

Appalachian Headwaters is working with the United States Forest Service and Green Forests Work to reforest approximately 465 acres of rare red spruce forest at Sharp’s Knob in the Monongahela National Forest.

Sharp’s Knob is located in Pocahontas County. In the early 1970s, Sharp’s Knob was surface-mined for coal, and then replanted with non-native grasses and white pine trees. Headwaters and its partners are now restoring the unique habitat at this site.


Restoring Appalachia’s Rare Ecosystems

Red spruce forests once covered more than 500,000 acres of West Virginia’s high country. Now less than 10 percent of the red spruce ecosystem is left in the state, after years of logging and mining. That remarkable habitat is home to over 300 rare plant and animal species. Because of this exceptionally high biodiversity, red spruce forest and wetland communities are among the highest global conservation priorities.