Wild, wonderful West Virginia gets wilder

[Bravo Zulu]

Congress reclassifies more than 39,000 acres as new wilderness areas in state's national forest

The entrance to the Otter Creek Wilderness in the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia, one of three existing wildernesses that was expanded in the public lands legislation that Congress passed last month.

A hikers' suspension bridge over the Dry Fork of the Cheat River provides access to the Otter Creek Wilderness in the Monongahela National Forest.

PARSONS, W.Va. -- Terri Knotts, who pours coffee and pushes peanut butter pie at Trisha's Family Restaurant, said hikers on their way to the Otter Creek Wilderness will begin trickling in next month and beat a steady path through town all summer.

The recent expansion of that wilderness, just four miles south of town on state Route 72, plus other new and expanded wilderness areas in the nearby Monongahela National Forest, will help awaken this sleepy town of 1,400, she said.

"We'll start picking up in May, and in the spring and summer we do get a lot of people who come here to hike the wilderness, plus cavers and hunters from out of state, too," Ms. Knotts said. "More wilderness will be good. I haven't heard anything negative about it. A lot of people here are actively into the land, hunting, fishing and gathering herbs and foods in the forest."

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09102/962293-455.stm

[wordpix]

1. think I'll go check it out, looks great

[Botany]

2. 2009 to do list visit Otter Creek

[MountainLaurel]

3. Great news!

So many parts of that region have been on the cusp of being sold to developers or logging companies.

[X_Digger]

4. AWESOME caves in the mon n/t

[Muttocracy]

5. awesome! some of my best childhood memories

were in the forests and farms of West Va. Beautiful, beautiful country.

[Peace_Sells]

6. one thing

Theres one thing I actually like about my state and thats its wilderness. Well and the wildlife too.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

7. there's an excellent site about otter creek and the rest of the monongahela national forest

www.jonathanjessup.com/index.php