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WV 5. Cranberry Glades Botanical Area. Acreage: 750. 



CD Location: Pocahontas County; Lobelia Quadrangle; 9 miles SW of Marlington; 



£ reached via U.S. 219 and Rt. 39. 



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Description: Five glades comprised of bog forests. Underlying peat is up to 11 ft 

 in depth. Here, a typical bog flora and fauna reaches its southernmost limits in 

 the Appalachians. Several northern plants reach southernmost extension here, 

 and several bird species reach their southernmost known breeding limits in east- 

 ern North America. The USFS has a recording weather station nearby, collect- 

 ing data on rainfall, humidity, solar radiation, wind velocities close to ground 

 and at tree-top level, and soil temperatures. 



References: Brooks, M. G. 1930. Notes on the birds of Cranberry Glades, 

 Pocahontas County, W. Va. Wilson Bull. 42:245-252; Brooks, M. G. 1945. The 

 Muskeg farthest South. Audubon Mag. 42(4 ):2 16-223; Rigg, G. B., and P. D. 

 Strausbaugh. 1949. Some stages in the development of sphagnum bogs in West 

 Virginia. Castanea 14(4): 129- 148; Scott, B. H. 1949. The case of the misplaced 

 Muskeg. Ford Times 41(2):40-44; Core, E. H. 1955. Cranberry Glades Natural 

 Area. Wild Flower 31:65-81; Clarkson, R. B. 1966. The vascular flora of the 

 Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia. Castanea 31 ( 1 ):1-1 19. 



Encroachments: Area classified as a Botanical Area by the U.S. Secretary of 

 Agriculture. A boardwalk was built to inform visitors and prevent trampling of 

 the bog vegetation. Written permits are required to get off the boardwalk. Col- 

 lectors' permits are required and a legitimate reason must accompany the 

 request. The USFS is still having trouble with group users, especially those on 

 scientific visits, when the instructor or leader pulls plants and permits students 

 to do likewise. The layman is not a problem except for occasional littering. 



Ownership: USFS, Monongahela National Forest, Box 1231, Elkins, W. Va. 

 26241. 



Data source: E. M. Olliver, Box 1231, Elkins, W. Va. 26241. 



Other knowledgeable persons: Dr. Earl L. Core; Dr. Charles Baer, both of De- 

 partment of Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, W. Va. 26505. 

 Professor Maurice G. Brooks, Division of Forestry, West Virginia University, 

 Morgantown, W. Va. 26505; Dr. H. C. Darlington, Professor Emeritus, Depart- 

 ment of Biology, Marshall University, Huntington, W. Va. 25700. 



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