Gauley River Fishes 55 



Cranberry River has a depauperate fauna which probably resulted from a 

 past history of intensive logging and mining, as well as naturally low pH 

 waters draining Cranberry Glades. 



Cherry River 

 Cherry River, a major southern tributary to Gauley River, rises at 1341 

 m in Greenbrier County and flows generally in a northeast direction for 

 43.4 km to its mouth at Curtin. The drainage basin is 445 km 2 in size and 

 gradient averages 17.4 m/km. Cherry River is rather industrialized in its 

 lower section and domestic sewage also adds to the degradation of water 

 quality. Major tributaries to Cherry River are the North Fork, South 

 Fork and Laurel Creek. A small impoundment, Summit Lake, is located 

 off Route 39, and discharges into the North Fork. Six stations (15-20) 

 were located in the Cherry River drainage (Tables 1 and 2; Fig. 1). Sum- 

 mit Lake (Station 15) is a well used recreation area stocked with Lepomis 

 macrochirus , Micropterus salmoides and salmonids. 



Panther Creek 

 Panther Creek is a small southern tributary to Gauley River east of 

 Nettie. It is approximately 15.4 km long with an average gradient of 23.3 

 m/km. One collection was made on Panther Creek at Station 21 yielding 

 only 4 species (Tables 1 and 2; Fig. 1). 



Hominy Creek 

 Hominy Creek is a principal southern tributary to Gauley River, with 

 its source near 1097 m in elevation at Grassy Knob, Greenbrier County. 

 Its length is approximately 35.1 km with an average gradient of 18 m/km. 

 The drainage basin is about 272 km 2 . A vertical drop of 6.1 m occurs at 

 Hominy Falls. A total of 15 species was collected from the system (Sta- 

 tions 22-24) (Tables 1 and 2; Fig. 1). 



Collison Creek 

 This stream is a small tributary to Gauley River below Summersville 

 Dam. It is being considered as a possible site for impoundment by the 

 Corps. Total length is 9.5 km and gradient is 28.8 m/km. The drainage 

 basin is 24.9 km 2 . One collection (Station 25) on Collison Creek yielded 7 

 species (Tables 1 and 2; Fig. 1). 



Meadow River 

 Meadow River, the major tributary to Gauley Rvier, rises in eastern 

 Summers County at approximately 1202 m and flows north to northwest 

 along the Fayette-Greenbrier and Fayette-Nicholas county lines to its 



