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61-669: The region includes wilderness areas protected by Congressional action, inventoried wilderness , and uninventoried areas recognized by the Wilderness Society as worthy of protection from timbering and roads. A corridor along the Blue Ridge Parkway, managed by the National Park Service, and forest service land in the Glenwood Ranger District act as a buffer for the protected areas. The following areas are in

122-697: A supereon , but this is also an informal term, not defined by the ICS in its chronostratigraphic guide. Eozoic (from eo- "earliest") was a synonym for pre-Cambrian , or more specifically Archean . A specific date for the origin of life has not been determined. Carbon found in 3.8 billion-year-old rocks (Archean Eon) from islands off western Greenland may be of organic origin. Well-preserved microscopic fossils of bacteria older than 3.46 billion years have been found in Western Australia . Probable fossils 100 million years older have been found in

183-577: A challenge for geologists to determine the history of rock now found in the area. There is general agreement that the rocks in the Blue Ridge are the oldest rocks in the state, some being formed at least 1.8 billion years ago. The landforms in Virginia are part of five provinces—the Appalachian Plateau , Ridge and Valley , Blue Ridge , Piedmont and Coastal plain . The Glenwood Cluster is located in

244-470: A great diversity of organisms living in a relationship that has evolved over many centuries. As land is being developed, these forests are becoming rare. There are several pockets of old-growth forest in the cluster—the James River Face Wilderness contains as much as 100 acres (40 ha) of old-growth forest in a steep, rocky terrain that was difficult to log. The Glenwood cluster lies within

305-673: A pathway for Brown-headed cowbirds in their search for the location of nests of smaller birds, who then destroy the eggs and replace them with their own eggs leaving the unwitting owner to raise the cowbird hatchlings. The Glenwood Cluster is divided by several roads, the largest being the Blue Ridge Parkway that divides the White Oak Ridge-Terrapin Mountain area from the rest of the cluster. The cluster contains pockets of old-growth forests , wild and complex mixtures of different species and ages of trees supporting

366-713: A possible 2450 Ma red alga from the Kola Peninsula , 1650 Ma carbonaceous biosignatures in north China, the 1600 Ma Rafatazmia , and a possible 1047 Ma Bangiomorpha red alga from the Canadian Arctic. The earliest fossils widely accepted as complex multicellular organisms date from the Ediacaran Period. A very diverse collection of soft-bodied forms is found in a variety of locations worldwide and date to between 635 and 542 Ma. These are referred to as Ediacaran or Vendian biota . Hard-shelled creatures appeared toward

427-624: A state by state basis and determines which areas and how much land in each area will become part of the WPS. There have been multiple occasions in which Congress designated more federal land than had been recommended by the nominating agency. Where as the Wilderness Act stipulated that a wilderness area must be "administered for the use and enjoyment of the American people in such a manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness",

488-651: Is known to occur during the RNA replication of extant coronaviruses . Evidence of the details of plate motions and other tectonic activity in the Precambrian is difficult to interpret. It is generally believed that small proto-continents existed before 4280 Ma, and that most of the Earth's landmasses collected into a single supercontinent around 1130 Ma. The supercontinent, known as Rodinia , broke up around 750 Ma. A number of glacial periods have been identified going as far back as

549-542: Is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions". As of 2023 , 806 wilderness areas have been designated, totaling 111,889,002 acres (45,279,873 ha; 452,798.73 km ; 174,826.566 sq mi), which comprise about 4.5% of the land area of the United States . During the 1950s and 1960s, as the American transportation system was on the rise, concern for clean air and water quality began to grow. A conservation movement began to take place with

610-514: Is thought that the Earth coalesced from material in orbit around the Sun at roughly 4,543 Ma, and may have been struck by another planet called Theia shortly after it formed, splitting off material that formed the Moon (see Giant-impact hypothesis ). A stable crust was apparently in place by 4,433 Ma, since zircon crystals from Western Australia have been dated at 4,404 ± 8 Ma. The term "Precambrian"

671-664: Is under federal ownership and management, (2) the area consists of at least five thousand acres of land, (3) human influence is "substantially unnoticeable," (4) there are opportunities for solitude and recreation, and (5) the area possesses "ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value." Wilderness areas are subject to specific management restrictions; human activities are limited to non-motorized recreation (such as backpacking , camping , hunting , fishing , horseback riding, etc.), scientific research , and other non-invasive activities. During these activities, patrons are asked to abide by

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732-693: Is used by geologists and paleontologists for general discussions not requiring a more specific eon name. However, both the United States Geological Survey and the International Commission on Stratigraphy regard the term as informal. Because the span of time falling under the Precambrian consists of three eons (the Hadean , the Archean , and the Proterozoic ), it is sometimes described as

793-571: The Eastern Wilderness Areas Act of 1975, which added 16 national forest areas to the NWPS, allowed for the inclusion of areas that had been severely modified by human interference. The Wilderness Act provides criteria for lands being considered for wilderness designation. Though there are some exceptions, the following conditions must be present for an area to be included in the NWPS: (1) the land

854-521: The Huronian epoch, roughly 2400–2100 Ma. One of the best studied is the Sturtian-Varangian glaciation, around 850–635 Ma, which may have brought glacial conditions all the way to the equator, resulting in a " Snowball Earth ". The atmosphere of the early Earth is not well understood. Most geologists believe it was composed primarily of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and other relatively inert gases, and

915-609: The Leave No Trace policy. This policy sets guidelines for using the wilderness responsibly and leaving the area as it was before usage. These guidelines include: Packing all trash out of the wilderness, using a stove as opposed to a fire, camping at least 200 feet (61 m) from trails or water sources, staying on marked trails, and keeping group size small. When closely observed, the Leave No Trace ethos ensures that wilderness areas remain untainted by human interaction. In general,

976-549: The National Park Service , the U.S. Forest Service , the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service , and the Bureau of Land Management . The term wilderness is defined as "an area where the earth and community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain" and "an area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation, which

1037-636: The Pelican Island Wilderness in northern Florida , which measures just 6 acres (2.4 ha) total. The smallest area preserved in the system was formerly the Rocks and Islands Wilderness in Northern California at 5 acres (2.0 ha), but after a reassessment by the Bureau of Land Management in 2006 it was officially expanded to 19 acres (7.7 ha). On November 7, 2009, an agreement between

1098-511: The geologic time scale . It spans from the formation of Earth about 4.6 billion years ago ( Ga ) to the beginning of the Cambrian Period, about 538.8 million years ago ( Ma ), when hard-shelled creatures first appeared in abundance. Relatively little is known about the Precambrian, despite it making up roughly seven-eighths of the Earth's history , and what is known has largely been discovered from

1159-482: The oxygen catastrophe . At first, oxygen would have quickly combined with other elements in Earth's crust, primarily iron, removing it from the atmosphere. After the supply of oxidizable surfaces ran out, oxygen would have begun to accumulate in the atmosphere, and the modern high-oxygen atmosphere would have developed. Evidence for this lies in older rocks that contain massive banded iron formations that were laid down as iron oxides. A terminology has evolved covering

1220-401: The 1960s onwards. The Precambrian fossil record is poorer than that of the succeeding Phanerozoic , and fossils from the Precambrian (e.g. stromatolites ) are of limited biostratigraphic use. This is because many Precambrian rocks have been heavily metamorphosed , obscuring their origins, while others have been destroyed by erosion, or remain deeply buried beneath Phanerozoic strata. It

1281-545: The Blue Ridge Parkway and the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation . The geology of the Glenwood Cluster has evolved over hundreds of millions of years. During this time, oceans were formed, each leaving a layer of sediment on its ocean bed. These ocean beds would be layered on top of one another, except for stress in the Earth's crust that created folds pushing the beds on top of one another. The result has left

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1342-700: The Blue Ridge Province, with the Piedmont Province to the east and the Ridge and Valley to the west. The Blue Ridge, the easternmost of the Appalachian Mountains, extends from Georgia to Pennsylvania , with widths ranging from 5 to 50 miles (8.0 to 80.5 km). In some places the province is a single ridge, while in other places it is a complex of closely spaced ridges. Rocks include Precambrian granite , gneiss , and metamorphosed volcanic rock of

1403-836: The Forest Service's Roadless Area Review and Evaluation (RARE) process. The Bureau of Land Management was not required to review its lands for inclusion in the NWPS until after October 21, 1976, when the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 was signed into law; designation of wilderness areas on BLM lands began in 1978. Over 200 wilderness areas have been created within Bureau of Land Management administered lands since then, consisting of approximately 8.71 million acres (3,520,000 ha) in September 2015. As of August 2008, 704 separate wilderness areas, encompassing 107,514,938 acres (43,509,752 ha), had become part of

1464-588: The Glenwood Ranger District of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest. The district has an area of 74,000 acres (300 km), with a large part created from the Glenwood Estate lands. Forests in the area were cut and recut to supply charcoal for the production of pig iron . The Glenwood Furnace, in the Arnold Valley, was built in 1849 and last operated in 1876. Historical records indicate that

1525-513: The James River on the north to VA 43 on the south. The route is indicated by a red-dashed line on the map of the cluster on this page. A high resolution map of the cluster is obtained by selecting the icon in the lower right of the window, then clicking on the map. The map shows side trails and shelters along the trail. The trail can be broken into the following sections, with a link to access and parking information: The Blue Ridge Parkway connects

1586-614: The Jefferson National Forest (north to south): National Wilderness Preservation System The National Wilderness Preservation System ( NWPS ) of the United States protects federally managed wilderness areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. Activity on formally designated wilderness areas is coordinated by the National Wilderness Preservation System. Wilderness areas are managed by four federal land management agencies:

1647-619: The Locher Tract, a primitive picnic area about seven miles east of Natural Bridge. The Glenwood Information Center is in Natural Bridge, Virginia and the ranger’s district office is 1.5 miles south of Natural Bridge. The Appalachian Trail extends for 2185 miles from Mount Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia. A 43 mile section of the trail passes through the cluster from its crossing of

1708-521: The NWPS included 34 areas protecting 9.1 million acres (37,000 km ) in the national forests. As of 2023, there are 806 areas in the NWPS, preserving 111,889,002 acres (45,279,873 ha). This is approximately 4.5% of the entire United States , though only about 2.7% of the 48 contiguous states. However, most of that acreage is located in a handful of states. The states with the highest number of wildernesses are California , Arizona , Nevada , Alaska , and Oregon . However, when measured in acres

1769-732: The NWPS, much of the wildlife in the U.S. also has an area in which to exist without significant human interaction. In late 2011, a full wilderness review was requested of the Arctic Refuge Coastal Plain in Alaska. One of the major qualifications for this area to be considered as a possible wilderness area was its diverse wildlife population, many of which are on the endangered species list. In this potential wilderness area alone, whales , seals , wolves , polar bears , grizzly bears , muskoxen , caribou , and over 200 species of migratory birds call this one area home for at least part of

1830-500: The National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service review all federal lands under their jurisdiction for wilderness areas to include in the NWPS. The first national forest wilderness areas were established by the Wilderness Act itself. The Great Swamp in New Jersey became the first National Wildlife Refuge with formally designated wilderness in 1968. Wilderness areas in national parks followed, beginning with

1891-613: The National Wilderness Preservation System. On March 30, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 . The legislation designated an additional 2 million acres (810,000 ha) in nine states as wilderness, representing the largest expansion of wilderness lands since 1994. The John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act of 2019 added another 1.3 million acres (530,000 ha) in 43 new and expanded wilderness areas. On federal lands in

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1952-623: The Skyline Drive on the north with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the south. From its low point at the James River with an elevation of 649 feet, it climbs to an elevation of 3950 feet at Apple Orchard Mountain. The road, with no stop-signs or billboards, is a scenic drive connecting overlooks to the west and east. Its construction overcame steep terrain, eroded mountainsides, granite and gneiss bedrock and extreme winter weather. Stonemasons from Italy and Spain built

2013-460: The United States, Congress may designate an area as wilderness under the provisions of the Wilderness Act of 1964. Multiple agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management , the National Park Service , the Fish and Wildlife Service , and the U.S. Forest Service , are responsible for the submission of new areas that fit the criteria to become wilderness to Congress. Congress then reviews these cases on

2074-516: The United States, Canada, and Mexico entitled the "Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation for Wilderness Conservation" was made. This agreement created a new entity, the North American Intergovernmental Committee on Cooperation for Wilderness and Protected Areas Conservation, that would streamline the process for open communication between international agencies for the purpose of wilderness preservation. This committee

2135-566: The avoidance of predators and other stress-inducing hazards. The construction of roads breaks up the landscape into islands which limit the free migration of forest species. Such edge effects have been shown to minimize the diversity required for the maintenance of a rich biological habitat. The bird population is also affected by the division of undisturbed forest into islands with edges defined by roads. Predators of birds, such as raccoons, snakes, skunks, house cats and egg-eating crows and blue jays, are often found at forest edges. And roads provide

2196-502: The cluster: Flanking the Blue Ridge Parkway, the region is south and east of the James River where the river turns east to cut through the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is 20 miles northwest of Roanoke, Virginia and about two miles southeast of Glasgow, Virginia . Interstate 81 parallels the area on the west and Va 122 on the east. The section of the Blue Ridge Parkway travelling through the cluster can be accessed from US 501 on

2257-597: The current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian , the first period of the Phanerozoic Eon , which is named after Cambria , the Latinized name for Wales , where rocks from this age were first studied. The Precambrian accounts for 88% of the Earth's geologic time. The Precambrian is an informal unit of geologic time, subdivided into three eons ( Hadean , Archean , Proterozoic ) of

2318-401: The current scheme based upon numerical ages. Such a system could rely on events in the stratigraphic record and be demarcated by GSSPs . The Precambrian could be divided into five "natural" eons, characterized as follows: The movement of Earth's plates has caused the formation and break-up of continents over time, including occasional formation of a supercontinent containing most or all of

2379-634: The designation of wilderness in part of Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho in 1970. A dramatic spike in acreage added to the wilderness system in 1980 was due in large part to the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act , signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on December 2, 1980. A smaller spike in 1984 came with the passage of many bills establishing national forest wilderness areas identified by

2440-453: The early years of the Earth's existence, as radiometric dating has allowed absolute dates to be assigned to specific formations and features. The Precambrian is divided into three eons: the Hadean (4567.3–4031 Ma), Archean (4031-2500 Ma) and Proterozoic (2500-538.8 Ma). See Timetable of the Precambrian . It has been proposed that the Precambrian should be divided into eons and eras that reflect stages of planetary evolution, rather than

2501-551: The earth's crust. Over time, it cut through 1,700 feet (520 m) of an ancient ocean's sediment to reach a bedrock of quartzite in the present-day Blue Ridge Mountains, creating a gorge through which the river now flows to reach Chesapeake Bay. Clusters of wild areas, such as the Glenwood Cluster, are important for the maintenance of biological diversity. A natural landscape contains a blend of ecosystems—mountain slopes, moist areas, soil types, temperatures—over which species can roam in their search for mates, foraging for food, and

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2562-691: The end of that time span, marking the beginning of the Phanerozoic Eon. By the middle of the following Cambrian Period, a very diverse fauna is recorded in the Burgess Shale , including some which may represent stem groups of modern taxa. The increase in diversity of lifeforms during the early Cambrian is called the Cambrian explosion of life. While land seems to have been devoid of plants and animals, cyanobacteria and other microbes formed prokaryotic mats that covered terrestrial areas. Tracks from an animal with leg-like appendages have been found in what

2623-412: The exact nature of protection may differ from federal laws. Some U.S. states have created wilderness preservation programs modeled on the NWPS. Precambrian The Precambrian ( / p r i ˈ k æ m b r i . ə n , - ˈ k eɪ m -/ pree- KAM -bree-ən, -⁠KAYM- ; or Pre-Cambrian , sometimes abbreviated pC , or Cryptozoic ) is the earliest part of Earth's history , set before

2684-425: The furnace employed 148 men, women and children in 1864. Old charcoal furnaces are part of the historic sites of the Glenwood Ranger District. Repeated cutting for the furnaces led in part to the successive forests that are present today. The early Glenwood purchase unit was composed of 60–90% American chestnut , a favored slope species by silvicultural techniques in 1914. A blight, discovered in 1912, progressed to

2745-524: The future of both the U.S. system and North American preservation efforts as a whole. One of the major goals of the Wilderness Preservation System is to provide undeveloped habitats for threatened or endangered species . Many of the species found in the United States are represented in wilderness areas. There are 261 basic ecosystems in the U.S., and 157 of them are represented in the system. With 60% of all ecosystems somewhat protected by

2806-411: The intent of establishing designated wilderness areas. Howard Zahniser created the first draft of the Wilderness Act in 1956. It took nine years and 65 rewrites before the Wilderness Act was finally passed in 1964. The Wilderness Act of 1964 (Public Law 88-577), which established the NWPS, was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 3, 1964. The Wilderness Act mandated that

2867-541: The landmass. The earliest known supercontinent was Vaalbara . It formed from proto-continents and was a supercontinent 3.636 billion years ago. Vaalbara broke up c. 2.845–2.803 Ga ago. The supercontinent Kenorland was formed c. 2.72 Ga ago and then broke sometime after 2.45–2.1 Ga into the proto-continent cratons called Laurentia , Baltica , Yilgarn craton and Kalahari . The supercontinent Columbia , or Nuna, formed 2.1–1.8 billion years ago and broke up about 1.3–1.2 billion years ago. The supercontinent Rodinia

2928-623: The largest amount of wilderness land is administered by the National Park Service. The largest contiguous wilderness complex in the United States is the Noatak and Gates of the Arctic Wildernesses in Alaska at 12,743,329 acres (5,157,042 ha). The largest wilderness area outside Alaska is the Death Valley Wilderness in southeastern California. The smallest area protected by the WPS is

2989-797: The late Precambrian. One of the major river systems draining Virginia, the James River has formed large fluvial landscapes within the physiographic provinces of the Ridge and Valley Appalachians , the Blue Ridge Mountains , the Piedmont , and the Atlantic coastal plain . Water and sediments, collected from the large watershed of the James, are transported across the grain of the rock-controlled Ridge-and-Valley and Blue-Ridge provinces to downstream valleys now containing

3050-438: The law prohibits logging , mining , motorized or mechanized vehicles (including bicycles ), road-building, and other forms of development in wilderness areas, though pre-existing mining claims and grazing ranges are permitted through grandfather clauses in the Wilderness Act. Wilderness areas fall into IUCN protected area management category Ia (strict nature preserves) or Ib (wilderness areas). A special exemption to

3111-572: The list changes dramatically, as Alaska contains many of the largest areas protected under the act. In terms of total acres, Alaska , California , Arizona , Idaho , and Washington are the top five states for wilderness, containing almost 80 percent of the acreage in the system. Wilderness totals in most eastern states are modest, with the exceptions of Florida and Minnesota . Wilderness areas exist in every state except Connecticut , Delaware , Iowa , Kansas , Maryland , and Rhode Island . Most U.S. wilderness areas are in national forests, but

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3172-690: The north and VA 43 on the south. Other roads in the area are shown on National Geographic Map 789, Lexington and Blue Ridge Mountains. The Blue Ridge Parkway, completed in 1935, follows the mountain tops at an average elevation of 3000 feet, giving access to scenic overlooks and natural areas along the way. Recreation areas in the Glenwood District include Cave Mountain Lake Recreation Area, a campground 8 miles south of Natural Bridge, Middle Creek Picnic Area, about 7 miles west of Buchanan, North Creek Campground, about seven miles from Buchanan, and

3233-545: The point that by 1922 foresters were salvaging the tree before its destruction by the blight. Pulpwood and extractwood contractors cut about 200,000 cords of wood on the Glenwood land between 1930 and 1950. The district sold almost 75,000 million board feet of chestnut in its first 38 years, and by 1951 only an estimated 4400 million board feet remained in the district. Other clusters of the Wilderness Society's "Mountain Treasures" in

3294-480: The rule against mechanized equipment is made for wilderness areas in Alaska : limited use of motorized vehicles and construction of cabins and aquaculture are permitted. These exemptions were allowed due to the large amount of wilderness in Alaska and the concerns of subsistence users, including Alaska Natives . Wilderness areas are parts of national parks , wildlife refuges , national forests , and BLM lands; some units are managed by different agencies. Initially,

3355-526: The same area. However, there is evidence that life could have evolved over 4.280 billion years ago. There is a fairly solid record of bacterial life throughout the remainder (Proterozoic Eon) of the Precambrian. Complex multicellular organisms may have appeared as early as 2100 Ma. However, the interpretation of ancient fossils is problematic, and "... some definitions of multicellularity encompass everything from simple bacterial colonies to badgers." Other possible early complex multicellular organisms include

3416-546: The signature of the evolution of the landscape in the river's watershed over millions of years. Beginning at the junction of the Cowpasture and Jackson rivers in the Allegheny Mountains of western Virginia, the James River flows for about 340 miles (550 km) to Chesapeake Bay , where it has become 5 miles (8 km) wide. The course of the river was formed over hundreds of millions of years as it followed faults in

3477-500: The sturdy walls and bridges still seen today. After legislation authorizing construction was passed in 1936, the highway was finished 51 years later in 1987. The highway, administered by the National Park Service, is closed when snow and ice create driving hazards. To maintain the rural views along the road, the National Park Service works with landowners of adjacent property and coalitions of citizens and state organizations to maintain visual guidelines. Support groups include Friends of

3538-524: The year. This vast assortment of flora and fauna is a major consideration for addition into the wilderness preservation system. Thousands of laws and policies have helped shape and manage the National Wilderness Preservation System in the United States. The following Acts of Congress either directly affect the wilderness system or help influence wilderness management: Some state and tribal governments also designate wilderness areas under their own authority and local laws. These are not federal areas, and

3599-403: Was formed to gain insight on the benefits of wilderness preservation, establish open channels of communication between international agencies, and examine the cultural differences and similarities behind preservation efforts in each country. Within the U.S. system, all of the agencies responsible for wilderness preservation will work in cooperation with their international counterparts to determine

3660-482: Was lacking in free oxygen . There is, however, evidence that an oxygen-rich atmosphere existed since the early Archean. At present, it is still believed that molecular oxygen was not a significant fraction of Earth's atmosphere until after photosynthetic life forms evolved and began to produce it in large quantities as a byproduct of their metabolism . This radical shift from a chemically inert to an oxidizing atmosphere caused an ecological crisis , sometimes called

3721-846: Was mud 551 million years ago. The RNA world hypothesis asserts that RNA evolved before coded proteins and DNA genomes. During the Hadean Eon (4,567–4,031 Ma) abundant geothermal microenvironments were present that may have had the potential to support the synthesis and replication of RNA and thus possibly the evolution of a primitive life form. It was shown that porous rock systems comprising heated air-water interfaces could allow ribozyme - catalyzed RNA replication of sense and antisense strands that could be followed by strand-dissociation, thus enabling combined synthesis, release and folding of active ribozymes. This primitive RNA replicative system also may have been able to undergo template strand switching during replication ( genetic recombination ) as

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