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26-635: On a ridge between the Powell River and the North Fork of the Powell River with deep gorges, sheer cliffs, rocky outcrops, dense woods and rhododendron, the wilderness is far removed from the throngs of outdoor adventurers. There are good views across the Powell river to Powell Mountain from an old tower site on Stone Mountain. This is the only protected wilderness in the Cumberland Mountains. The wilderness

52-447: A great degree, the current system of parks and wilderness areas in the US is very successful at preserving high elevation ecosystems, places that are rugged, beautiful and otherwise difficult to develop. The Roadless Area Review and Evaluation, and several studies since, concluded that ecosystems that exist at mid elevations are not well represented in the US system of protected lands, and many of

78-490: 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 Plateau Province is covered by a complex forest composed of northern hardwood interspersed with conifers. The southern Appalachians contain more plant species than anywhere else in North America since

104-651: A result. The most recent review of inventoried roadless areas began in 1998 under the oversight of Michael Dombeck , then head of the US Forest Service. This review was finished in 2000 and culminated in a set of Forest Service regulations in 2001 that are collectively known as the Roadless Rule. (Conservation Biology) Volume 20 Issue 3 Page 713-722, June 2006</ref> The rule does not specifically protect roadless areas from development nor does it strictly prohibit multiple use activities on these lands. Specifically,

130-485: Is just outside the wilderness on the south. The cave, a winter roosting site for several species of bats, has a gate at the entrance to prevent disturbance of the bats and minimize exposure to White-nose syndrome , a disease that has decimated the bat population in eastern North America. Two rare salamanders are found in the wilderness, the green salamander and the Cumberland Plateau salamander . The wilderness

156-585: Is limited to ten people, and limits are placed on camping. Clinch Ranger District Cluster The Clinch Ranger District Cluster is a region in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests recognized by The Wilderness Society for its rich biodiversity and rugged scenery. It offers a unique habitat for rare plants, salamanders and other rare species. The region includes wilderness areas protected by Congressional action, as well as inventoried wilderness and uninventoried areas recognized by

182-602: Is part of the Clinch Ranger District Cluster . The wilderness is a few miles south of Bundy in Lee County, Virginia . It is bounded on the north by the North Fork of the Powell River; Stone Mountain is on the south side of the wilderness. There are two trails in the area. The Stone Mountain Trail (Forest Trail 207) begins at Cave Spring Campground and is 6.7 miles long in the wilderness, but extends northeast beyond

208-779: Is within the watershed of both the Powell River and the North Fork of the Powell River. The North Fork of the Powell River contains 29 species of mussels and 19 species of rare fish. The Powell River contains three federally endangered mussels; the oyster mussel , the Cumberlandian combshell and the rough rabbits foot . The wilderness is in the Appalachian Plateau , sometimes called the Allegheny Plateau . The Appalachian Plateau has mountains with broad, flat summits composed of resistant sandstones and conglomerates with seams of coal. Outcrops of shales and limestones are seen on

234-481: The National Forests of the lower 48 states, but more litigation to remove protection is in progress with the outcome uncertain." The rationale for limiting road-building in the inventoried roadless areas was to minimize the negative environmental impacts of roads construction, maintenance, and automobile traffic. Over the past several decades, researchers have documented a wide range of impacts that roads have on

260-712: The Nature Conservancy as globally rare. The Clinch Ranger District Cluster lies within the Clinch Ranger District of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest. To protect the headwaters of the Tennessee Valley drainage from flooding caused by timbering and the stripping of whole mountains by mining, the US Forest Service purchased the Clinch Range District in 1936. Other clusters of

286-500: The Wilderness Society as worthy of protection from timbering and roads. The cluster contains the following areas, all within the Clinch Ranger District of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests : The Clinch Ranger District is divided into two parts, the northern section parallels Pine Mountain and the southern section follows Powell Mountain. US Highway 23 runs between the two sections. Other roads and trails in

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312-678: The Wilderness Society's "Mountain Treasures" in the Jefferson National Forest (north to south): Inventoried roadless area Inventoried Roadless Areas are a group of United States Forest Service lands that have been identified by government reviews as lands without existing roads that could be suitable for roadless area conservation as wilderness or other non-standard protections. The Inventoried Roadless areas include approximately 60,000,000 acres (240,000 km ) of land in 40 states and Puerto Rico . Most of these lands are in

338-529: The area are shown on National Geographic Map 793, Clinch Ranger District . The Clinch Ranger District lies in the Alleghany Plateau, a highly dissected plateau composed of relatively flat-lying bedrock of Mississippian and Pennsylvania age. In places the dissection is so pronounced that the area has the appearance of mountains. But compared to the Ridge and Valley Province to the east with long uplifted ridges,

364-568: 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

390-545: The crest, flowing into the North Fork of the Powell River. The streams include Low Gap Branch, Flanary Branch, McConnell Branch, Mill Branch, Payne Branch and Laurel Branch. The Stone Mountain Wilderness in Virginia has varying elevations, with the highest point reaching over 3,120 feet (951+ meters). The wilderness area is characterized by a steep south-facing scarp that provides an outstanding view from an elevation of 3,060 feet at

416-466: The environment. In this sense, the roadless rule provided a great deal of protection to a large group of lands that previously had little protection within the current Forest Service administrative structure. The second impetus for the creation of the Roadless Rule was an effort to expand the system of protected federal lands to include ecosystems that were not very well represented in the current system of National Parks, wilderness areas, and preserves. To

442-548: The mountains are in random directions formed by the erosion of streams into deep, narrow valleys leaving rugged mountains. The Russell Fork River is an example of formations in the Plateau with almost 1000-foot-deep gorge and striking erosional features with descriptive names such as the Palisades, The Towers, and The Chimneys. . The horizontal layering of the Plateau, seen in road cuts and rocky cliffs in river gorges, contrasts with

468-582: The old Olinger Fire Tower site.Elevations range from about 2000 feet along the North Fork of the Pound on the western boundary to 3000 feet on the ridge top. This diverse elevation contributes to the rich biodiversity and scenic beauty of the area. The wilderness is managed by the Forest Service. There are some regulations to maintain the integrity of the area as a wilderness. For example, motorized equipment, motor vehicles and mountain bikes are prohibited, group size

494-489: The region was a refuge for many species when glaciers covered the northern part of the hemisphere. In modern times, game species disappeared after widespread hunting, but with the beginning of game management many species have begun to recover to the extent that animals such as black bear, deer and turkeys can be found. The watershed for the cluster contains many endangered fresh_water mussel species. The identified species has been reduced from 60 to about 40, with 26 listed by

520-489: The regulations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). A second roadless inventory, RARE II, was initiated in 1977, which culminated in a recommendation of wilderness designation for 15,000,000 acres (61,000 km ) of national forest land and further study for another 10,800,000 acres (44,000 km ). This set of recommendations was also quickly challenged in the courts and largely voided as

546-639: The rule was aimed at controlling the amount of road-building activities undertaken by the forest service, which has more miles of roads under its control than the US Interstate Highway System . In 2008, conservationists marked the 10 year anniversary of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule with a panel of speakers headed by former US Forest Service Chief Michael Dombeck. At the event, Dombeck said, "In spite of seven years of Bush administration effort, roadless areas remain protected in

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572-490: The side slopes. Stone Mountain is part of the Cumberland Mountains complex, lying on its eastern end. Little Stone Mountain, outside of the wilderness, is part of the mountain complex as it extends further east. The southeast side of the mountain ridge falls off rapidly with large cliffs and rock outcrops. The other side of the ridge on the northwest falls off slowly with streams, originating in springs and seeps near

598-527: The tilted up thrusts in the Ridge and Valley province on the east. Seams of high-quality coal led to mining beginning in the late 1800s. Clusters of wild areas, such as the Clinch Ranger District 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

624-399: The western portion of the lower 48 states and Alaska. Idaho alone contains over 9 million acres (36,000 km ) of inventoried roadless areas. The inventoried roadless areas range from large areas with wilderness characteristics to small tracts of land that are immediately adjacent to wilderness areas, parks and other protected lands. The first review of Forest Service roadless lands

650-464: The wilderness boundary. The Payne Branch Trail (Forest Trail 213) begins at Sigma and is 1.8 miles long. The forest, largely undisturbed because the rough terrain makes access difficult, contains tulip poplar, red maple, black cherry, yellow birch, frazier magnolia, oaks and hickories. Habitats include rhododendron thickets, ponds, stony creeks, deep gorges, sheer cliffs and rocky outcrops. The wilderness provides watershed for Cave Springs Cave, which

676-482: Was started in 1967 after the creation of the Wilderness Act by Congress in 1964. This effort was called the “Roadless Area Review and Evaluation” or “RARE I”, and culminated in 1972 with a finding that 12,300,000 acres (50,000 km ) that were suitable to be designated as wilderness. The RARE I recommendations were abandoned by the Forest Service after courts ruled that the agency had not sufficiently complied with

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