With a wingspan of up to four feet, uncanny intelligence, a call that can carry up to a mile, and a mythological place in the public imagination, the common raven is among the world’s largest songbirds in more ways than one. Nearly extirpated from Central Appalachia by the mid-1900s, Corvus corax have since returned, though they remain one of the rarest resident birds in Kentucky. To catch a glimpse of their sooty silhouette or hear their resonant, guttural croak, your best bet regionally is in Southeastern Kentucky, where the birds roost in high-altitude forested slopes along Pine, Black, and Cumberland Mountains.
With this in mind, and in celebration of Earth Day, Kentucky Natural Lands Trust is thrilled to announce a new quilt piece in our large-landscape conservation efforts: Raven’s Roost comprises fifty-five acres of densely forested ridgeline adjacent to the Hensley-Pine Mountain Wildlife Management Area(4,848 acres). These newly secured acres supplement wildlands connectivity, including the breeding grounds of ravens documented nearby.
KNLT recognizes how outdoor recreation, tourism, access to nature, and livability for local communities are essential components to a more sustainable regional economy for Central Appalachia. Raven’s Roost includes half a mile of protected forest along the Pine Mountain State Scenic Trail, a planned linear state park spanning approximately 120 miles from Breaks Interstate Park to Cumberland Gap National Historic Park. This long-distance backcountry trail is a link in the Great Eastern Trail, a 1,800-mile trail stretching from Alabama to New York.
KNLT has been a key partner in the Pine Mountain section of the Great Eastern Trail, securing lands along the proposed route and assisting with trail building as well as maintenance. Approximately half of the 120-mile Kentucky section is complete and open to hiking. To amplify our efforts and to support outdoor tourism in the region, we’re partnering with Pine Mountain Trail Conference to create a primitive campsite situated in a quiet, forested bowl near the summit. The backcountry site at Raven’s Roost will be the only campsite on the fourteen-mile stretch of The Great Eastern Trail between Whitesburg and Kingdom Come State Park, making it a perfect and convenient halfway point for through-hikers. This much-needed addition to the trail infrastructure is just a small example of larger efforts to draw more outdoor tourism dollars—which generate billions of dollars annually in Kentucky—to regional communities in the Appalachian Highlands.
Along the forested trail in Raven’s Roost, visitors will enjoy fantastic access to an ecosystem typical of the humid, cooler northern slopes. In these lush, healthy, and dense mixed mesophytic forests, one could encounter any number of the notable plant, animal, and fungi species that make Central Appalachian forests among the most biodiverse on Earth. This spring, the forest floor in Raven’s Roost is full of wildflowers like twinleaf, as well as plant species that are rare and infrequent in Kentucky, like Appalachian gentian, Steel’s Joe Pye weed, and rock harlequin. The preserve’s rocky forested slope is an ideal habitat for animals like foxes, salamanders, black bears, and woodrats.
KNLT purchased the Raven’s Roost property from the Frazier family, who had owned the property for over eighty years. Upon completion of the deed transfer, and hearing how excited KNLT and the Trail Conference were to organize a primitive campsite on her family’s land, Janet Frazier, told us that, “…the property has always been meaningful to me because I inherited it from my grandfather, but it means so much more to me that it will available for the community to use forever”.
KNLT is grateful for the support of individual donors, foundations, and partners. We thank the James Graham Brown Foundation for making this project possible.
About Kentucky Natural Lands Trust
KNLT is a nationally accredited nonprofit working to protect biodiverse and climate-resilient landscapes in ways that benefit communities. Through partnerships with individuals, nonprofits, government agencies, and businesses, KNLT has safeguarded more than 64,000 acres of wildlands throughout Kentucky and Central Appalachia.
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Photos
Cover photo: courtesy of Gregory Smith via Creative Commons
Raven in flight: courtesy of Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library
Forested hillside: Jessica Slade