Батыс Вирджинияның Моногахела Ұлттық Орманы

National forest in West Virginia, United States

The Monongahela National Forest is a national forest located in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, USA. It protects over of federally managed land within a proclamation boundary that includes much of the Potomac Highlands Region and portions of 10 counties. The Monongahela National Forest includes some major landform features such as the Allegheny Front and the western portion of the Ridge and valley Appalachians. Within the forest boundaries lie some of the highest mountain peaks in the state, including the highest, Spruce Knob (4,863 ft). Spruce Knob is also the highest point in the Allegheny Mountains. Approximately 75 tree species are found in the forest. Almost all of the trees are a second growth forest, grown back after the land was heavily cut over around the start of the 20th century. Species for which the forest is important include red spruce (Picea rubens), balsam fir (Abies balsamea), and mountain ash (Sorbus americana). The Monongahela National Forest includes eight U. S. Wilderness Areas and several special use areas, notably the Spruce Knob–Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area.

The Monongahela National Forest was established following the Weeks Act passage in 1911. This act authorized the purchase of land for long term watershed protection and natural resource management following the massive cutting of the eastern forests in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1915, were acquired to begin the forest, called the "Monongahela Purchase", and on April 28, 1920, it became the "Monongahela National Forest". By the end of 1924, the Monongahela National Forest had total ownership of some
Although white tail deer never vanished from the Monongahela National Forest, from the 1890s to the 1920s their numbers dropped substantially. In January 1930, eight deer procured from Michigan were released into the forest near Parsons. From 1937 to 1939, a total of 17 more deer were released in the Flatrock Roaring Plains area of the Forest. These releases served as the nucleus for reestablishing the healthy breeding populations of eastern West Virginia. (By the mid 1940s, deer were so numerous in the area that crop farmers had to patrol their fields by night.) In 1943 and 1944, as part of the West Virginia Maneuver Area, the U. S. Army used parts of the Monongahela National Forest as a practice artillery and mortar range and maneuver area before troops were sent to Europe to fight in World War II. Artillery and mortar shells shot into the area for practice are still occasionally found there today. Seneca Rocks and other area cliffs were also used for assault climbing instruction. This was the Army's only low altitude climbing school. The fisher (Pekania pennanti), believed to have been exterminated in the state by 1912, was reintroduced during the winter of 1969. At that time 23 fishers were translocated from New Hampshire to two sites within the boundaries of the Monongahela National Forest (at Canaan Mountain in Tucker County and Cranberry Glades in Pocahontas County). In 1980, and again in 2005, the Monongahela National Forest was the venue for the annual counterculture Rainbow Gathering. In 1993, the Craig Run East Fork Rockshelter and Laurel Run Rockshelter in the Gauley Ranger District were listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The forest administration maintains wildlife and timber programs aimed at the responsible management of a mixed age forest. About 81 percent of the total forest area is closed canopy forest over 60 years of age. The tree species most valuable for timber and wildlife food in the Monongahela National Forest are black cherry and oaks. The forest's commercial timber sale program averages 30 mbf (thousand board feet) of timber sold per year with a yearly average value of $7.5 million. Various cutting techniques are used, from cutting single trees to clearcutting blocks up to in size. Regeneration cuts (clear cuts or other treatments designed to start a new timber stand) occur on approximately yearly out of the more than forest total. Mineral resources located in the Monongahela National Forest include coal, gas, limestone, and gravel. Sheep and cattle grazing occurs on about
Receipts for timber, grazing, land uses, minerals, and recreation use averaged $4,840,466 annually between FY92 and FY96, and 25% of that (an average of $1,210,116 per year) was returned to counties that include Monongahela National Forest lands. This money is intended for use by local schools and roads. The remaining 75% each year is returned to the U. S. Treasury.

McKim, C. R. (1970), Monongahela National Forest History, Unpublished manuscript available at the Monongahela National Forest Office, Elkins, West Virginia. de Hart, Allen and Bruce Sundquist (2006), Monongahela National Forest Hiking Guide, 8th edition, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Charleston, West Virginia. Berman, Gillian Mace, Melissa Conley Spencer, Barbara J. Howe and Charlene Lattea (1992), The Monongahela National Forest: 1915 1990, Morgantown, West Virginia: WVU Public History Program; For the United States Forest Service: Monongahela National Forest. (March 1992)
DeMeo, Tom and Julie Concannon (1996), "On the Mon: Image and Substance in West Virginia's National Forest", Inner Voice, Vol. 8, Issue 1, January/February. Weitzman, Sidney (1977), Lessons from the Monongahela Experience, USDA, Forest Service, December. This article contains information that originally came from US Government publications and websites and is in the public domain.