Native Forests      Except for farming activities the forests of West Virginia remained intact until the turn of the twentieth century. If you have ever traveled through virgin redwoods or sequoias in California, then you have an appreciation of the splendor of West Virginia's native forests, albeit on a smaller scale.

     The primeval forest contained massive oak, walnut, some chestnut, and sycamore trees with common diameters of six to seven feet.The largest recorded felled tree was a white oak in Tucker County measuring 13 ½ feet in diameter.

      Today it is easy to forget that the western portion of colonial Virginia was a rugged, unpopulated, essentially roadless, and seemingly endless frontier rich in animals (including bison), plants, aquatic life, and massive ancient trees.  As a young man George Washington was a surveyor who explored the land that was to become West Virginia, for it was the western frontier. Indeed, his descendants still own land in what is now West Virginia.
Last updated on Monday, July 24, 2000