Fernow Experimental Forest

Site Description

The 4600-acre Fernow Experimental Forest is located in the mountains of Tucker County, West Virginia and is part of and surrounded by the Monongahela National Forest. The Monongahela National Forest, which is Algonquin for "River of Sliding Banks," comprises about 900,000 acres of rugged, mountainous terrain. 

Soils

The Fernow Experimental Forest lies in the Allegheny Mountain section of the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau. Elevations range from 1,750 to 3,650 feet; slopes generally are steep.

Bedrock composed of fractured hard sandstone and softer shale underlies most of the experimental forest. A belt of Greenbrier limestone exists about midway upslope on McGowan Mountain which produces a highly-productive mid-slope zone of limestone soil of the Belmont series.  The majority of the Fernow soils belong to the Calvin and Dekalb series which are more acidic and less productive than soils derived from limestone.  Almost all Fernow soils are classified as well-drained, medium-textured loams and silt loams, and their depth to bedrock averages about 3 ft in sandstone- and shale-derived soils, and about 6 ft in limestone-derived soils. Like many forest soils, those on the Fernow are characterized by a moderate to high degree of stoniness.

Climate

The Fernow Experimental Forest has a rainy and cool climate. Mean annual precipitation is about 58 inches, with most of it occurring in the winter, spring, and summer months. Mean annual temperature is about 48 degrees Fahrenheit, and the length of the frost-free season is about 145 days.

Because of elevation, summers are cooler and winters are more severe on the Fernow than in lower surrounding valleys. Summer temperatures rarely reach 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and winter temperatures between -10 and -20 degrees Fahrenheit occur virtually every year.

Drainages

The Fernow Experimental Forest encompasses most of the Elklick Run drainage, which is about 3.8 miles long and 2.3 miles across at the widest point. Elklick Run drains into the Black Fork River and has seven larger named tributaries and several smaller unnamed tributaries. 

Elklick Run was dammed in 1936 just below its confluence with Camp Hollow Run to create a drinking water reservoir for the town of Parsons. The reservoir still exists but it has not provided drinking water since 1996.
Eight headwater watersheds on Wilson Hollow Run and Camp Hollow Run have monitoring equipment installed to study how forest management influences streamflow quantity, quality, and timing. Additional monitoring stations are located at the mouth of Wilson Hollow Run and on a nearby smaller tributary to Elklick Run.

A small portion of the Fernow is located outside the Elklick basin. This area includes the Stonelick, Sugarcamp, and Canoe Run watersheds which drain into the Shavers Fork River.

Forest Sites

Tree growth, like the growth of field crops, reflects the influence of soil, topography, and climate. The combined influence of these factors contributes to forest site quality.

Site quality or “site index” generally is measured as the average height of dominant and co-dominant forest trees at a given age - usually 50 years. The timber yield per acre is related to this index.

Based on site index, almost all areas on the Fernow can be rated as excellent, good, or fair. These designations correspond to oak-site indices of 80, 70, and 60 feet, respectively. 

Tree Species

The Fernow Experimental Forest is primarily a hardwood forest. Upland oaks are the most common species group. Northern red oak, which is found on all sites, is very abundant. Chestnut oak and white oak are the next most abundant oaks. These two species are seldom found on the excellent sites, but are more common than red oak on the fair sites. Scarlet oak and some black oak also are found on fair sites.

American beech and sugar maple are abundant on all but the fair sites. Yellow-poplar, black cherry, white ash, and basswood comprise a large part of stands on excellent and good sites. Yellow birch, cucumbertree, and elm are less numerous on these sites.

Red maple, black locust, sweet birch, and to a lesser extent, Fraser magnolia are consistent, but generally minor, components of the forest on all sites. Blackgum, sassafras, and sourwood are poorer-site trees of little commercial importance. Pin cherry, striped maple, and downy serviceberry are some of the more common understory tree species.

Wildlife

The Fernow Experimental Forest contains a wide variety of wildlife. White-tailed deer, black bear, wild turkey, ruffed grouse, red and grey foxes, squirrels, many rodents, as well as many species of neotropical migratory songbirds, are present.  Brook trout, blacknose dace, and mottled sculpin occur in perennial streams of the Fernow.  Suckers and sunfish have been observed in the reservoir.

A list of the flora and fauna found on the Fernow is provided in:
Madarish, D.M.; Rodrigue, J.L.; Adams, M.B. 2002. Vascular flora and macroscopic fauna on the Fernow Experimental Forest. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-291. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station. 37 p.

For further details log on website :
https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/ef/locations/wv/fernow/about/site-description/