Narrow ridge penninsula surrounded on three sides by the New River Gorge. The land is owned by the Army Corps of Engineers but managed as a WMA by the DNR. Most of the gorge slopes are forested but many of the floodplains are maintained as campgrounds. The Toms Run boat ramp and the New River are located ~500m south. The New River is also located west ~1.2km and to the north ~1km. Our plot overlooks a small and shallow southwest running cove. See plots BLUW. 9 and 13 for more context.;Somewhat dry forest growing on a northwest facing shoulderslope. The overstory is dominated by tall white pines intermixed with white oak-chesntnut oak and scarlet oak. The forest feels very open with many of the deciduous trees already having lost a third of their leaves. The forb layer seems somewhat sparse, likely due to both the sterility of the site as well as the lateness in the season. There is a scattered S1 layer of deciduous shrubs and a somewhat dense S2 layer of Vaccinium pallidum.
Representativeness
Small patch of mixed coniferous-deciduous forest represented by white pine and white oak. Similar to plot BLUW.7 and several samples at the Bluestone NSR.