By Rick Steelhammer
For Charleston Gazette-Mail
The West Virginia Land Trust has completed what it terms “the largest corporate land conservation project in state history” by securing five permanent land conservation easements covering 38,000 acres of forest land in Monroe, Summers and Fayette counties and spilling into portions of Nicholas and Greenbrier, from Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based Aurora Sustainable Lands.
Under the terms of the easements, large tracts of timber included in the agreement will remain forested forever, but Aurora — one of the state’s largest landowners — will continue to practice professional sustainable forestry within them. They will follow guidelines set by the Forest Stewardship Council, an international nonprofit organization that sets best-practices standards for responsible forest management.
Also, Aurora cannot convert any of the covered forest land to real estate development, agricultural uses or any purpose other than sustained yield forestry.
According to a West Virginia Land Trust news release, the project also “expands opportunities for non-motorized outdoor recreation,” and supports “future development of new public access points and trails” to accommodate hiking and climbing and “ensure continued access for hunting and fishing in designated areas.”
Where are the easements located?
The five easements include several tracts encompassing more than 4,000 acres, with at least one pair of contiguous easements creating an unbroken section of more than 10,000 acres of forest land. They also include 81 miles of streams in the Greenbrier, Gauley and New River watersheds.
- Monroe County: One easement includes a forested section bordering Back Creek and extends from the state-managed Moncove Lake Wildlife Management Area to the boundary of the Jefferson National Forest.
- Summers County: An easement surrounds that county’s highest point, 3,921-foot Keeney Knob, protecting high-elevation forests and downstream water quality.
- Fayette County: There are three easements in Fayette, small portions of which spill into Greenbrier and Nicholas counties. They include tracts that border New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, Plum Orchard Lake Wildlife Management Area, and a corridor along the Meadow River, which offers “new opportunities for hunting, fishing, hiking and rock climbing,” according to the Land Trust.
How we got here
The project began to take shape in June 2025, when Aurora approached The Conservation Fund — a national nonprofit organization — with a proposal to conserve thousands of acres of private forest land through permanent conservation easements. Since The Conservation Fund doesn’t hold easements, it turned to an organization that does — the West Virginia Land Trust. The easements were donated by Aurora.
“When The Conservation Fund asked us to collaborate with Aurora in this project, we gave an enthusiastic ‘Yes,’” said Amy Cimarolli, the West Virginia Land Trust’s director of land protection. “We work to conserve land with many public benefits, and the easements for these large, private forests let us do that, by protecting wildlife habitat, drinking water sources; and exploring the potential for public uses while allowing sustainable forestry to continue.”
“This project is extraordinary not only because of its size, but because of the lasting benefits it creates for West Virginians,” said Ashton Berdine, West Virginia’s state director of The Conservation Fund. “These easements protect drinking water, strengthen outdoor recreation economies, sustain working forests and preserve places that communities have valued for generations.”
The benefits, and what’s next
According to the Land Trust, the key benefits the project delivers include preserving large, contiguous tracts of land that support sustainable forest management and thus strengthen local economies tied to timber, while buffering public land with conserved forests and sustaining critical wildlife habitat, protecting headwater streams and safeguarding drinking water supplies.
The West Virginia Division of Forestry’s 2023 State Forest Action Plan puts forest fragmentation at the top of its list of major forestry threats in the state and has identified the protection of tracts larger than 1,000 acres as a priority for supporting forest resources, according to Cimarolli.
The large, unbroken forest tracts contained in the easements support many types of wildlife habitat, including some favored by such threatened or endangered species as the rusty patched bumblebee and five native bat species, along with rare plants like Virginia spiraea, which clings to flood-scoured riverbanks in the forest, and shale barren evening primrose, found on sun-drenched rocky outcrops in forest openings.
Aurora’s forest management under the Forest Stewardship Council certification requires it to “maintain species diversity, including rare, threatened and endangered species like these,” Cimarolli said.
But in also allowing Aurora to continue sustainable, best-practices timbering, the easements help support an industry that generates $3.2 billion annually for the West Virginia’s economy, while providing more than 30,000 jobs within the state.
While plans for public access to portions of the 38,000 acres are in the works, nothing has been finalized.
“We are in discussions with Aurora on plans for public use in areas within the easements the company would be willing to open to the public,” Cimarolli said. “Aurora is giving the Land Trust the opportunity to identify organizations that could help manage that public access, with Aurora’s approval.”
About Aurora
Aurora Sustainable Lands is a land-management and carbon-stewardship company that owns 1.6 million acres of previously logged forest land in 15 states, including more than 300,000 acres in West Virginia. By reducing historical industrial timber harvest rates by at least 50% to let trees grow larger and store more carbon, Aurora generates and supplies high-integrity, verifiable, nature-based carbon credits to climate-conscious corporations seeking to offset emissions.
“This project sets a new standard for conservation in West Virginia,” said Aaron Paul, chief commercial officer at Aurora Sustainable Lands. “Thanks to the collaboration of the West Virginia Land Trust, The Conservation Fund and local partners, 38,000 acres of unique working forests are now permanently protected. Aurora is proud to have helped make this happen and looks forward to continuing this work together.”
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