GLEN JEAN, W.Va. (AP) — America’s newest national park just got bigger.
The New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in West Virginia has added 45 acres to the area designated as a preserve, the National Park Service said in a news release Tuesday. The tract, on Beury Mountain east of the Thurmond area, will provide easier access to lands that are already in the national preserve.
“This property is a great addition to the national preserve portion of the park where hunting is allowed,” said New River Gorge Superintendent Charles Sellars. “It connects two previously non-contiguous sections and assures that hunters and other users have easier access to an existing 85-acre section of the preserve.”
The park’s authorized boundaries were modified by Congress in December 2020, allowing for the tract’s purchase.
Access to the new property will be limited at first as the park establishes suitable areas for parking and marks the boundary, the statement said.