Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 29, 1995 TAG: 9505310011
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: CATHRYN MCCUE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Just how many species of shrews are there in the Old Dominion, exactly? Are the Dismal Swamp shrews a species unto themselves, genetically speaking? And why would anybody care to know the answers to these questions?
The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries is spending at least $20,000 this year to research the rodents. Half of that is going to Nancy Montcrief, curator of mammalogy at the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville.
Two weeks ago, Montcrief and several assistants set 33 pitfall traps - large coffee cans sunk into the ground - just off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Floyd County. She hopes to catch between five and 10 "masked shrews," which are found only in the mountains, as a control group.
Later this summer, Montcrief and a co-researcher at Old Dominion University, who also received $10,000 from the DGIF for research, will trap "Southeastern shrews" in other parts of the state and attempt to read their genetic roadmap.
The Southeastern shrew is a common species, ranging throughout the region, north to Ohio and west to Mississippi. About 100 years ago, using somewhat crude methods, Montcrief said, scientists identified shrews near Dismal Swamp as a separate subspecies, an isolated population, a taxonomical surprise.
When the Endangered Species Act came along, this so-called Dismal Swamp shrew was listed as a threatened critter, which added a legal twist to the picture. A DGIF program manager said that in recent years, developers in the fast-growing Norfolk-Portsmouth areas near the swamp have run into problems because of restrictions on developing habitats of threatened and endangered species.
"If the subspecies is found elsewhere, then [it] doesn't need to be listed at all," Ray Fernald said.
A couple of years ago, a fellow down in Wilmington, N.C. trapped what he believes is a Dismal Swamp shrew - far from home, apparently.
Going on this latest clue, Montcrief and others are in hot pursuit of the truth about shrews.
"Obviously, we're very ignorant about the fauna of Virginia," Montcrief said. "Three hundred and fifty years after John Smith hit the shores, I'm sitting here and I don't know" if the Dismal Swamp shrews are a phenomenon or a case of mistaken identity. She hopes to have the shrew species sorted out later this summer.
Paper mill wins awards
Westvaco Corp. was recognized by its peers this month for outstanding stewardship of the 1.3 million acres of woodlands it owns in the eastern U.S.
Westvaco, which runs a paperboard mill in Covington, won the top two natural resources managment awards from the American Forest and Paper Association, the first company ever to win both in one year.
The Wildlife Stewardship Award recognized Westvaco's efforts to enhance wildife habitat in cooperation with conservation groups and agencies, such as the Wild Turkey Federation.
The association's Environmental Achievement Award for Forestry recognized the company's leadership in ecosystem management. Westvaco designates highly productive sites for logging, and sets aside surrounding zones for water protection, wildlife habitat, visual qualities and other natural resources.
One of those zones is the Buffalo Creek Nature Area in east Bedford County, which Westvaco set aside 25 years ago as a special area. Last week, Westvaco rededicated the 150-acre preserve to increase the public's awareness of the preserve. There are four walking trails open at all times to the public. One follows the creek, one goes through a stand of eastern hemlocks, and all the trails reveal a multitude of wildflowers, many native to Virginia.
The parking area is located along Virginia 24, just west of the Bedford/Campbell county line.
Appalachian forests outlined
The George Washington and Jefferson National Forests are inviting citizens to review the Forest Service's inventories of roadless areas, old growth stands and land suitable for timber production. The open house is scheduled for Sunday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the supervisor's office at Valleypointe in Roanoke County.
The inventories are part of the region-wide Southern Appalachian Assessment, in which six Southern national forests are pooling information for common natural resources. The final assessment, due out in January, will help guide each forest, including the Jefferson, in developing individual land management plans.
The maps were revised after the first round of citizen input earlier this year. In an effort to involve the public throughout the process, the Forest Service is seeking more comments on the revised maps through June 21. The open house is part of that effort.
Call Nancy Ross at (703) 265-6003 for more information.
Cathryn McCue cover the environment for this newspaper. Green Scene runs every other Monday.
by CNB