ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 27, 1996 TAG: 9603270054
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ELLETT
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
RODNEY THOMPSON hadn't been looking to sell his land, but he figured it was a "no-brainer" to get paid by a group that was going to do the same thing with the land that he was. Absolutely nothing.
Shortly after Rodney and Mary Thompson bought a tract of land in Montgomery County in 1985, they noticed a preponderance of delicate pink wildflowers growing on the steep slopes.
They didn't know what the flowers were, but they were pretty, so the Thompsons dug some up and planted them near their newly built home.
"They're weeds; they're all over the place," Rodney Thompson said Tuesday, showing some visitors around the property.
But the flowers aren't common at all: The smooth coneflower (Echinacea laevigata) is a globally rare plant, found in only a dozen Virginia counties and in a few spots in North Carolina.
An even rarer plant on the Thompsons' 150 acres escaped their notice until state biologists pointed it out - the Addison's leatherflower (Clematis addisonii). It is found only in Rockbridge, Botetourt, Roanoke and Montgomery counties.
The presence of these species, and the Thompsons' desire for undisturbed privacy, led to a deal this month with the Virginia chapter of The Nature Conservancy.
The Charlottesville-based conservancy bought 41 acres from the Thompsons and will forever preserve the unique habitat that allows the plants to flourish.
"It's a worthwhile thing. It has to be done, because there's no telling what people will do," said Rodney Thompson, a finance professor at Virginia Tech. Motioning down the valley, he said that mobile homes are popping up more and more in the area, east of Christiansburg.
And besides, he said, "I don't want anybody watching me get in the hot tub, which is on the back of the house." His home, built in 1989, sits on a ridge adjacent to the land he sold to the conservancy.
The new Den Creek Preserve adds to the conservancy's holdings in this region, including Falls Ridge Preserve and the Ironto Shale Barrens in Montgomery County and Bottom Creek Gorge and Twin Falls Preserve in Floyd County.
The new preserve lies within the "Roanoke Valley Glades," one of eight Virginia landscapes the group has chosen as a conservation priority. The region's geology and climate combine to create a remarkably diverse ecosystem.
"The chemistry is kind of weird," said Judy Dunscomb, director of science and stewardship with the Virginia chapter. She explained that the dolomite bedrock at Den Creek Preserve produces an alkaline soil, high in calcium and magnesium, that many plants dislike.
That allows the two rare plants to survive, along with several other prairie-type flowers, and possibly some undiscovered insect species, Dunscomb said. "You can find a lot of nifty things."
Fire is a "friendly force" in plant regeneration, Dunscomb said, so the conservancy probably will burn part of the habitat.
Unlike the Falls Ridge and Bottom Creek Gorge properties, however, the conservancy will not open the site to visitors. The ecosystem is too fragile, and the smooth coneflower too vulnerable to poachers for its medicinal powers, including as a cold remedy, Dunscomb said.
The coneflower and Addison's leatherflower were first documented on the property some time ago. In 1992, scientists with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation's Division of Natural Heritage were resurveying known locations, and discovered a healthy population of both plants on the Thompsons' property.
The conservancy, which works in conjunction with the state agency, at first approached the Thompsons about acquiring all 150 acres of their land, save for a bit of a yard.
"That kind of put us off a little bit," Thompson said.
Then last year, the conservancy's new protection specialist, Tim McNeil, contacted Thompson. This time, the group wanted to buy only one ridge.
Although Thompson hadn't been looking to sell the land, he figured it was a "no-brainer" to get $28,700 from a group that was going to do the same thing with the land that he was. Absolutely nothing.
"That's why I sold it to The Nature Conservancy. I wouldn't have sold it to anyone else."
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM/Staff. 1. Judy Dunscomb, director of scienceby CNBand stewardship with The Nature Conservancy, strolls along the
southwest side of the ridge in the new Den Creek Preserve. The
dolomite bedrock produces an alkaline soil that allows two rare
plants - the smooth coneflower and the Addison's leatherflower - to
survive, she explained. 2. 1996 THE NATURE CONSERVANCY/KIM WILLIAMS.
The smooth coneflower is globally rare, found in only a dozen
Virginia counties and in a few spots in North Carolina. color. 3.
ALAN KIM/Staff. Rob Riordan (left) and Judy Dunscomb of The Nature
Conservancy and Rodney Thompson hike a trail that runs along the top
of the ridge in the Den Creek Preserve (New River edition).