Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Part 1. Had Allegheny Power gotten its way 40 years ago, the land included as part of this idyllic refuge would today be the muddy bottom of a lake formed by damming the Blackwater River. The power company proposed turning the largest and most botanically-diverse high-elevation wetlands complex east of the Rocky Mountains into a “recreation destination” (e.g., overpriced tourist trap similar to nearby Deep Creek, Maryland) so it could execute a sketchy pump and release hydroelectric scheme. Thankfully, the US Army Corps of Engineers refused to issue a permit, and the nation has been since been rewarded with its 500th national wildlife refuge.
From top: beechdrops (Epifagus virginiana), a really unusual parasitic plant that draws its nutrients from the roots of the American beech tree; golden spindles (Clavulinopsis fusiformis), also known as spindle-shaped fairy club, a glorious late summer coral fungus; great spangled fritillary (Speyeria cybele), a common and lovely member of the Nymphalidae family that practically begs to be photographed; common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), which blooms late into August at the higher elevation of the valley; Monarch larvae (Danaus plexippus), in their fifth instars; pearly everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea), a fabulously-beautiful late summer aster much beloved by the dried flower industry; and the stingbean-like seed pods of Indian hemp (Apocynum cannabinum), one of the bittersweet bellwethers of summer’s end.
