Public Lands
We strive to protect public lands for habitat conservation, public recreation, biodiversity preservation, and the economic value that they provide.
Blackwater Rail Trail Botanical Restoration Project
Friends of Blackwater was awarded a grant from the National Forest Foundation to begin the Blackwater Rail Trail Botanical Restoration project. Today, non-native “invasive species” like autumn olive, stilt weed, multiflora rose, garlic mustard, Tartarian honeysuckle, and Japanese barberry are choking out native plants like milkweed, an essential host for migrating Monarch butterflies. This project will remove many of the worst invasive species — those that present the most harm to native plants and animals — and replant the area with beneficial native species, many of which will be grown from seeds collected from existing native plant populations!
