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West Virginia Wildlife
CANAAN VALLEY WETLANDS
Patrick McMurtry
August 24, 2005
Reporter: Patrick McMurtry
Videographer: Larry Clark

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West Virginia is the Mountain State, but did you know it has some of the more unique wetlands in the country? There's even a valley 3,000 feet in the air. Patrick McMurtry takes you to one of the highest valleys in the country.



W.Va. Wildlife from Eyewitness News



You're looking at one of the most unique habitats in the entire country, the Canaan Valley Wetlands. This is a wonderland of plants and animals, like pipestem and redwing blackbirds.

Elizabeth Byers/Plant Ecologist says:
"In sheer number of species, it's the plants that are the most productive here."

This is the highest valley east of the Rockies. The mountains level off into a large flat valley that acts as a sort of frost bowl. That allows plants usually only found way up north to grow right here making West Virginia a virtual genetic trust of plant life.

"For 200 million years, it was never wiped out in West Virginia, in the north, the glaciers came and wiped out every living thing. Every time the northern part of the county had to be re-populated, the seed bed was the unglaciated part of North America and West Virginia, because of its mountains and valleys, had a huge diversity of seeds. So we are the genetic trust for much of the continent right here."

And unique plant life usually means a very diverse wildlife population. That's exactly what you'll find in the Canaan Valley Wetland. Especially birds.

Elizabeth Byers/Plant Ecologist says:
"....a special home for woodcock and other water birds, herons, great blue herons and green herons and sandpipers walking along the shore here. The common yellow throat is a bird you often find here and we may hear today, it goes witchity, witchity, witchity."

The Canaan Valley Wetland is located in Tucker county and is the largest freshwater wetland in this part of the United States.



LINKS TO LEARN MORE

W. Va. DNR


MORE WILDLIFE NEWS

WCHS-TV8 Online brings you the current Fishing and Stream Conditions Report updated every week.



GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT WEST VIRGINIA'S WILDLIFE
Visit WV DNR



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