View source for Walker Mountain Cluster

{{short description|Protected natural area in Virginia, United States}}
{{Infobox protected area
| name            = Walker Mountain Cluster
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| photo           = View from Big Walker Mountain Fire Tower - panoramio (2).jpg
| photo_caption   = View from Big Walker Mountain Fire Tower
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| map             = USA Virginia
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| map_caption     = Location of Walker Mountain Cluster in Virginia
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| location        = [[Giles County, Virginia|Giles]], [[Bland County, Virginia|Bland]], [[Pulaski, Virginia|Pulaski]], [[Wythe County, Virginia|Wythe]],<br>[[Smyth County, Virginia|Smyth Counties]]<br> Virginia, United States
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| nearest_town    = [[Wytheville, Virginia]]
| coordinates     = {{coord|37|0|29|N|81|9|33|W|display=inline,title}}
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| administrator   = U.S. Forest Service
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The '''Walker Mountain Cluster''' is a region in the [[George Washington and Jefferson National Forests|Jefferson National Forest]] recognized by [[The Wilderness Society (United States)|The Wilderness Society]] for its diversity of habitats extending  along Walker Mountain.  The mountain, part of the [[Appalachian Mountains]] in southwest Virginia, borders the western side of the Great Valley of Virginia.   [[Interstate 81]] traverses the Great Valley as it takes travelers between Tennessee and West Virginia.<ref name="wildreport">{{cite book |last1=Parsons |first1=Shireen |title=Virginia's Mountain Treasures, The Unprotected Wildlands of the Jefferson National Forest |date=May 1999 |publisher=The Wilderness Society, OCLC: 42806366 |location=Washington, D. C. |page= 44}}</ref><ref name="bamfordReview">{{cite book|last1=Bamford|first1=Sherman|title=A Review of the Virginia Mountain Treasures of the Jefferson National Forest|date=February 2013|publisher=Sierra Club, OCLC: 893635467|location=Blacksburg, Virginia|page= 59}}</ref>
==Description==
The Walker Mountain Cluster contains five wildlands recognized by the [[The Wilderness Society (United States)|Wilderness Society]] as “Mountain Treasures”, areas that are worthy of protection from logging and road construction.<ref name="wildreport"/>
The areas in the cluster are:
*[[Big Walker Mountain]]
*[[Little Walker Mountain (conservation area)]]
*[[Long Spur (conservation area)]]
*[[Seven Sisters (conservation area)]]
*[[Crawfish Valley (Bear Creek)]]
Nearby wild areas:
*[[Big Survey Wildlife Management Area]]
==Location and access==
[[File:Big Walker Mountain Fire Tower - panoramio.jpg|thumb|Big Walker Mountain Fire Tower]] The cluster extends along Walker Mountain from its southern end near [[Rural Retreat, Virginia]] to its northern end near [[Pulaski, Virginia]].  Recent maps identify the mountain as “Walker Mountain”, but it is often referred to by the name “Big Walker Mountain”.
Route 52 crosses Walker Mountain passing by [[Big Walker Lookout]] at the crest.
Interstate I-77 passes under Walker Mountain in [[Big Walker Mountain Tunnel]].
There are many roads giving access to the area. Roads and trails in the cluster are shown on National Geographic Map 787 (Blacksburg, New River Valley).<ref name="NatGeo787">{{cite book|last1=Trails Illustrated Maps|title=Blacksburg, New River Valley (Trails Illustrated Hiking Maps, 787)|date=2011|publisher=National Geographic Society|location=Washington, D. C.}}</ref>   The map also gives trail information.  A great variety of information, including topographic maps, aerial views, satellite data and weather information, is obtained by selecting the link with the wild land’s coordinates in the upper right of this page.
==Biological significance==
[[File:Bombus affinis, F, Sky meadows sp, virginia, back 2014-09-22-17.48.35 ZS PMax (15355684055).jpg|thumb|left|Bombus affinis, Rusty-patched Bumble Bee]]The land form, climate, soils and geology of the Appalachian highlands, as well as its evolutionary history, have created one of the most diverse collection of plants and animals in the deciduous forests of the temperate world. The cluster's large tract of land supports species, such as black bear and some bird species, that require extensive tracts of unbroken forest for survival.<ref name="Steph2">{{cite book |last1=Stephenson |first1=Steven L. |last2=Ash |first2=Andrew N. |last3=Stauffer |first3=Dean F. |title=Appalachian Oak Forests, Chapter 6 in Biodiversity of the Southeastern United States, Upland Terrestrial Communities edited by Martin, Boyce and Echternacht |date=1993 |publisher=John Wiley and Sons |location=New York, NY |isbn=0-471-58594-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/biodiversityofso0000unse/page/255 255-264] |url=https://archive.org/details/biodiversityofso0000unse/page/255 }}</ref>
The cluster provides habitat for species that are critically imperiled, as indicated by their [[NatureServe conservation status]].  Among these are the Wytheville cave beetle, basil mountain mint, Rusty-patched Bumblebee, and a forest terrestrial community, the Northern White-Cedar Slope Forest.<ref>{{cite web |title=Natural Heritage Data Explorer |url=https://vanhde.org/species-communities-search |accessdate=14 August 2019}}</ref>
==Geologic history==
The cluster is in the Ridge and Valley Province that extends along the western boundary of Virginia. The Ridge and Valley province is composed of long, relatively level-crested, ridges with highest elevations reaching over 3600 feet. The province marks the eastern boundary in the Paleozoic era of an older land surface on the east.  It was uplifted and eroded during the [[Paleozoic]] with extensive folding and thrust-faulting.  Resistant quartzite, conglomerates and sandstones form the ridge caps while less resistant [[shale]]s and [[limestone]]s eroded to form the intervening valleys.<ref name="Steph2"/><ref name="Chew">{{cite book|last1=Chew|first1=Collins|title=Underfoot: A Geologic Guide to the Appalachian Trail|date=1988|publisher=Appalachian Trail Conference|location=Harpers Ferry, West Virginia|isbn=0-917953-25-8}}</ref>{{rp|60}}  The province is part of the [[Appalachian Mountains]].
Walker Mountain extends from Abingdon to the New River, where the ridge of Walker Mountain continues across the river but is now named Sinking Creek Mountain.  There are other ridges on both sides of Walker Mountain  with names that change as they move northeast. On the west is Little Mountain with a name change to Brushy Mountain.  On the east another ridge, first called Little Brushy Mountain, becomes Brushy Mountain, then changes back to Little Brushy, then Brushy, then Little Walker and then, where the ridgeline is broken by the New River, it becomes Brushy Mountain again.<ref name="Winegar">{{cite book|last1=Winegar|first1=Deane and Garvey|title=Highroad Guide to the Virginia Mountains|date=1998|publisher=Longstreet Press, Inc|location=Marietta, Georgia|isbn=1-56352-462-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/highroadguidetov0000wine/page/102 102]|url=https://archive.org/details/highroadguidetov0000wine/page/102}}</ref>
The [[Tennessee Valley Divide]]  crosses the southern end of the cluster.  Bear Creek is part of the [[Tennessee River|Tennessee River Drainage]], while  other creeks in the cluster  are part of the [[New River (Kanawha River tributary)|New River Drainage]].<ref name="NatGeo787"/>
The Crawfish Valley is underlain by black shale formed in a sea without life.  The sea had two layers that did not mix.  Organic matter in the upper layer dropped into the lower layer depleting its oxygen forming a black mud.  As time progressed, the black mud formed a black shale.  Pyrite was also deposited in the valley leaving an acid soil which is infertile and was avoided by early settlers who wanted to grow crops.<ref name="Chew"/>{{rp|58}}
==Cultural history==
[[File:WytheCoCourthouse.jpg|thumb|Wytheville County Court House]]Pulaski, on the north, and Wytheville, on the south, are the two largest towns near the cluster.  Pulaski was developed as a stopping point for the railroad between Roanoke and Bristol. Incorporated in 1886, it was once a major industrial center with railroad repair shops, textile factories and lumber mills. Wytheville was incorporated in 1839. Its proximity to lead mines, and the only salt works in the south, brought the attention of northern armies during the civil war. A union cavalry effort to tear up the railroad line in 1863 was countered by the home guards of the confederate forces <ref>{{cite book |last1=Virginia Writers Project |title=Virginia, A Guide to the Old Dominion |date=1940 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |page=435}}</ref><ref name="tennis">{{cite book|last1=Tennis|first1=Joe|title=Southwest Virginia Crossroads|date=2004|publisher=Overmountain Press|location=Johnson City, Tennessee|isbn=1570722560|page=144}}</ref>
==Other clusters==
Other clusters of the Wilderness Society's "Mountain Treasures" in the Jefferson National Forest (north to south):
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*[[Glenwood Cluster]]
*[[Craig Creek Cluster]]
*[[Barbours Creek-Shawvers Run Cluster]]
*[[Sinking Creek Valley Cluster]]
*[[Mountain Lake Wilderness Cluster]]
*[[Angels Rest Cluster]]
*[[Kimberling Creek Cluster]]
*[[Garden Mountain Cluster]]
*[[Mount Rogers Cluster]]
*[[Clinch Ranger District Cluster]]
{{div col end}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Further reading==
* Stephenson, Steven L., ''A Natural History of the Central Appalachians'', 2013, West Virginia University Press, West Virginia, {{ISBN|978-1933202-68-6}}.
* Davis, Donald Edward, ''Where There Are Mountains, An Environmental History of the Southern Appalachians'', 2000, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia. {{ISBN|0-8203-2125-7}}.
==External links==
* [https://www.fs.usda.gov/gwj/ George Washington and Jefferson National Forests]
* [https://wilderness.org/ Wilderness Society]
* [http://www.radford.edu/jtso/GeolVAHome.html Geology of Virginia]
[[Category:Protected areas of Virginia]]