Rowlesburg to receive new tree seedlings near VFD

Jeniffer Graham, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.
·2 min read

Apr. 12—ROWLESBURG — The bank of the Cheat River near the Rowlesburg Volunteer Fire Department on Chestnut Street will soon be home to 100 seedlings. The seedlings are being planted to help shore up the banks of the river.

The seedlings, from the West Virginia State Nursery's Mountaineer Trailways Program, include sycamore, river burch, poplar and red bud.

Kelley Burd-Huss, community development coordinator of Preston Trail Towns, said the project is a collaboration between the Friends of the Cheat, the Rowlesburg Volunteer Fire Department and the Town of Rowlesburg.

"We're stabilizing the shoreline and choking out some of the invasive plants, " she said.

Burd-Huss said one of the invasive plants growing on the bank of the river is Japanese knotweed. Knotweed is a perennial plant with hollow, red-speckled bamboo-like stems. It can grow over 10 feet tall, and pieces of the plant can root themselves if they are discarded.

Preston Trail Towns is a project of Friends of the Cheat. The program connects trails to small towns. She said the towns in Preston County they are working with are Albright and Rowlesburg.

Burd-Huss said the idea behind the trails to towns program is to use what is already available in the town and turn it into a sustainable economy.

She said FOC is looking for projects with which they can partner.

"It's not one of those mini-grant things that we provide money and material for, " Burd-Huss said. "It's more like a relationship. We look at the resources we have and what can be done. This project is a good example of what we do."

Mitch Klein, secretary and section coordinator for Allegheny Trails, said some trails are not as well known as others. He said adding a kiosk is one way to let people using the trails know what the town has to offer. He said he and Burd-Huss will scout locations to place kiosks.

"I hope mountain bikes are allowed on the trails, " Klein said. "If you want a trail, let (mountain bikers) know they are welcome, and they will make you a trail."

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