Make a Difference   The Conservancy works across six states to protect and conserve the Central Appalachians. You can make a difference by donating to one of the following states: Maryland Kentucky Pennsylvania Tennessee Virginia West Virginia   Forests, such as Kings Gap, located on South Mountain in Pennsylvania, help offset carbon emissions and provide clean air. Go Deeper Find a nature preserve in the Central Apps and get outside! Learn how The Nature Conservancy is working around the United States and across the globe to confront climate change.

The vastness of the Central Appalachian Mountains is at once both its greatest asset and its greatest weakness when it comes to conservation. 

Its extensive mountain ranges, valleys and rivers are rich in plant and animal life and provide the recreational, cultural and mineral resources that have been treasured for centuries by millions of people living in the region.  The residents of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee call the Central Appalachians home, while millions of others depend on the resources extracted from it. 

The region is also home to a remarkable abundance and variety of wildlife, from the migratory birds that nest in the treetops of its intact forests to the rare fish species that find shelter within the cool headwater streams of rivers like the Susquehanna, Monongahela or Ohio.  Many plants and animals found among its slopes and hollows are found nowhere else on Earth.

Yet the impressive bounty offered by the Central Appalachian Mountains is becoming increasingly threatened.

Throughout the region, unrestrained development is a concern.  With major East Coast cities just a few hours away, the mountains are popular for second or vacation home development.  This wave of construction leaves forest fragmentation, roads, invasive species and other problems in its wake. 

This development, coupled with unsustainable forest management practices, poses big threats for the freshwater coursing throughout the region.  As vegetation is removed, so is the system’s ability to cleanse water as it makes its way from streams and creeks to the larger rivers downstream, which provide drinking water for scores of people.  Improper forest management spells trouble for many local communities, whose timber-reliant economies depend on the long term health of surrounding forests.

Tackling Climate Change

Looming large on the horizon is climate change.  Forests of the Central Appalachians are like lungs for the East Coast, offsetting carbon emissions and providing clean air.  In addition, the region’s diverse forests, ridge tops and waterways provide an opportunity for plants and animals to migrate and adapt as they seek out more favorable climates. 

While the plants and animals know of no boundaries within the Central Appalachians, people most certainly do, and political boundaries make management of this vast resource difficult.  In the face of resource competition, conservation efforts not only must straddle mountain ranges, but state lines as well.   

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): © Mary Porter (Snow at Warm Springs Mountain in Virginia); © George C. Gress/TNC (Pennsylvania wildflowers in Westfall Ridge); © Dave Spier (Kings Gap, located on South Mountain in the Central Appalachians range of Pennsylvania).