The Cedars Natural Area Preserve

The Cedars Natural Area Preserve began as a {{convert|50|acre|km2|adj=on}} procurement by The Nature Conservancy in 1996. The following year, the land was transferred to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation to be managed as a Natural Area Preserve. Additional lands were added to the preserve in the ensuing years.{{cite book |last1=Winegar |first1=Deane |last2=Winegar |first2=Garvey |title=Highroad Guide to the Virginia Mountains |date=2002 |publisher=John F. Blair, Publisher |isbn=9780895872777 |page=82 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tmVglm0QGSQC&pg=PA82}} In 2015, a state grant provided $317,711 to expand the preserve through purchase of an additional {{convert|150|acre|km2}}, including {{convert|6170|ft}} of frontage along the Powell River.{{cite web |url=http://www.timesnews.net/News/2016/09/23/State-grant-to-secure-addition-for-The-Cedars-in-Lee |title=State grant to secure addition for The Cedars in Lee |newspaper=Kingsport Times-News |date=September 23, 2016 |author= |access-date=December 14, 2016}}

The Cedars Natural Area Preserve is located in Lee County near the Powell River, within a {{convert|30|to|40|sqmi|adj=on}} region of karst landscape that is known as "The Cedars". The limestone bedrock in such karst regions is easily eroded, leading to thin soils, sinkholes, caves, and losing streams. The {{convert|2265|acre|km2|adj=on}} preserve's glades and woodlands comprise a rocky and rugged landscape that serves as a haven for numerous rare plants adapted to the habitat.{{cite web |title=The Cedars Natural Area Preserve |url=http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-area-preserves/thecedars |access-date=February 18, 2024 |publisher=Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation}} The preserve also protects habitat for the loggerhead shrike, a rare bird within Virginia, and the endangered Lee County cave isopod, Lirceus usdagalun.{{cite web|url=https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/document/pgthecedars.pdf|title=The Cedars Natural Area Preserve|publisher=Virginia Department of Conservation & Recreation|access-date=28 May 2023}}

Regionally rare plants found within the preserve include:{{cite web |url=http://vnps.org/adding-land-to-cedars-natural-area-preserve/ |title=Adding Land to Cedars Natural Area Preserve |publisher=Virginia Native Plant Society |date=October 3, 2015 |author=Dingwell, Suzanne |access-date=December 14, 2016}}

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• Wild hyacinth (Camassia scilloides)
• Crawe's sedge (Carex crawei)
• Mullien Foxglove (Dasistoma macrophylla)
• Ringed panic grass (Dichanthelium annulum)
• Flattened spikerush (Eleocharis compressa var. compressa)
• Northern rattlesnake-master (Eryngium yuccifolium var. yuccifolium)
• Pink thoroughwort (Fleischmannia incarnata)
• Canada bluets (Houstonia canadensis)
• Rattlesnake-master (Manfreda virginica)
• Pitcher's stitchwort (Minuartia patula)
• Yarrow-leaved ragwort (Packera millefolium)
• White blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium albidum)
• Tall dropseed (Sporobolus compositus var. compositus)
• Ozark dropseed (Sporobolus ozarkanus)
• Running glade clover (Trifolium calcaricum)

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The preserve is owned and maintained by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. It does not include improvements for public access, and visitors must make arrangements with a state-employed land steward prior to visiting.

• List of Virginia Natural Area Preserves

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• [http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural_heritage/natural_area_preserves/thecedars.shtml Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation: The Cedars Natural Area Preserve]

{{Protected areas of Virginia}}

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Category:Virginia Natural Area Preserves

Category:Protected areas of Lee County, Virginia

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