FALLING SPRING FOREST HIGHLIGHTS

• Miles of forest trails for hiking, horseback riding and ATV adventure
• Nice rustic cabin with easy access to hardtop
• Long views overlooking the Falling Springs Valley
• Public Access to the Greenbrier River only 10 minutes away
• Monongahela National Forest only 15 minutes drive
• Exceptional songbird population including neo-tropicals, woodpeckers, owls, and hawks
• Resident wildlife population density is unrivaled with rabbit, squirrel, deer & wild turkey
• A “Dark Skies Property” with little light pollution for fantastic star & planet gazing.
• In the heart of the Appalachian Mountains with mature high quality hardwood timber
• Several wildlife food plots
• Electric on the property
• Barn in good shape
• Two hand stacked stone “Root Cellars”, remnants of days gone by
• 20 minutes to Lewisburg for all shopping needs
• The old homeplace house is still standing but best suited to take down and repurpose the wood, stone and tin

LOCATION

Address: No 911 address is currently available
Renick, WV 24966

The Renick post office is 1.5 miles south on route 219.

Excellent access. Property is fronted by state maintained paved US Route 219 for 3/4 mile.

Situated within a 20-minute drive of Interstate 64 and 90 minutes of Interstates 81 and 77, the property is easily accessible from major population centers throughout the east. Washington DC is 4.5 hours, Charlotte 4 hours and Richmond is 3.5 hours.

Google Coordinates at the old house are: Latitude: ­­ 38.010589N  Longitude:  -80.358044W

Elevation Range:  2165’ to 3,124’.

ACCESS

Year round access to the property is excellent.

Permanent access is considered excellent with ¾ mile of hardtop road frontage on the historic Seneca Trail (Route 219).  Another two miles of unimproved forest management trails access nice stands of timber and provide access to nearly all corners for recreational opportunities including nature viewing, hunting, hiking, horseback riding and ATV riding.

SURROUNDING AREA

Historic Greenbrier County:

Lewisburg, which is the Greenbrier County seat, was voted the Coolest Small Town in America in 2011, combining the warmth of a close community with the sophistication of more urban locations. The thriving downtown historic district offers year-round live productions presented at the State Professional Theatre of WV, Carnegie Hall, distinctive dining venues, antique shops, award-winning galleries/boutiques, and two summer-season farmer’s markets. Greenbrier Valley Medical Center is a modern hospital and all attendant medical facilities, along with the many big box stores.

Lewisburg is home to the WV Osteopathic Medical School (800 students) and the New River Community and Technical College. The area is a strong economic generator with a solid workforce employed in county/state government, tourism, hospitality, medical, education, retail, construction, wood products, mining and agriculture.

The world-renowned Greenbrier Resort, with 800 rooms and 1600 employees, is located nearby in the sleepy little town of White Sulphur Springs. The 4-Star resort has a subterranean casino and is home to the PGA tour, the “Greenbrier Classic.” Several other area golf courses are available in the area – including Oakhurst Links, America’s first golf course, where guests play using old style hickory-handled clubs and ground-burrowing golf balls!

The Greenbrier County Airport with WV’s longest runway provides daily flights to Atlanta and Washington DC. A picturesque train ride from White Sulphur Springs connects the area to DC, Philadelphia, Chicago, and many other locations. By car, DC is 4 hours away and Charlotte is only 4 hours away.

CAVES

Greenbrier County is Caving Country. Cavers (spelunkers) enjoy the recreational pastime of exploring wild (generally non-commercial) cave systems and have been actively visiting caves in this area since the early 1970′s. Many of the caves’ passageways have been surveyed and mapped. Some of the caves even have rim pools and very unique mineral formations. The entrance to renowned “Friars Hole Cave” is about ½ mile down the road from the property.

The West Virginia Cave Conservancy is a wonderful organization made up of volunteers dedicated to the preservation of caves and their environs. It is a non-profit corporation whose mission is to preserve and maintain access to the cave and karsts resources of West Virginia and Virginia for future generations. WVCC also provides education to landowners, local governments, developers, and the general public on the value of cave and karst resources. Please visit www.WVCC.net for more information relating to cave conservation.

GREENBRIER RIVER AND RIVER TRAIL

Falling Spring Forest is a 10 minute drive to the lazy Greenbrier River. The Greenbrier River is 173 miles long is the last free flowing river east of the Mississippi. It is an excellent river to float or canoe and is well known for its large and small mouth bass fishing. It is the gateway to water recreation and fun as it is at most times lazy and easy to navigate.

The Greenbrier River is formed by the confluence of the East Fork Greenbrier River and the West Fork Greenbrier River in the town of Durbin, West Virginia. From Durbin the Greenbrier River flows southwesterly through Pocahontas, Greenbrier, Monroe, and Summers Counties. It flows through several communities including Cass, Marlinton, Hillsboro, Ronceverte, Fort Spring, Alderson, and Hinton. The Greenbrier River joins the New River in the town of Hinton, just 30 minutes away.

The property is a 10 minutes ride to the Greenbrier River Trial which is operated by the West Virginia State Parks. The trail is a 77-mile long former railroad, now used for hiking, bicycling, ski-touring, horseback-riding, and wheel-chair use. The trail passes through numerous small towns and traverses 35 bridges and 2 tunnels as it winds its way along the valley. Most of the trail is adjacent to the free-flowing Greenbrier River and is surrounded by peaks of the Allegheny Mountains.

FOREST/TIMBER RESOURCES

The distinguishing features of the Falling Spring Forest’s timber resource include its hardwood sawtimber and pole stocking.  This well managed timber resource can provide a great deal of flexibility to the next ownership in terms of potential harvest revenue and can be managed to provide cash flow opportunities to offset holding cost and long-term asset appreciation. Light timber harvesting has been done to clean up storm damage approximately three years ago.

Species composition:

The forest’s predominately well-drained upland terrain has led to a resource dominated by hardwood species. Overall, the species composition is highly desirable and favors Appalachian hardwood types, consisting primarily of:

Sugar Maple
Poplar/Cucumber/Basswood
Red Oak Group
White Oak/Chestnut Oak
Soft Maple
Hickory
Ash
A host of associate species (black cherry, black walnut, birch, beech)

Forest-wide, most stands are fully stocked, providing the next ownership with a great deal of flexibility in shaping their own silvicultual legacy. Stem quality forest-wide can be considered excellent with the forest containing an abundant current and future veneer source.

Falling Spring Forest’s timber component has been well managed over the years and generally consists of two age classes that have been managed under even-aged silvicultural guidelines. The predominant timber stand contains 40-120 year old stems ranging in size of 10”-28” dbh. This stand was thinned some 30 years ago. This stand is on the cusp of graduating into higher-value sawtimber diameter classes over the coming decade.

The second distinct stand was established over the past 50 years when some of the farm fields and pastures were abandoned and the forest began to naturally regenerate. These stands represent a quality hardwood resource will be reaching economic maturity in the next 20-40 years.

Several “Heritage Trees” are scattered throughout the forest and field edges. These ancient trees, some 200-300 years old, have withstood the test of time, weathering ice, wind, lightning strikes and fire.

The forest is healthy and there are no signs of pest infestations of Gypsy Moth. The Emerald Ash Borer may be present and it is anticipated that the Ash component will come under attack by the borer in the next decade. There have been no forest fires in the recent memory.

The forest floor is home to several types of mushrooms, medicinal plants, wild ginseng, ferns and cool green mosses. One could spend a lifetime getting to know this inviting environ.

WILDLIFE

Falling Spring Forest has an abundant wildlife population.

The mixture of mature forest, emerging forest and abandoned farm fields, old fruit trees, coupled with a steady water supply from the ephemeral creeks and springs, create the perfect wildlife habitat. The hardwood forest produces tons of acorns, hickory nuts beech nuts and black walnuts. White tail deer, wild turkey, squirrel, raccoon, fox and many species of songbirds and raptors make up the resident wildlife population. It is hard to find a property that has a better mix of wildlife as there has been little to no hunting pressure for many years.

A number of Bald Eagles have been spotted up and down the Greenbrier and New Rivers and are a thrill to see with wingspans of 6-7 feet.

WATER

Falling Spring Forest is blessed with a steady water source. Three large hollows, several ephemeral streams and a few springs topographic relief throughout the property that flow during rain events and snow melt.

MINERAL RESOURCES

The owner has chosen not to lease out any mineral-oil and gas rights and all rights the owner has will convey with the property.

CABIN & BARN & HOMEPLACE

The old cabin overlooks the Seneca Trail. This rustic cabin is perfect for a weekend camp. Power is available on site.  There is no information available about whether there is a well or septic system on site.  The foundation of the original hand-stacked root cellar is located just behind the cabin.

The barn is situated on top of the ridge and is in good shape with cinderblock foundation, tin roof and board siding. There is a small loft for storing hay and room below for storing machinery, ATV’s, a boat etc.

The old homeplace house is still standing, surrounded by ancient Catalpa Trees (called Indian Cigar Tree). The home is probably beyond the stage to be renovated but contains nice flooring and heavy cut hardwood joists, rafters, studs along with board siding that could be repurposed for use in  another home or cabin. The tin roof and hand cut chimney stone and foundation stone could also be reused. The original foundation of the hand-stacked stone root cellar is located across from the front of the house.

TAXES, DEED, LEGAL & SURVEY INFORMATION

Deed Book 492 Page 397, Dated August 28, 2004

Greenbrier County, West Virginia

Deed Acreage: (DB 492 Pg. 397): Total of 91 acres

The deed conveys the property in two major tracts.  However, one tract indication in the deed actually contains two parcels.  The tracts as shown in the deed are as follows:

FIRST: 75 acres and about 15 acres (contiguous to the 75 acres).

SECOND: 1 acre, more or less

Tax ID: Falling Springs District (4) Tax Map 53 Parcel 42; Taxed as 91 acres

2015 Taxes:   $154.02

Road Frontage:  There is approximately ¾ mile of frontage on Seneca Trail US 219.

The property has not been recently surveyed and is being sold by the boundary and not by the acre.