Representatives from over 25 public, private and non-profit organizations joined with local landowners and others concerned with the future of the upper Shavers Fork River gathered at Snowshoe Resort on May 18-19 for the Healing the Headwaters Summit.

Tours on the Cheat Mountain Salamander railbus with presentations on current studies and projects culminated in the signing of a commitment document. The groups agreed to work together in a long-term protection and restoration effort.

Zachary Henderson of the Shavers Fork Coalition, which coordinated the event, said, "We wanted to highlight the wide variety of conservation initiatives that we have already begun here, and to create a renewed interest in watershed stewardship. A unified and cohesive movement can be even more effective."

Located in the heart of the central Appalachians, the Shavers Fork watershed has been severely impacted by mining and logging. Nevertheless, the area shows robust signs of recovery. Most of it, the "Mower Tract," came into Forest Service ownership in 1989. It is now known as the Cheat Mountain Backcountry.

Along with the Shavers Fork Coalition, co-sponsors of the Summit were Canaan Valley Institute, Mountaineer Chapter Trout Unlimited, Friends of Cheat, and WVU Division of Forestry. The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy is proud to join with these groups, and others, continuing a tradition of over 30 years of activity in the Shavers Fork watershed.

Two weeks prior to the Summit the Highlands Conservancy held its annual Spring Review at the Cheat Mountain Club on the banks of the upper Shavers Fork. Conservancy members joined members of the Mountaineer Chapter Trout Unlimited and Shavers Fork Coalition in a stream restoration project which included planting several thousand red spruce trees in the headwaters area near Beaver Creek.