Dolly Sods Wilderness Bog Restoration

Tucker County, WV

As a component of fire control for a 5-acre wildfire in the Dolly Sods wilderness, a 10-foot wide firebreak was bulldozed around the fire’s perimeter. After 7 years without vegetative cover, the processes of sediment erosion and downcutting created an 8 foot deep trench. This downcut trench was carrying water below the normal water table of Bear Rocks Bog, effectively creating a drained condition inside the firebreak.
Envirens, along with its affiliate Ecosystem Recovery Institute provided prescriptions and design to remedy the erosion and restore vegetative cover. ERI also installed the practices, which included the use of on-site boulders and coconut logs to build a series of terraced wetlands within the trench. Hummocks of natural vegetation cast aside in the dozing process were replaced onto the newly formed wetland terraces. This project utilized minimally invasive restoration techniques including low psi rubber track equipment and no-import of off site soils or vegetation.