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The West Virginia Cave Conservancy (WVCC), a non profit, West
Virginia corporation, has purchased approximately 11.62 acres
that includes the Lightner’s Entrance to McClung’s
Cave. This parcel was subdivided from the old Lightner Farm.
Some other parcels have already been sold from this original
300 acre farm. The farm is in a prime development
area in the booming Lewisburg, WV area, and the entire farm will
probably be subdivided in the near future.
Access to all of the major cave systems in Greenbrier County
are potentially threatened by the rapid population growth and
development of the area, and by increasing liability concerns.
WVCC has a goal of maintaining access to McClung’s Cave,
and to as many of the other major systems in West Virginia as
possible. McClung’s Cave offers outstanding scientific,
educational, and recreational opportunities. WVCC will manage
the Lightner’s Entrance to maximize these opportunities.
RESOURCES
McClung’s Cave is listed on the Significant Cave List
for length, depth, hydrology, geology, biology, history, and
esthetics.
The historic McClung’s Entrance to McClung’s Cave
has been known since settlement of the area during colonial times.
The historic entrance was documented by geologists who were mapping
the county geology, and was also recorded by William E. Davies
in his “Caverns of West Virginia.”
McClung’s Cave is one of the longest, most complex of
a series of so called “contact cave systems” located
in the historic “Great Savannah” of Greenbrier County.
These contact cave systems are known for extensive passage development
in the contact zone between the overlying Mississippian Greenbrier
Limestone and the underlying Maccrady Shale. To date, approximately
17 miles of passage has been surveyed in McClung’s. McClung’s
Cave lies between two other major contact cave systems: Ludington’s
Cave to the northeast, and Maxwelton Cliff Cave to the southwest.
All these systems are interrelated, and connection potential
exists for all of these systems. A total of 5 major contact cave
systems are developed adjacent to each other in this area, with
McClung’s Cave in the center. A total of 77 miles have
been mapped so far in all these systems.
Major stream passages in McClung’s were formed near the
Limestone/shale contact, and are cutting down into the underlying
red shales, yielding interesting passage morphology. In addition,
numerous faults and folds have been documented, and the cave
shows interesting passage modifications where these features
are encountered.
Hydrologically, McClung’s has several infeeder streams
that travel from the surface down-dip to the master trunk stream
in Chocolate Avenue. This is the same stream that flows through
Ludington’s Cave from the north. This stream has been dye
traced to an eventual resurgence at Davis Spring, approximately
15 miles to the south on the Greenbrier River. McClung’s
Cave serves as a major infeeder to the 65 square mile Davis Spring
drainage basin.
Although not highly decorated with speleothems, certain areas
of the cave contain nice formations. The large flowstone formation
near the historic entrance is featured on the cover of “The
Life of the Cave” by Mohr and Poulson.
McClung’s contains several species of bats and invertebrates
that are common to the area. One invertebrate is apparently unique
to McClung’s. The cave is not a significant hybernaculum.
The cave has also produced some interesting paleontological finds
that have been documented by researchers.
SURFACE RESOURCES
The Lightner’s Entrance is situated in the northeastern
corner of the Lightner farm. Consequently, WVCC had to acquire
approximately 11 acres of land around the Lightner Entrance in
order to yield a reasonable
subdivision of that corner of the farm without leaving any odd
remainder, and had to acquire an approximately 1700 foot long
access road from Vago Road to the 11 acre lot. The purchased
access road is not simply a right-of-way, but was purchased fee-simple.
The 11 acre plot has some of the highest ground of the immediate
area, and has a beautiful panoramic view. The site offers nice
opportunities for day use, such as picnicking. Camping may be
a future possibility, if appropriate facilities can be developed.
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