by Jim Davis
It's a good stretch of the legs from the Core Arboretum entrance
on Monongahela Boulevard to the river of the same name that marks
the western boundary of the "outdoor classroom"—and
about a 200-foot drop.
In between, visitors find themselves among several hundred species
of native West Virginia trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants.
The Arboretum's 91 acres afford a variety of habitats: an open
field, a wooded hillside, and a floodplain forest.
Managed by the WVU Department of Biology, the Arboretum attracts
countless visitors daily. Professors come to do research. Students
come to escape the doldrums of residence hall life. People outside
the University come to walk the numerous trails and enjoy the
solitude. In the spring, nature-lovers come to see colorful wildflowers
and observe migrating birds.
"The Arboretum supports the three functions of the University,
which are teaching, research, and service," said Arboretum
Specialist Jon Weems, who has maintained the facility for 23
years. "It's not just for the University. There are a lot
of people of all ages who come and enjoy the Arboretum."
Donations from the public help meet operating costs.
Weems came to Morgantown in 1976 and started working at the Arboretum
as a groundskeeper in 1977. In 1988, he earned a master's degree
from WVU in recreation and parks management. A tree enthusiast,
he has also helped teach dendrology (tree identification) labs.
In the Beginning
WVU acquired the property that would later become Core Arboretum
in 1948 when the state purchased 260 acres of farmland from the
Krepps and Dille families. The steep, hillside property featured
an undisturbed forest that was popular with students as far back
as the 1920s.
"It was a great place for biology professors to bring their
students to show them what an old-growth forest looked like,"
Weems said. "They've been coming ever since."
After the University secured the land, Earl Core, chairman of
the Biology Department, convinced President Irvin Stewart to
set the property aside for the study of biology and botany. In
1975, WVU renamed the Arboretum after Core in honor of his efforts
to preserve the property for teaching and research purposes.
Of Hardwood Forests and Coal
Upon entering the Arboretum, visitors descend through a hardwood
forest of towering oaks, maples, and hickory. It is the steepness
of this hillside that enabled Core to persuade President Stewart
to leave the property untouched. "The steepness was its
saving grace," Weems said. "It was just too steep to
build classrooms or a parking lot on. If not for this, we wouldn't
have any Arboretum."
About 200 yards downhill one notices bits of black rock along
the trail—evidence of an old coal mine. Looming overhead
is the mine portal, a man-made fissure in the Morgantown sandstone
prevalent along the hillside. The mine was likely a small operation,
its Elk Lick coal seam only one to three feet thick, Weems said.
A mound downhill from the portal is where miners are believed
to have dumped shale and clay they removed in forming the opening.
Weems filled the entrance with limestone boulders a few years
ago to prevent people entering the abandoned mine.
If Trees Could Talk
A chinquapin oak stands—or rather leans—about a third
of the way down the hillside. This bruised and battered tree
holds the distinction of being the oldest tree in the Arboretum.
Experts date the oak's birth at about the time the first English
settlers arrived to establish Jamestown, Va., in 1607.
"If trees could talk, this one would have some tales to
tell," Weems said.
The oak's trunk is more than five feet in diameter. The tree
is hollow, and the top branches have fallen. A slit in the bark
down one side suggests the tree was struck by lightning sometime
during its 400 years. There are two railroad bolts driven into
the bark about 15 feet up; Weems speculates they supported a
hunting stand at one time.
Gathering Places
Elsewhere along the hillside is an amphitheater, its presence
reinforcing the Arboretum's educational roots. Built in 1983,
the amphitheater features rows of wooden benches that seat 60,
and a lectern under the forest canopy. The rustic setting makes
this an ideal spot for open-air classes, meetings, weddings,
and other special events.
The old meets the new about two-thirds of the way down the hillside
where the Caperton Trail cuts through the forest. This "rail-trail"
was once a Baltimore & Ohio Railroad line that ran from Fairmont
to Pittsburgh. The rail line was converted a few years ago into
a recreational trail and named in honor of former Governor Gaston
Caperton. Recently paved, this trail is popular with cyclists,
joggers, walkers, and rollerbladers.
A Floodplain Forest
Below the Caperton Trail is a floodplain forest, a flat, moist
area along the Monongahela River. Silver maples, which love water,
are predominant in this area. Other water-tolerant trees that
flourish here include sycamores, black willows, and box elders.
"There used to be a lot of American elms before they succumbed
to Dutch elm disease a few years ago," Weems said.
At the edge of the floodplain is the "lagoon," a wet
area overgrown with arrowhead and other aquatic plants. This
area was once a river channel that small boats navigated. Sediments
deposited by the river eventually blocked off the channel, reducing
it to a lagoon. A flood in 1985 left enough silt to virtually
fill in the area, resulting in its present state.
Near the lagoon is Granville Island, a prominent landmark along
the river in the 19th century. Today, the island is attached
to the Morgantown side of the river and under layers of silt.
Wildflowers and Birds
At no other time of the year is the Arboretum more popular than
in the spring, when wildflowers are in bloom and birds are migrating
north. "If there is one thing the Arboretum is best known
for, it would be the spring wildflowers, the so-called spring
ephemerals that have such a brief season," Weems said.
Twinleaf, dwarf larkspur, wild blue phlox, Virginia bluebells,
bloodroot, sessile trillium, Dutchman's breeches, and wild ginger—these
are some of the wildflowers that decorate the hillside every
spring. The flowers bring visitors from as far away as Washington,
D.C., and Baltimore, said Weems, who leads visitors on wildflower
walks the last three Sundays in April.
Besides flowers, various species of birds flock to the Arboretum
every spring, bringing avid birders to the woods. "We have
lots and lots of birds that live here or migrate through, especially
in the spring," Weems said. They follow the Monongahela
River in their migrations.
Some 159 bird species have been spotted at the Arboretum since
1986. They include great blue herons, loons, gulls, terns, kingfishers,
swallows, and pileated woodpeckers.
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