About
Founded in 1967, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy is one of the oldest and most respected conservation organizations in the state. For more than 50 years, WVHC has been the consistent voice for protecting West Virginia's public lands, wilderness areas, forests, and mountains — fighting for the Monongahela National Forest, the Dolly Sods and Otter Creek Wilderness areas, scenic rivers, and the broad principle that West Virginia's natural heritage belongs to everyone. Their publication, The Highlands Voice, has been a record of that advocacy for decades.
WVHC's work is foundational to the outdoor recreation economy in the sense that public lands are foundational to it. The trails people hike, the rivers people paddle, the forests people camp in — much of that access exists because WVHC and organizations like them fought to protect it. The conservancy's current advocacy on data center development, flood resiliency funding, and water protection legislation connects directly to the long-term health of the landscapes that WV's outdoor economy depends on.
