CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The conservation group Friends of Blackwater Canyon questions the wisdom of a recently announced agreement between the Nature Conservancy and Snowshoe Mountain Resort to protect 233 acres of high-quality red spruce forestland near the popular resort.

Nature Conservancy spokesman Randall Edwards said it is the first West Virginia plan meeting the requirements of a federal Habitat Conservation Plan.

However, Judy Rodd, executive director of Friends of Blackwater Canyon, said that while any land protection is good, there's not much to celebrate here.

"Snowshoe's 233-acre habitat protection plan was required by the federal government in 2006, because a Snowshoe development was going to wipe out a big piece of habitat for the West Virginia northern flying squirrel," Rodd said.

"Now Snowshoe wants to avoid doing any more habitat conservation on 11,000 acres of their land," she said.

Ed Galford, Snowshoe's vice president of mountain operations, said, "Snowshoe Mountain has followed the guidelines that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials have had in place since the creation of the Endangered Species Act in 1973.

"When the West Virginia northern flying squirrel was added to the endangered list in 1985, 10 flying squirrels were located in four areas. The research conducted at that time determined that competition with the southern flying squirrel and habitat disturbance threatened the existence of the species."

Galford said that by 2006, the population of West Virginia northern flying squirrel increased to more than 1,200 because of efforts by Fish and Wildlife Service biologists and local landowners.

However, Friends of Blackwater Canyon criticized Fish and Wildlife officials for removing the flying squirrel from the endangered species list last year.

Rodd said the 1,200-squirrel estimate is based on cumulative capture of squirrels for more than 25 years, and no one knows the true number of northern flying squirrels in the wild.

Rodd, who has cumulatively nicknamed the squirrels "Ginny," said Snowshoe officials "supported the Fish and Wildlife Service Service's 2008 removal of federal protection for Ginny [the flying squirrel] and her species.

"With Ginny off the endangered species list, Snowshoe is free to cut down any of Ginny's threatened and sensitive habitat, scattered among tens of thousands of acres along high Alleghenies."

Rodd said lawyers for her group are preparing a legal challenge to the Fish and Wildlife decision to remove the flying squirrel from the endangered species list.

Galford said, "Snowshoe Mountain will continue to work with the [Fish and Wildlife] agency to promote the protection and enhancement of the fish, wildlife and plant habitat for future generations.

"The red spruce forests of the high Allegheny Mountains are very important to Snowshoe Mountain and their guests, our conservation easement will benefit the biodiversity of the environment."

Rodd said two leading scientists oppose removing federal protections for the northern flying squirrels, fearing it will lead to wholesale logging in sensitive mountain habitats.

John Pagels from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond and Peter Weigl from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., recently released studies pointing out that West Virginia's high mountains provide a unique home to ecosystems usually located much farther north.

Delisting the northern flying squirrel affects more than just Snowshoe, Rodd said, it could open the door to timbering throughout high elevation areas prone to erosion, threatening forests that include sugar maple, black cherry, birch and beech trees.

"Due to the removal of federal protections from the squirrel, Allegheny Wood Products has already asked the Fish and Wildlife Service to modify current environmental protections in Blackwater Canyon," Rodd said.

Reach Paul J. Nyden at pjny...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5164.