Endangered bats, plants and rare cave-dwelling insects will be assured of a home in a developing area of the Mountain State following recent action by The Nature Conservancy.

The land, meanwhile, still won't be open for public exploration, although nearly $800,000 in West Virginia Department of Transportation funds are involved.

The Nature Conservancy - with help from the state DOT - has purchased "a conservation easement" on 272 acres of property in Randolph County owned by Thunderstruck Conservation. It is surrounded by the Monongalia National Forest and is close to the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area, the Roaring Plains Wilderness Area and the Nature Conservancy's Bear Rocks Preserve.

The purchase price was $796,500, and the money was provided by the WVDOT from funds in the Appalachian Corridor H Final Environmental Impact Statement. The money was to be used for identification and analysis of unique habitats to be purchased for preservation, according to information provided by the Nature Conservancy.

Described as being on a mountainside, the property will serve "as a preserve habitat for endangered bats, plants and rare cave-dwelling insects," said Rodney Bartgis, state director for the West Virginia Conservancy.

There is a trout stream there, as well as a forest with rare plants like running buffalo clover and white monkshood.

Caves and sinkholes beneath the surface provide habitat for rare species like the Virginia big-eared bat and cave-dwelling insects.

Bartgis said many of the species only live in the biologically rich forests of the Central Appalachian Mountains - a region that runs from Pennsylvania to Tennessee and is considered one of the world's most diverse broadleaf temperate forest areas.

Because of its proximity to Washington, D.C., the property would be lucrative for development purposes. But the conservation easement allows just one home on the 272 acres of protected area.

With a conservancy easement, a private landowner maintains ownership of their land with specific uses being restricted.

This easement purchased by the Nature Conservancy will permanently prevent commercial logging, mining and residential development on the property - but the general public still won't be permitted to come see the nature there.

"The property will not be open for the public to explore," said Randall Edwards, spokesman for the Nature Conservancy. "The land is protected, but it still belongs to the owner.

"This is an excellent opportunity for us to protect a fairly large expansive forest with a trout stream, forest and bats. It's a wonderful ecosystem in a metro area."

Thunderstruck Conservation is a 2,000-acre conservation project located in the Allegheny Highlands of West Virginia, according to information provided by the company.

The land use plan for Thunderstruck incorporates significant preservation of ecologically sensitive areas, restoration of endangered species habitat, implementation of sustainable timber practices and low-impact limited conservation development on a small portion of the property.