While Scouts from the Order of the Arrow were blazing through construction on mountain biking and hiking trails in the New River Gorge for the community and visitors to use, they were also discovering a little something about the environment they were working to develop.

On Monday morning of week 3, SummitCorps workers aided the National Park Service (NPS) in moving a rare wild orchid, a lesser yellow lady’s slipper, away from where the trail would run to help keep the flower safe. Above are photos capturing how the rare orchid was moved.

How It Was Done

• First, John Perez, the National Park Service’s biologist, roped off the orchid and guided the SummitCorps workers with directions on how to correctly move it away from the trails.

• Next, a safe spot a few yards up hill was selected where the Scouts dug a hole deep enough for the orchid and it’s roots to be replanted.
• The orchid was then moved by digging a large area around the plant, called a root ball.
• Scouts carefully lifted the orchid from the bottom, using tools.
• After being transported uphill, it was placed and packed into the ground in its new location.
• Finally, a flag was placed next to the moved orchid to warn workers in the area of its whereabouts and to make sure it stays safe.

Did You Know?

The New River Gorge National River is one of the most unique and diverse parks in terms of its flora.

“The New River Gorge has one of the top 10 most diverse flora in the national parks system. There are more rare plants here than Yellowstone National Park, for instance,” says Perez, who has been at the park for 13 years. “To capture all of the plants, we have to survey in the spring and in the late summer. We caught this one with a spring survey.”

What is the rarest plant or animal you’ve seen in the wild?