Dunkard Fork Wildlife Management Area is located on 470 acres (190.2 ha) in Marshall County

Marshall County, West Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 35,519 people, 14,207 households, and 10,101 families residing in the county. The population density was 116 people per square mile . There were 15,814 housing units at an average density of 52 per square mile...

 near Moundsville

Moundsville, West Virginia

Moundsville is a city in Marshall County, West Virginia, along the Ohio River. It is part of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 9,998 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Marshall County. The city was named for the Grave Creek Mound. Moundsville was settled in...

, West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

. Mixed hardwoods cover most of the former strip mine

Surface mining

Surface mining , is a type of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit are removed...

 site, whose major focus is a flood control lake on Dunkard Fork Wheeling Creek

Wheeling Creek (West Virginia)

Wheeling Creek is a tributary of the Ohio River, 25 miles long, in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia in the United States, with a watershed extending into southwestern Pennsylvania. Via the Ohio River, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of...

. The rolling terrain is punctuated with a few highwalls and pond

Pond

A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens, water features and koi ponds; all designed for aesthetic ornamentation as landscape or architectural...

s. Dunkard Fork WMA is located in northeast Marshall County along the Pennsylvania line on County Route 15.

Hunting and Fishing

Hunting opportunities are limited by the small size of the area. Available hunting can include deer, grouse

Ruffed Grouse

The Ruffed Grouse is a medium-sized grouse occurring in forests from the Appalachian Mountains across Canada to Alaska. It is non-migratory.The Ruffed Grouse is frequently referred to as a "partridge"...

, squirrel

Squirrel

Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...

, turkey

Wild Turkey

The Wild Turkey is native to North America and is the heaviest member of the Galliformes. It is the same species as the domestic turkey, which derives from the South Mexican subspecies of wild turkey .Adult wild turkeys have long reddish-yellow to grayish-green...

 and waterfowl

Waterfowl

Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans....

. Fishing opportunities in the 49 acres (19.8 ha) Dunkard Fork Lake include tiger musky, black bass

Black bass

Micropterus , is a genus of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. The type species is M. dolomieu, the smallmouth bass...

, hybrid striped bass

Hybrid striped bass

A hybrid striped bass, also known as a wiper or whiterock bass, is a hybrid between the striped bass and the white bass . It can be distinguished from the striped bass by broken rather than solid horizontal stripes on the body...

, bluegill

Bluegill

The Bluegill is a species of freshwater fish sometimes referred to as bream, brim, or copper nose. It is a member of the sunfish family Centrarchidae of the order Perciformes.-Range and distribution:...

 and channel catfish

Channel catfish

Channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States they are the most fished catfish species with approximately 8...

, as well as stocked trout

Rainbow trout

The rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....

. A small portion of the lake headwaters extend into Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

.

Camping is prohibited on the Dunkard Fork WMA land. Only electric motors may be used on boats.

See also

• Animal conservation
• Fishing
  Fishing
  Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
  
  
• Hunting
  Hunting
  Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
  
  
• List of West Virginia wildlife management areas

External links

• West Virginia DNR District 1 Wildlife Management Areas
• West Virginia Hunting Regulations
• West Virginia Fishing Regulations