Zoar State Forest is a
state forest
A state forest or national forest is a forest that is administered or protected by a sovereign state, sovereign or federated state, or territory (country subdivision), territory.
Background
State forests are forests that are Administration (gov ...
located in
King William County, Virginia
King William County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,810. Its county seat is King William. King William County is located in the Middle Peninsula and is included in the Greate ...
, near the town of
Aylett. It is used to grow timber and agricultural crops, maintain habitat for various species of wildlife, and to provide educational and recreational opportunities. All state forests are managed by the VDOF for multiple-use purposes, including watershed protection, recreation, timber production, fishing, and applied forest research. The state forests are self-supporting (no taxes are used to operate the system). In addition, one-fourth of all income is returned to King William County. Income is received from the sale of forest products.
The property was originally part of a large estate belonging to
William Aylett, and was purchased in 1782 by one Robert Pollard. He built a
frame house
Framing, in construction, is the fitting together of pieces to give a structure, particularly a building, support and shape. Framing materials are usually wood, engineered wood, or structural steel. The alternative to framed construction is ...
on the land, calling it Mount Zoar. It was partially destroyed by an 1851 fire, and rebuilt using brick by Pollard's son. Another fire between 1884 and 1885 destroyed the structure, as well as its contents. The present house was built in 1890; today it is on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
as
Zoar. The forest was donated to the
Virginia Department of Forestry
The Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) was established in 1914 to prevent and suppress forest fires and reforest bare lands. Since its inception, the agency has grown and evolved to encompass other protection and management duties:
*Protecti ...
in 1987. Today, the house and its outbuildings support field offices for area foresters helping landowners in both King William and
King and Queen counties.
See also
*
List of Virginia state forests
The Virginia state forest system includes 26 state-managed forests covering a total of . They are managed by the Virginia Department of Forestry.
The system was created to manage and maintain forests for wildlife, timber production, recreatio ...
*
List of Virginia state parks
This is a list of state parks and reserves in the Virginia state park system.
Virginia opened its entire state park system on 15 June 1936 as a six-park system. The six original state parks were Seashore State Park (now First Landing State Par ...
References
External links
Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources: Zoar State Forest
Virginia state forests
Protected areas of King William County, Virginia
Protected areas established in 1987
1987 establishments in Virginia
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