| Savage Neck Dunes Natural Area Preserve | |
|---|---|
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape) | |
 | |
  Location within Virginia | |
| Location | Northampton County, Virginia |
| Coordinates | 37°19′34″N 76°0′42″W / 37.32611°N 76.01167°W[1] |
| Area | 298 acres (121 ha) |
| Governing body | Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation |
Savage Neck Dunes Natural Area Preserve is a 298-acre (121 ha) Natural Area Preserve located in Northampton County, Virginia on the Chesapeake Bay.[2] Fifty-foot-tall (15 m) dunes within the preserve are among the highest points on Virginia's Eastern Shore. The preserve contains beach, dune, and maritime forest natural communities of various sorts, as well as habitat for migratory songbirds and northeastern beach tiger beetles. Regionally rare plants at the preserve include Engelmann's umbrella-sedge (Cyperus engelmannii), dwarf burhead (Echinodorus tenellus), and southern bladderwort (Utricularia juncea).[3]
The plot of land was named after Thomas Savage, a teenaged boy who arrived in Virginia in 1608 and lived with natives as a liaison. Debedeavon of the Accomac people gifted Savage 9,000 acres (14 sq mi) of land on the eastern shore.[4]
The preserve is owned and maintained by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, and is open to the public. Improvements at the site include three trails that have been marked off for hiking, and there is a small public parking area near the entrance.[2]
- ^ "Savage Neck Dunes". ProtectedPlanet. United Nations Environment Programme's World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
- ^ a b "Savage Neck Dunes Natural Area Preserve". Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
- ^ "Savage Neck Dunes Natural Area Preserve Fact Sheet" (PDF). Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
- ^ "Thomas Savage (c. 1592-1633) Jamestown and Accomack County". Jamestowne Society.