The Clinch Ranger District Cluster is a region in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests recognized by The Wilderness Society for its rich biodiversity and rugged scenery.

[5] The horizontal layering of the Plateau, seen in road cuts and rocky cliffs in river gorges, contrasts with the tilted up thrusts in the Ridge and Valley province on the east.

A natural landscape contains a blend of ecosystems—mountain slopes, moist areas, soil types, temperatures—over which species can roam in their search for mates, foraging for food, and the avoidance of predators and other stress-inducing hazards.

Predators of birds, such as raccoons, snakes, skunks, house cats and egg-eating crows and blue jays, are often found at forest edges.

To protect the headwaters of the Tennessee Valley drainage from flooding caused by timbering and the stripping of whole mountains by mining, the US Forest Service purchased the Clinch Range District in 1936.