Editing Monroe County, West Virginia (section)

==Natural landmarks==
One of Monroe County's geological features is [[Haynes Cave]], a former [[Potassium nitrate|saltpeter]] mine.<ref>[Steelhammer, Rick (2008), [http://www.gazette-mail.com/comments?build=yes&ContID=200809180846  "W.Va.'s 'Official' Sloth Fossil on Display near Cheat Lake"], ''[[Charleston Gazette]]'', Thursday, September 19, 2008. {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130111000735/http://www.gazette-mail.com/comments?build=yes&ContID=200809180846 |date=January 11, 2013 }}</ref> Workers in the mine found strange bones in the cave at the end of the 18th Century, and mailed them to [[Thomas Jefferson]]. Jefferson's study of the animal, the [[Megalonyx jeffersonii]] was arguably the birth of American [[paleontology]]. It is now the official [[West Virginia]] state [[fossil]].

However, other saltpeter caves are in private ownership, and allow only limited public access due to ecological risks. One such is the Greenville Saltpeter Cave, designated a national natural landmark in 1973, and very important during the [[War of 1812]].<ref>[http://www.nature.nps.gov/nnl/site.cfm?Site=GRSA-WV National Park Service, Site GRSA-WV]</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hajenga|first=Jeff|date=Winter 2005|title=The Twilight Zone|url=http://www.wvdnr.gov/wildlife/magazine/archive/05Winter/twilightzone.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.wvdnr.gov/wildlife/magazine/archive/05Winter/twilightzone.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live|journal=West Virginia Wildlife|pages=8–10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rkci.org/library/gsp/92rcbook.htm|title=Great Saltpetre Cave History|website=www.rkci.org|access-date=March 28, 2018}}</ref>