Hundreds more Rappahannock acres protected for future generations

‘Land conservation preserves the spectacular views, the character, and quality of life of this region’

Conservation easements in 2019 effectively protected an additional 508 Rappahannock County acres, bringing the total land in the county now preserved for future generations to an impressive 33,352 acres.

That update this week from the Warrenton-based Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC), which pinpoints 2019’s newly protected properties as being south of Sperrville, north of Flint Hill, in the town of Washington, and along the eastern border with Culpeper County.

Specifically for Rappahannock County, conservation easements in 2019 will protect approximately:

➜ 3.2 miles of streams

➜ 7.8 acres of wetlands

➜ 207.9 acres adjacent to scenic rivers

➜ 255.4 acres of prime farmland soils

➜ 318.1 acres of forests

➜ 46.7 acres along scenic byways

➜ 201.1 acres in the viewshed of the Appalachian Trail

➜ 1.5 acres in historic districts.

A conservation easement is a voluntary agreement between a landowner and a public agency or a nonprofit conservation group, such as the PEC. By limiting development on the land, easements provide various financial benefits to landowners while also protecting the natural, scenic and cultural resources of the land for the benefit of the public.

The 421,370 acres conserved in the northern Piedmont area is more than twice the size of Shenandoah National Park.

All told, according to the PEC, 12,430 acres of land in Albemarle, Clarke, Culpeper, Fauquier, Greene, Loudoun, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock counties were placed in conservation easements in 2019, bringing the total protected land in the council’s nine-county region to 421,370 acres.

This accounts for nearly 20 percent of the entire land area in the nine counties.

“It was a big year for conservation in the PEC region,” reacts Piedmont Environmental Council President Chris Miller. “The 12,430 acres conserved in 2019 represents the most land conserved in a year since 2009. We commend these landowners for their vision and courage in conserving not just the land, but also all that its preservation offers the people, communities, local economies, wildlife and wellbeing of the northern Piedmont.

“When we protect public and private lands from urban and suburban sprawl, we prevent impervious

surfaces that are one of the main sources of pollution in our drinking water supplies, streams, rivers and bays. When we preserve undeveloped land, we preserve its natural flood control capacity and allow groundwater to recharge. When we protect working farmland, we invest in our food supply. When we maintain open spaces in forest and pasture that absorb carbon from our atmosphere, we play our part in addressing climate change issues.

“And for those millions of visitors to the Shenandoah National Park, the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, Monticello, Montpelier, and other historic landscapes in the northern Piedmont, land conservation preserves the spectacular views, the character, and quality of life of this region,” Miller said.

A catalyst for land protection in 2019 was a $500,000 grant from The Volgenau Foundation to accelerate the pace of farmland conservation in the Upper Rappahannock River watershed. Through enhanced outreach and education by The Piedmont Environmental Council to landowners in the watershed, dozens of landowners have expressed interest in ensuring the longterm protection of their land through permanent conservation. The Volgenau Foundation grant set the stage for the protection of 2,079 acres in the PEC region in 2019.

In partnership with the PEC, the National Trust for Historic Preservation this past year permanently protected 1,024 acres of historically-significant land at James Madison’s Montpelier, adding to its previously conserved 915 acres in Orange County. The permanent conservation easement provides additional protections to Montpelier’s beautiful landscapes, as well as agricultural and forest areas, scenic open space and wildlife habitat on the property, which all serve as a living classroom for the visiting public.

“The amount of conservation in the northern Piedmont demonstrates the tremendous appreciation landowners hold for the character and quality of this region. In many ways, their commitment to long-term land protection makes this a very special place for every one of us,” said Mike Kane, Piedmont Environmental Council’s director of land conservation.

In Albemarle County, the James C. Justice family donated to the Albemarle Conservation Easement Authority an easement protecting 4,500 acres near Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. It is the largest conservation easement in Albemarle County history. By limiting development on the entire property and preserving its current forestal and agricultural activities, the easement donation limits future threats to public drinking water supplies and preserves the spectacular scenic views enjoyed by visitors to Monticello and residents of the region.

“In our region and throughout the Commonwealth, we are fortunate to have a history of state and local leaders who understand the critical value of open space and have implemented incentives and programs that assist landowners with the cost of donating conservation easements. The Piedmont Environmental Council is here and happy to educate and guide landowners through the process,” Kane said.