By Emi EndoPosted January 17, 2023
While protecting large swaths of habitat for Virginia’s rare species is important, conserving even tiny parcels can have a mighty impact.
The Department of Conservation and Recreation acquires public land for Virginia State Parks as well as the state’s natural area preserve system. Recent acquisitions for both divisions by the agency’s real property office show how every acre can make a difference.
Virginia State Parks
In December, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, through a partnership with The Conservation Fund, acquired a parcel just shy of 1 acre that will help provide opportunities for future public hiking access to Clinch River State Park.
As Virginia’s first blueway state park, or recreational water trail system, Clinch River is made up of anchor properties connected by multiple canoe and kayak access points along the scenic river.
The steep mountains and few public roads that lend the rugged area its character also limit options where public amenities can be developed.
But the location of this site, along Riverview Terrace Drive in Cleveland, makes it an ideal access point for future expansion of the park, said Clinch River State Park Manager Scott Bowen.
The Conservation Fund served a critical role by stepping in as an intermediary buyer.
“The Conservation Fund values our partnership with DCR, and were thrilled to be part of the solution to providing a future access point to Clinch River State Park in Cleveland,” said Heather Richards, The Conservation Fund’s Mid-Atlantic regional director. “By being able to act quickly, we were able to secure the property, and allow the state to complete their due diligence in a process that benefitted both the original seller and the park.”
Further west on the river, park visitors will also be able to enjoy a public boating access point because of a partnership between DCR and The Nature Conservancy.
In 2017, The Nature Conservancy bought a 1.1-acre parcel along the river near Castlewood, just east of St. Paul, with the intention of transferring it to DCR for the planned Clinch River State Park. However, the organization had to resolve several title issues before the transfer could be completed in December.
The Nature Conservancy has also removed a dilapidated structure and built a boat launch, driveway and parking area to state park standards.
This access point, the second one acquired and developed by The Nature Conservancy, provides a fairly flat and easy float to St. Paul, Bowen said, and has already become quite popular.
Now that it is under state ownership, Bowen said Virginia State Parks will move forward this year with adding portable toilet facilities, park signage, improving picnic facilities and fencing.
“Without these partners, some of these access points and launches would not be possible,” Bowen said.
Virginia’s Natural Area Preserve system
DCR also recently acquired a privately owned 1.4-acre tract completely surrounded by more than 800 acres of the Difficult Creek Natural Area Preserve in Halifax County.
The preserve, which provides 2 miles of hiking along access roads and fire control lines for the public, boasts significant natural resources including the highest diversity of wildflowers known in the Virginia Piedmont.
A key tool for managing the preserve is the regular use of prescribed fire, or controlled burns. But having a remaining occupied residence in the middle of the preserve presented a challenge for burning the surrounding 250 acres.
Rick Myers, the natural areas stewardship manager for Virginia’s Natural Heritage Program, said the agency seeks acquisitions that improve chances for successful long-term management of lands within the state natural area preserve system. Under state law, DCR is charged with protecting and managing these areas and their natural resources “in perpetuity.”
In addition to prescribed fire, he said, other management actions such as applying herbicides to control invasive plants or conducting managed hunts to reduce overabundant deer populations may not be compatible when in close proximity to privately owned lands within the preserve boundary.
Another example of a small but significant acquisition was for two corner lots totaling 1.3 acres adjacent to Crow’s Nest Natural Area Preserve in Stafford County. These lots, acquired in September 2022, are located near an existing entrance road and now provide options for locating additional visitor parking space and expanding the preserve’s trail network.
The Difficult Creek and Crow’s Nest acquisitions received grants from the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation.
Categories
Conservation | Land Conservation | Natural Heritage | Nature | State Parks