Department of Conservation and Recreation
Conserve. Protect. Enjoy.
Department of Conservation and Recreation
Governor Glenn Youngkin announced $15.5 million in Virginia Land Conservation Foundation funding to conserve 8,607 acres around the Commonwealth.
Amherst County
The Conservation Fund -
Conservation and Cultural Access in Amherst County | $287,500
Conservation easement to
protect 421.3 acres of hardwood forest in Amherst County located atop Bear and
Cedar mountains. The Conservation Fund is working with Virginia Outdoors
Foundation, property owner Sweet Briar College and the Monacan Indian Nation to
implement one of the first cultural access easements in the Commonwealth.
Category:
Forestland Preservation
Amherst County
Monacan Indian Nation –
Preserving Bear Mountain | $1.21 million
Acquisition of 339 acres in
Amherst County, the site of the original Bear Mountain Settlement in the 1880s
that forms the core of the Monacan Indian Nation community today. The property,
with hardwood forest, expands the tribal nation’s lands on Bear Mountain, the
home of the Monacan people for more than 10,000 years.
Category:
Forestland Preservation
Augusta County
Augusta County - Riverheads
School Complex, Adjacent Property | $285,475
Acquisition of 24.6 acres
adjacent to the Riverheads school complex for a park to be managed by Augusta
County or the Augusta County School Board. Plans include an agricultural and/or
outdoor classroom.
Category:
Open Spaces and Parks
Augusta County
Shenandoah Valley
Battlefields Foundation - Shiflett II Tract, Piedmont Battlefield | $508,275
Conservation easement, to be
held by the Virginia Board of Historic Resources, on 87.7 acres in the Piedmont
Battlefield in Augusta County. The property is actively farmed and contains
open space pastureland and forests along with ½-mile of frontage on the Middle
River. Public access will be allowed year-round.
Category:
Historic Area Preservation
Clarke County
Clarke County - Windfield
Farm | $200,000
Conservation easement to
protect 126.6 acres of farm and forestland at Windfield Farm, with 1/2-mile of
frontage along the Shenandoah River in Clarke County. Owned by the same family
for more than 44 years, the property contains 10 acres of wetlands and a Native
American archaeological site.
Category:
Farmland Preservation
Culpeper County
The American Battlefield Trust - Calloway Tract at Brandy
Station Battlefield | $879,000
Conservation easement, to be held by the Virginia Board of
Historic Resources, to protect 475.9 acres of Brandy Station Battlefield in
Culpeper County. The property, part of a working farm, features extensive
frontage on the Rappahannock River.
Categories:
Farmland Preservation, Historic Area Preservation
Culpeper County
American Battlefield Trust -
Brandy Rock Farm Tract at Brandy Station Battlefield | $636,405
Conservation easement, to be
held by the Virginia Board of Historic Resources, to protect the 225.8-acre
Brandy Rock Farm in Culpeper County. The agricultural property includes 122.3
acres in the study area of the Brandy Station Battlefield and includes forest,
wetlands, a pond and streams.
Category:
Farmland Preservation
Fauquier County
Virginia Outdoors Foundation
- Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve Addition, Highpoint Lane Parcel |
$411,000
Acquisition of 5.49 acres to
add to Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve in Fauquier County. The
expansion helps to protect critical habitat just below the fragile summit
ecosystem.
Category:
Natural Area Preservation
Grayson County
New River Soil and Water
Conservation District - Wilson Hollow, New River Trail Expansion | $550,900
Acquisition of 239 acres
of forestland, water
resources, and open grassland habitats in Grayson County. The New River
Soil and Water Conservation District will manage the site, providing new public
access for recreational boating, fishing and wildlife viewing, hiking and
nature-based photography.
Category:
Open Spaces and Parks
Halifax County
Virginia Department of
Conservation and Recreation - Difficult Creek Natural Area Preserve, Bournes
Addition | $120,000
Acquistion
of 23.5 acres adjacent to Difficult Creek Natural Area Preserve in Halifax
County. Located in one of the most significant essential conservation
sites in the state, the property supports dozens of natural resources including
habitat for four rare plants.
Category:
Natural Area Preservation
Henrico County
Richmond Battlefields
Association Inc. - Goodale I and Deane I Tract | $141,700
Conservation easement, to be
held by the Virginia Board of Historic Resources, on 14.1 acres in Henrico
County. The property, which includes 3.7 acres of active farmland and 10.2
acres of forestland, is in the core Deep Bottom II battlefield.
Category:
Historic Area Preservation
King and Queen County
Friends of Dragon Run -
Closing the Gap: Dragon Run Conservation and Wildlife Corridor | $475,000
Acquisition of 240.6 acres in
King and Queen County by the Friends of Dragon Run, in partnership with
Chesapeake Conservancy, with an easement held by Virginia Outdoors Foundation.
Forest, agricultural, cultural and scenic values in in a high-integrity, high-value
watershed will be protected.
Category:
Forestland Preservation
Mecklenburg County
Virginia Outdoors Foundation
- Parkland Farms | $751,753
Conservation easement to
protect Parkland Farms, a 950-acre Century Farm featuring streams and wetlands
in Mecklenburg County. The working farm, which produces tobacco, corn and beans
and maintains cattle pastureland, is adjacent to another 686-acre Virginia
Outdoors Foundation easement.
Category:
Farmland Preservation
Montgomery County
Virginia Department of
Conservation and Recreation - Eastern Divide South – Hagan Tract Addition,
supplemental funding | $1,074,781
Supplemental funding for
acquisition of 104 acres to be added to Eastern Divide Natural Area Preserve
in Montgomery County. The underlying karst landscape supports a portion of
Virginia's best population of one of the commonwealth’s most imperiled species.
The property also supports habitat for a significantly rare species confined to
Virginia and contains mature calcareous forests and approximately 1,100 feet of
tributaries to the North Fork Roanoke River.
Category:
Natural Area Preservation
Nelson County
Land Trust of Virginia – Avalon Land LLC | $121,750
Conservation easement protecting 81.3 acres of highly productive, prime
farmland in Nelson County, directly across the James River from James River
State Park. The property, which holds significant cultural and heritage value,
features 3,213 feet of river frontage that will be protected by 100-foot
forested buffers.
Category: Farmland
Preservation
Prince William County
American Battlefield Trust -
Hylton Tract at Bristoe Station | $1.1 million
Acquisition of 152.2 acres at
Bristoe Station Battlefield and a conservation easement to be held by the
Virginia Board of Historic Resources. The property, which will have public
access in the future, borders Bristow Road and the Norfolk Southern Railway and
includes 2,450 feet of streams, 10 acres of wetlands, two ponds and 28 acres of
forestland.
Category:
Historic Area Preservation
Saltville (Smyth and Washington counties)
Virginia Outdoors Foundation
- Henry W. Carneal | $281,150
Conservation easement to
protect 563 acres in Saltville. The property includes 350 acres of “outstanding”
forest conservation value, and the southern portion lies within the Saltville
Battlefield Historic District. The site supports habitat for multiple natural
heritage resources; a large portion falls within an ecological core ranked
“outstanding.”
Category:
Forestland Preservation
Scott County
Virginia
Department of Conservation and Recreation - Kane Gap Connectivity Project |
$464,000
Acquisition
of 250 acres to develop the final section of the Wilderness Road into a hiking
and biking trail in Southwest Virginia. The trail, known as The Great Warrior’s
Path by Native Americans who used it, would connect the Daniel Boone Wilderness
Trail Interpretive Center at Natural Tunnel State Park to Kane Gap.
Category:
Open Spaces and Parks
Shenandoah County
Shenandoah Valley
Battlefields Foundation - Pappas Tract at Fisher's Hill | $310,316
Conservation easement to
protect 110.5 acre containing earthworks constructed
during the Civil War, in Shenandoah County. The tract is in the Fisher’s Hill
Battlefield and includes portions in the Cedar Creek Battlefield Study Area.
The project will make it possible to provide public access to the property,
with parking and walking trails.
Category:
Historic Area Preservation
Southampton County
Virginia Outdoors Foundation
- Bryant Land Company | $225,000
Conservation easement to
protect Bryant Land Company, a 408-acre multi-generational family-owned farm in
Southampton County. The easement will ensure the family can continue to grow
soybeans, peanuts and cotton crops while protecting the old-growth cypress
wetlands on the property.
Categories:
Farmland Preservation, Forestland Preservation
Southampton County
Virginia Outdoors Foundation
- Darden Farms | $775,000
Conservation easement to
protect 1,052.7 acres at Darden Farms, a Century Farm, in Southampton County.
The property includes 630 acres of working forestland, 300 acres of farmland
and 8,000 feet of streams.
Category:
Forestland Preservation
Stafford County
Stafford County - Daniel and
Pamela Bell Farm | $111,400
Conservation easement, to be
held by Stafford County, to protect 20 acres of the Daniel and Pamela Bell farm
through the county’s purchase of development rights program. The property,
located along a rural public road, features prime farm soils, soils of
statewide importance and wetlands.
Category:
Farmland Preservation
Suffolk
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation - South Quay Sandhills Natural Area Preserve, Phase I Addition, supplemental funding | $1,482,454
Supplemental funding for acquisition of 846 acres of contiguous forest in the Albemarle-Pamlico watershed region. The property will be dedicated as part of Virginia’s natural area preserve system. DCR and The Nature Conservancy sought the additional grant in case an existing federal grant becomes unavailable.
Category: Natural Area Preservation
Surry County
Virginia Department of
Forestry - Threewitts Farm LLC | $450,000
Conservation easement, to be
held by Virginia Department of Forestry, on Threewitts
Farm, an active Century Farm of 672 acres adjacent to the Dendron Swamp Natural
Area Preserve in Surry County. The property includes 450 acres of forestland,
200 acres of farmland, 200 acres of wetlands and 11,000 feet of frontage on the
Blackwater River.
Category:
Forestland Preservation
Sussex County
Virginia Department of
Forestry - Hunting Quarter Farm | $450,000
Conservation easement to
protect Hunting Quarter Farm, a Century Forest in Sussex County located 1 mile
from Chub Hill Natural Area Preserve and the state scenic Nottaway River. The property,
owned and managed by the great-granddaughter of the original 1890 purchaser,
contains 268 acres of active farmland, 386 acres of managed forestland and 219
acres of wetlands.
Category:
Forestland Preservation
City of Virginia Beach - Gum
Swamp Warren Property | $1.2 million
Acquisition of 26 acres
partially within Gum Swamp, one of the headwaters of the Virginia Scenic North
Landing River and a mature Cypress-Tupelo swamp forest. The Southeastern
Greenway Trail, one of four citywide spines of Virginia Beach's linear park and
trail system, is planned for this location. The project will provide daily
public access to land- and water-based recreation, wildlife viewing, and
education and research opportunities.
Category:
Open Spaces and Parks
Westmoreland County
The Trust for Public Land -
Stratford Hall Historic Preserve | $665,500
Conservation easement to
protect 475 acres of the Stratford Hall Historic Preserve located along cliffs
high above the Potomac River in Westmoreland County. The Trust for Public Land
is working with the Virginia Outdoors Foundation and the U.S. Navy for the
project, which would expand a contiguous block of 7,200 acres of public and
privately conserved lands along 8 miles of the tidal river.
Category:
Open Spaces and Parks
Wythe County
The Archaeological
Conservancy - Preservation of the Martin Indigenous Archaeological Site |
$292,250
Acquisition of 16.3 acres of
farmland along the New River in Wythe County, which is listed on the Virginia
Landmarks Register and National Register of Historic Places. The site contains
an indigenous village and cemetery dating as far back as the Archaic Period
(2,000 B.C.E.) The Archaeological Conservancy is working with DHR, tribal
partners and The Conservation Fund to protect this resource for archaeological
research and access by members of descendent tribal communities.
Category:
Historic Area Preservation
