The Virginia Outdoors Foundation permanently protected 26,375 acres of open space through 127 conservation easements in 2012 — a rate of more than three acres every hour. “I applaud the efforts of the Virginia Outdoor Foundation and VOF Board Chairman, Charles Seilheimer,” said Governor Bob McDonnell. “VOF is a key player in working to conserve…
Margaret Virginia Smith was just 19 years old when her father passed away in 1944, leaving her with the family farm and instructions to “provide for your mother for her natural life.” By that time, the Pulaski County farm had already been reduced from 300-plus acres to little more than 100. Smith’s father, J. Logan…
Originally released through the Office of the Governor Governor Bob McDonnell announced today that one of the largest waterfront farms along the lower tidal Rappahannock River has been permanently protected from development by a conservation easement produced through a partnership of the landowner, Minnie K. Burch, the Virginia Outdoors Foundation (VOF) and the U.S. Department…
Little has changed about the Blue Ridge Parkway since Craig Colberg first visited it in the 1950s. “My parents drove me on Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway when I was just probably 10 years old, and I’ve never forgotten it,” he says. “The beauty of the overlooks, the stonework, how well the road…
A new report from the Washington, D.C.-based Land Trust Alliance reveals that land trusts in Virginia conserved more land between 2005 and 2010 than any other state in the Southeast. The 2010 National Land Trust Census includes statistics from private nonprofit land trusts, as well as the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, a public land trust created…
From Pete Henderson, Northampton County PDR Committee chair Northampton County protected a second working farm last week through its Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) Program, with the acquisition of a conservation easement on Nottingham Farm near Franktown. Cousins Butch and Add Nottingham of Nassawadox agreed to permanently restrict land use on their 172-acre property in…
A century-old family farm in southern Pittsylvania County has become home to the 600,000th acre protected by the Virginia Outdoors Foundation (VOF), Virginia’s largest land conservation organization, VOF Executive Director Bob Lee announced today. Hill View Farm’s owners, Bob and Billie Pollok, finalized the donation of a 252-acre conservation easement on the property to VOF…
By Barbara Bowen, NRCS “When milk prices tanked, nobody saw it coming. Instead of using the money to better the farm, we are now using it to buy the farm.” That simple statement from Rockbridge County dairy owner Linda Leech summarizes the positive impact conservation easements can have on farm families. Offered through a partnership…
Over the centuries, Wildwood Park in downtown Radford has been a Native American burial ground, a saltpeter mine, the site of a Civil War battle, and the city’s first park. Today, it contains a city greenway for recreation and nature study, with biking and hiking trails, marshes, meadows, limestone cliffs, and numerous rare species. Now,…
One of the most popular places for bird-watching in Botetourt County has been permanently protected from development, thanks to a conservation easement donated by the property’s owner to the Virginia Outdoors Foundation. The 106-acre tract, owned by Barry Kinzie, is located along Stoney Battery Road just outside Troutville. The land has been in his family…