The Piedmont View A MEMBERSHIP NEWSLETTER OF THE PIEDMONT ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL SPRING 2017 CONSERVATION EDITION Your Voice Made the Difference Land conserved PAGE 2 in 2016 N se o E Skyland o Apple Estates G R Mountain Front Lake for Conservation ÿ R } Royal 55 ¨¦§66 Bull Mou Esta ÿ Marshall } By Dan Holmes 55 The Plains ÿ Chester } Gap 245 £522 ¤ R a pp ah a ¤£17 he 2017 session of the Virginia program has worked because nno ck Jordan R R Flint iv e i General Assembly has come to a v it ofers a meaningful incentive Hill r e r F ¤£29 A U ¤£15 New Baltimore Q U close. The bills and budget are now for landowners to voluntarily Warrenton I E R Washington ¤£211 with the Governor’s ofce, and donate land or conservation ¤£211 ¤£522 K O C N ¤£29 awaiting his review. easements. These protected N ¤£17 Thornt on A ¤£15 H Rive A r Cal Before the session began, there was a lands play a signifcant role in ÿ P } Opal T 229 ÿ H l r R } az e ive 28 R a Midland p massive budget shortfall to the tune of $1.5 meeting numerous federal, p Bealeton a h a ¤£522 n n billion. Given the budget defcit, we knew the state and local policies. C o ck U Remington R i v e majority of our eforts would be focused on The bill was introduced as L r P defending essential conservation programs. seeking modest cuts, as a way And because of your support and action, to “protect the program.” But Solar Campaign we consider this session to be a tremendous the legislation, when combined success. with prior cuts over the last PAGE 3 Begins It has been a pleasure to represent PEC 5 years, would have brought and you at the General Assembly. Here is a the program down by over 55 rundown of what occurred this year with the percent. This was considered legislative and budgets. acceptable by some, as some members in the House were discussing capping the pro- Virginia General Assembly in Richmond. Photo by Emily Onufer Legislation gram at $25 million or zeroing it out entirely. In good faith, three years ago, successful programs in the nation. And there is HB1470 - Land Preservation Tax Credit we worked with the General Assembly to avoid no doubt that your calls and emails in support We were very pleased this bill was tabled the very cut that was proposed this year. That of land conservation had a huge impact on the in subcommittee, efectively killing the bill. agreement resulted in a cap of $75 million. We outcome of this bill. This bill would have cut the Land Preservation viewed this year’s legislation as a retraction of HB2196/ SB1282 - Telecom Wireless Bills Tax Credit — the single most efective tool the previous deal, forcing us to take a strong Virginia has to protect farm and forest land, stance to protect the program in its current HB2196 died on the house foor, and SB1282 passed with an improved substitute. clean air and water, historic and scenic land- state. As originally drafted, the legislation was an scapes, and important natural communities and PEC and conservation partners joined attempt to remove local zoning authority and PEC’s Favorite ecosystems. with Virginia Farm Bureau to rally around a LPTC was established in 1999, and the central message of protecting one of the most Continued on page 5 PAGE 4 Hikes Matchmaker, Matchmaker… FARMERS SEEKING LANDOWNERS By Paula Combs f you can connect and have a good relationship, farmer to landowner, this can be an amazing, beautiful and productive thing. It really can work,” says Katharine “I Wilson, manager of the new Berrey Hill Farm in Madison County. We held a “Farmland Leasing Social Hour” last year where Katharine, a farming intern at the time, met land- Support PEC owners, Holly and Peter Maillet. “We saw a gap between aspiring farmers and Make a donation landowners who want their land in agriculture,” says Jess or get in touch with PEC at: Palmer, farm and food program coordinator for PEC. “So Post Ofce Box 460 one of the things we decided to do was host a social Warrenton, VA 20188 540.347.2334 happy-hour-style event, where landowners and land [email protected] seekers can mingle and talk about their property or their or make a secure online donation business ideas—it’s an opportunity for connections to be at www.pecva.org made.” When speaking with Katharine and Holly, it’s imme- Thank you for helping diately apparent the right people have come together to to protect the Piedmont! form a partnership. They both seem equally as passion- ate about protecting the health and ecology of the land and building community through healthy food. “When my husband and I bought our farm, we were Farmers and landowners meet at the “Farmland Leasing Social Hour” in Albemarle County in 2016. Photo by Jess Palmer Continued on page 5 www.pecva.org The Piedmont View More Land Conserved in 2016 Protecting more wetlands, farmland and forests k e k B M Sandy Hook Buckeystown e ")29 e E i Rosemont Cr e R l l ")230 Harpers Ferry ll c r Cr ")454 ¤£15 Urbana ")355 i C K e r M a E ek e ¤£522 k Brunswick ¤£50 L v c E i By Paula Combs m E Y Ranson Adamstown a W R o ")51 ¤£340 F K t B R C Lake E y I o R E D E c R §¨¦270 Middleway a P Holiday I S Point of c h Lovettsville Rocks a A T 85 n e always enjoy reportingc the yearly signifcant natural communities, and it has the K Charles M ") o n H Town a I 81 J V M ¨¦§ ")9 k r S I e A B E R e totals for land conservation.h Our potential for rareN plants,” says Kim Biasiolli, forestC r ÿ t P } G C u r 259 F £ R o I I ¤15 e ¤£50 109 ÿ M } S N ") v I F n i I i staf pulled the data for our nine- conservation specialist at Virginia Department of 287 A A t Y G R c ÿ E } n ¤£11 o Barnesville H o R R Shannondale 9 at L county service region in 2016, and Forestry,R and whop oversees the easement. k C a Winchester e Y c ¤£340 S I a e 28 R r ") C O Mechanicsville A r Shawneeland E117 e E C ") a combined total of 7,595 acres were protected v Another conservation success from 2016 N ÿ W i } V M ÿ R } N n 7 9 O ")29 h o ÿ t D C } P r u G in Albemarle, Clarke, Culpeper, Fauquier, Greene, includes farmland with ties to the Civil War. o o 287 q D e T T N t L o E p Round ÿ } m N O ÿ Loudoun, Madison, Orange and RappahannockS Howard and Jane Grove conserved 181 acres } Hill 7 107 ÿ A } O ") ¤£50 Berryville 7 Purcellville Hamilton a Poolesville ")28 E R 7 c M Counties, in 2016. This brings the total acreage of of their beef cattle farm in Morrisville, Virginia ¤£17 R R iv F K e £522 r W Stephens ¤ ¤£340 er Leesburg ÿ Y } Boyce v E i N ÿ land under conservation easement in the region through the Fauquier Countye kPurchase of } Lansdowne ÿ 55 d r e City R } Ce ar C 255 h o a 7 r Darnestown o t ¤£15 k h University to 394,963 acres. ")55 Development Rights program, which purchases d e n e Center D F Belmont ¤£340 a r Countryside Lowes n L O U o C e rkD O Island “One of the lessons I’ve learned over easements to conserve working farms and ¤£50 h Cascades U n S d e ¤£17 er am N u v Cree k os Ashburn Sugarland R a o R Dulles Run e G Town Great the years is that landowners choosing to r farmland in the county. B UV267 d ÿ e a Center } Falls ÿ v o } i 7 Broadlands Br A R 28 Sterling permanently conserve their land, generallyt “I used the funds to buy more farmland, Moorefield s H ¤£50 Dranesville ÿ o ¤£340 Station } L Strasburg ")29 Brambleton Loudoun 228 A ¨¦§66 ¤£522 Shenandoah do so out of a sense of optimism about the more family farmland, to start piecing it back k Valley H Farms e Estates re Middleburg Herndon ÿ } C N ¤£17 e O s 267 future. They believe in the intrinsic value of together,” says Mr. Gove. 55 o Arcola UV E Skyland o Washington - DullesMcNair D Mauertown ¤£11 G International Airport Reston Apple Estates Stone ÿ the Piedmont’s farms and forest, history and The property was once known as R Mountain ¤£50 } Floris Ridge 28 h Lake ")29 N a Front ¤£15 X ÿ ")59 R } South Franklin o Royal B 81 d 55 u Riding Farm beauty, and want to protect those resources for Belvaderia Farm,¨¦§ dating nback to pre-Civil ¨¦§66 P l A a l A n A R Chantilly e Bull Run un h Mountain F Oakton future generations,” says Mike Kane, director War times,Woodstock and an archaeologicalS site has Estates ¤£50 N k W R Fair Oaks r R ÿ o } Greenbriar ÿ F G Marshall 55 } I S h o Fair Lakes of conservation at PEC.