White House Farm Foundation, Page County

In 1760, about 30 years before construction began on the White House in the District of Columbia, a Mennonite settler named Martin Kauffman II built his own little White House in Page County, Virginia.

Kauffman constructed the building as a residence and Mennonite meeting house, locating it at the foot of the Massanutten Mountains, along the South Fork of the Shenandoah River, within the original 5,000-acre land grant that became the first European settlement west of the Blue Ridge in Virginia. The settlement was called Massanutten, which locals say is an American Indian word for “Great Mountain Yonder.”

Other buildings were added to the farm over generations, but the little White House — and the now remaining 270 acres of fertile farmland surrounding it — are today intact.

In 2005, Scott Plein and his family purchased the farm. Recognizing the rich natural resources on the farm — karst ponds, limestone outcroppings, USDA-designated Prime Farmland soils, and high bluffs along almost a mile of the South Fork of the Shenandoah River — he donated a permanent conservation easement to the Virginia Outdoors Foundation.

Plein’s desire was to restore the White House and use it to tell the story of the early history in the Valley. He also wanted to build the farm as a model of sustainable land use. So, he formed an environmental education and research center on the property, named it the White House Farm Foundation, and hired Chris Anderson of Luray as its executive director.

Since then, the Foundation has engaged numerous partners on projects that blend sustainable land use with environmental protection. It has enrolled in the Smithsonian’s Working Landscapes project, which helps farmers enhance biodiversity on working lands. It has worked with the Virginia Department of Forestry to conduct controlled burns in riparian areas. It maintains a fruit orchard and garden dedicated to heirloom varieties. It has also allowed local high school students to install wildflower demonstration sites along the river, practice mapping and natural resource inventorying skills, and use one of the farm ponds as a special study area, planting a variety of shrubs to help protect water quality and stabilize the soil.

Most recently, the Foundation has formed a partnership with the Virginia Tech Conservation Management Institute (VTCMI) to study native warm season grasses. The VTCMI will utilize the Foundation’s warm season grass habitat restoration site as a comparison to a nearby warm season grasses biofuel planting at the Merck, Sharpe, and Dohme Stonewall Plant in Elkton. Virginia Tech students and VTCMI staff will monitor both sites to compare avian abundance and diversity between the two types of plantings.

According to Anderson, the foundation uses the data it collects from all of these projects to determine whether they are benefiting biodiversity. “We use the farm as an outdoor laboratory,” she says. “Each project builds on the last.”

Manage your mowing to benefit wildlife

Property owners mow their fields for different reasons. Some do it simply for aesthetics. Farmers often mow to keep trees from taking over fields that may one day be used for crops. Others mow to prevent invasive weeds such as autumn olive from spreading through pastures. Whatever the reason, mowing can have both positive and negative effects on wildlife. By mimicking the natural successional growth that happens after wildfires, you can create habitat that is ideal for many birds and other animals. But if you mow too often or at the wrong time, you can end up hurting these species more than helping them.

We asked Marc Puckett, a certified wildlife biologist with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, for advice on mowing. Here are some basic considerations.

Is Mowing Necessary?

Think about why you are mowing and whether it’s needed every year, or even at all. If you are trying to keep your fields clear of trees, then mowing on a two- or three-year rotation may be all that’s needed. It varies based on where in the state you live, as things grow faster in the coastal plain than they do in the mountains.

If you need to mow more regularly but still want to promote good wildlife habitat on your property, learn to differentiate between good wildlife shrubs, thicket-forming cover, and beneficial trees, and other things that you do not want. Leave the good and cut or spot spray the bad. Good things for wildlife include plum, sumac, blackberry, persimmon, greenbrier, grape, blueberry, azalea, dogwood, slower growing oaks, and hickory. Bad things, at least in terms of being invasive and quickly taking over fields, are sweetgum, red maple, poplar, Tree of Heaven, and locust. It takes time to become good at selective management, but most folks can at least learn to identify several good plants to avoid mowing or spraying.

Finally, if you are mowing simply to have your land be more accessible, consider mowing paths rather than whole fields. Not only will you still be able to walk around and enjoy your land, but you’ll also be able to appreciate all of the cover and wildlife that you spared.

Explore Alternatives

If you can find other ways to keep your fields clear, such as controlled burning (only in safe, well-planned situations) or disking (only where erosion is not a concern), then do that instead. These management practices should also be done in rotation, working half or a third of the land each year, usually during late winter or early spring. You can even use spot herbicide treatments to control encroaching trees and further lengthen the time between mowings. Properly applied, non-persistent herbicides can help, not hurt, wildlife.

Timing Mowing

No mowing should occur between early April and early September if possible, as many birds are nesting during this time. Quail will nest well into early fall, for example. Many folks like to bush-hog during fall, as it somehow makes sense to them to “clean” things up before winter. Or, others will say they like to bush-hog during summer before the weeds set their seeds, thinking they are preventing weedy growth. Again, landowners need to understand the value of so-called weeds for wildlife. Unless they are really farming and concerned about weeds, weeds are great.

Ideally, mowing is best done during early to late March because cover quickly regrows during spring. Within two to four weeks, lots of new herbaceous growth will come back and provide nesting and brood-rearing areas for a variety of birds and other animals. When you mow in late fall, the area is essentially barren of cover all winter long, when escape cover is sorely needed. So, ideally, you would mow on a 1/2 to 1/3 annual rotation during March.

Mow from the Inside Out

Many people instinctively start mowing the perimeter of their fields and work their way in. This can often send wildlife into the centering of the field, where they will ultimately be killed. To prevent this, start mowing in the middle of the field and work your way out. That gives wildlife a chance to seek refuge in surrounding unmowed fields or tree stands. But remember that this will still destroy any nests or young that can’t escape, so it’s still important to avoid mowing during the nesting season.

Avoid Mowing to the Water’s Edge

Landowners with streams or rivers running through or adjacent to fields should leave an unmowed buffer strip as much as possible. The vegetation helps to filter pollution from runoff and prevent erosion. It also helps to mitigate flooding.

Additional Resources

Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Habitat Partners Program

Virginia Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program

Who built the stone house on Bull Run Mountains?

The 2,350-acre Bull Run Mountain Natural Area Preserve in Fauquier and Prince William counties is well known as a treasure trove of recreational and natural resources located just 35 miles west of Washington, D.C. Less known to the public, but just as valuable, are the historic structures on the property. One of these structures is an old stone house of unknown origin. Recently, the Virginia Outdoors Foundation has been working with historians and archeologists to uncover its past. What we are learning is that the house might be older and more significant than anyone thought.

In October 2012, Wendy Wheatcraft, a preservation planner for Fauquier County, visited the house to look for clues to its construction date. People familiar with the structure always assumed it was old, but nobody knew whether it dated back 100 years, 200 years, or more. Unfortunately, a heavy-handed renovation was performed in the 1960s. The structure was so altered that it now lacks interior features that might provide those clues.

Wheatcraft has since conducted extensive deed research and uncovered some missing pieces of the property’s past.

In the 18th century, the property was part of the 16,000-acre Bull Run and Battle River tract owned by George and James Mercer. Colonel George Mercer was a Virginia aristocrat who fell into severe financial straits primarily due to land speculation losses. In 1773, he mortgaged some 4,000 acres of his Bull Run Mountains land to an Englishwoman named Mary Wroughton. Just a year later, Mercer was unable to meet the terms of the mortgage and he was ordered to sell the 4,000 acres along with additional land in Frederick County.

Because Mercer was living in England at the time, the sale was managed by his lifelong friend, George Washington. Washington arranged to have the properties subdivided and personally handled the auction on November 21, 1774. Records reveal that the auction was a frustrating experience for Washington, who complained the land had “a good deal of exceeding poor and broken ground on it.” Bids were nowhere near the original estate valuation, and Washington stated, “There was no help for it; everything that could be done, was done, to dispose of it to the best advantage; in attempting which, I had three Lots of the Land … left upon my hands.”

The 470 acres that includes the area of the stone house was purchased by a man named John Monday. Could the house have been built by him and his household? If so, that would date the house to before the Revolutionary War.

In 1802, James Battson purchased 420 acres from Monday. While the deed does not list improvements on the property, it does mention a walled cemetery — again, hinting that perhaps the stone house was where the Monday family resided.

Much research still needs to be done. One of the avenues yet to be explored is archaeology. On October 11–12, 2013, Fauquier County and VOF will jointly sponsor public archaeology days on the site. Before the event, professional archaeologists will identify the most promising features on the site for revealing the most information. Then, they will lead teams of volunteers to perform additional archaeological study.

VOF’s Bull Run Mountains stewardship committee devoted one of their workdays to the stone house recently. The house narrowly avoided damage last summer when a large portion of a tree blew down close to the structure. Our committee members removed the tree and other aged trees that posed a danger to the house.

VOF will continue working to uncover the origin of the stone house. We invite anyone with knowledge of the structure’s past to contact us. Citizens who are interested in volunteering at the Bull Run Mountains, either during the upcoming archaeology days in October or for any project (such as maintaining trails, picking up litter, etc.) should contact VOF Owned Lands manager Amanda Scheps, ascheps@vofonline.org, (540) 347-7727 ext. 227.

Bath County farmer protects 315 acres along two miles of Back Creek

Ed Cook was just a boy when he fell in love with the Bath County farm he now owns. Back then, the property belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Law, who had owned it for 50 years. The young Cook admired the land and dreamed of one day owning a property like it.

In 1949, he went into the military and spent three years as a soldier in Korea. He was wounded and spent 28 months in an Army hospital. While there he saved his money, and when he got out of the hospital and returned home, he went to visit Mr. and Mrs. Law. Mr. Law had passed away. “I told Mrs. Law I was interested in buying her farm, which she agreed to,” Mr. Cook recalls. “I purchased the farm in 1956 and moved my mother and father in with me.” He has lived there ever since, adding to the acreage and bringing it to 315 acres today. “With the streams running through it and rolling hills and flat land for my cattle to roam, I couldn’t have asked for more,” he says.

Mr. Cook watched as the land around him—nestled in a beautiful stream valley deep in the George Washington National Forest—was gradually developed. Twenty-five acres of land adjoining his farm was subdivided into 11 different homes, cabins, and camps, which brought more roads and traffic. Despite posting his property, he had problems with trespassing hunters and four-wheelers.

In making his estate plans, he realized that the beauty and natural resources of his farm could similarly be degraded by future development. With the help of his attorney, he sought options for making sure that this land remained a farm forever. The Virginia Outdoors Foundation stepped in to help and learned that the cost associated with completing a conservation easement would be a challenge for Mr. Cook.

The Valley Conservation Council, one of VOF’s long-time partners, was asked to help and was able to arrange assistance from an anonymous donor. In July 2012 Mr. Cook brought an easement proposal before the VOF board, and in October the easement was recorded.

The easement permanently protects productive farm and forest land by prohibiting division and limiting future development. It also protects robust wildlife habitat and extensive frontage on Back Creek, a popular native trout stream and possible home to a threatened species of shiner (the Virginia Division of Natural Heritage reports a 50-50 chance that the shiner can still be found in the stream). Back Creek flows through the property for close to two miles, goes through the pass at O’Roarke Draft, and then through the Blowing Springs campground, which is a favorite destination for trout anglers. The easement protects the stream with a 35-foot no-plow buffer.

The farm is rich with other conservation values, too. It is adjacent to George Washington National Forest lands on both the east and west boundaries for a total of 2.6 miles, providing a green connection between two tracts of public land. About two-thirds of the soil is classified as agricultural “Soils of Statewide Importance” and “Prime Soils” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. The property is visible from both State Route 600 and the Bogen Run public hiking trail. It also lies with the National Audubon Society’s Allegheny Highlands Important Bird Area.

Mr. Cook is happy knowing that the VOF easement will protect his land long after he is gone. “This land has been my life’s dream and I worked hard to obtain it,” he says. “I love this land and don’t want it to change.”

This article includes portions of an earlier piece by the Valley Conservation Council.

Oak Grove Plantation, Halifax County

Oak Grove Plantation, a bed & breakfast just outside South Boston in Halifax County, works hard to minimize its environmental footprint. Some of the steps it has taken include recycling, composting, installing energy-efficient storm windows, offering optional linen service, drying laundry on clotheslines, collecting rainwater with rain barrels, and using compact fluorescent lighting. The inn even offers motorists who arrive in hybrid vehicles a third night free. In 2010 the owner, Mary Pickett Craddock, whose family has owned Oak Grove since 1820, decided to permanently protect the 390-acre property by donating a conservation easement to the Virginia Outdoors Foundation. Now, using proceeds from the sale of tax credits she received from the donation, she has installed a 3.9-kilowatt solar array that will power the inn with sunlight. Craddock hopes the decision will not only help to keep Virginia’s environment clean by utilizing clean, renewable energy, but also will save her money and attract environmentally conscious guests. “Our guests will be able to sip lemonade on the front porch as my ancestors once did, then tour the 25 by 10 feet lineup of solar panels in the back field,” she says. “I want to encourage guests to install solar power, too.” “Solar is a perfect fit for Oak Grove, and this system will go a long ways towards helping them reach their sustainability goals,” adds Evan Bickerstaff of Southern Energy Management, which installed the system. “This is the first time we’ve had a client finance their system quite like this, but we’d love to see more businesses do something similar. The idea that land preservation can go hand in hand with a solar installation is absolutely in line with our mission, and that made this project even more impressive.” See photos and video of the installation at http://oakgroveplantation.com/going-solar/.

VOF forms partnership with Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico

The Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico (CTPR) is similar to the Virginia Outdoors Foundation in many ways. Both were established more than 40 years ago, and both serve citizens who revere their natural and cultural heritage and are concerned about development pressure.

A big difference between the two organizations is the way in which they have protected land. Most of CTPR’s 23,000 acres have been protected through fee-simple acquisitions, while most of VOF’s 675,000 acres have been protected through voluntary conservation easements.

CTPR recently decided to expand its easement program, setting a goal of protecting 15,000 acres of land through easements over the next 10 years. Last spring, Fernando Lloveras San Miguel, CTPR’s executive director, contacted VOF to coordinate a visit to Virginia to learn more about its conservation easement program. He knew that VOF held more easements than any land trust in the nation and wanted to know what factors led to such success, with the hope of replicating that success in Puerto Rico.

In April, Lloveras and two other members of the CTPR staff traveled to Northern Virginia to meet with VOF during a two-day visit. On the first day they met with senior staff and trustees, representatives from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, and Virginia’s Secretary of Natural Resources Doug Domenech (who is a former CTPR advisory board member). The meeting provided a general overview of VOF’s easement program, mapping technologies, acquisition strategies, stewardship initiatives and the state’s management and preservation of historic resources. On the second day, the group visited a number of VOF easement properties and went on a hike in the VOF-owned Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve. They hiked to the top of the mountains, to a spot known as White Rocks, and from there could see one of the state’s most expansive and dense concentrations of easements, protecting tens of thousands of acres of open space less than a one-hour drive from our nation’s capital.

“The Trust learned about VOF’s educational campaigns, landowner outreach strategies, delineation of Special Project Areas, easement evaluation and conveyance process, easement stewardship program and regional office integration,” Lloveras told the Land Trust Alliance in an interview about the partnership. “We are currently designing a detailed strategy to augment the number of conservation easements in Puerto Rico focused on the strengthening of its easement program’s workflow through the integration of its regional offices, the design of a landowner outreach and marketing campaign and the implementation of various demonstration projects at three priority conservation areas. VOF’s extraordinary experience in easement expansion provides a blueprint for the design, implementation and evaluation of this strategy.”

In September, CTPR followed up by sending staff member Maryolis Cruz-Pabón back to Virginia for a few weeks to delve further into VOF’s policies, practices, procedures and programs. She spent time at each regional office, getting a chance to see the diverse types of projects that VOF has worked on over the years.

Both groups look forward to continuing the partnership. Says VOF Executive Director Bob Lee, “After Maryolis’s visit, I would like us to reciprocate by sending VOF staff to Puerto Rico to gain insight into the Trust’s work and the challenges and opportunities that it faces, especially with regard to the lands that it owns and manages for public use. There is potential for VOF to be a stronger vehicle for public land acquisition in Virginia, but we must have the capacity and expertise to manage those lands. We learn a great deal from collaborations such as the partnership with the Trust, and we hope that the easement model we’ve developed in Virginia can be adapted in Puerto Rico with similar success.”

VOF protected 26,375 acres of open space in 2012

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 Virginia’s many beautiful open spaces. When we conserve more open space we make Virginia an even better place to work, expand a business, and raise a family.”

“It’s a win-win when private landowners partner to conserve open space, working farms and forests,” said Doug Domenech, Virginia’s Secretary of Natural Resources. “We all benefit from enjoying Virginia’s natural beauty. It’s good for the environment as well.”

VOF recorded easements in 53 localities, including its first two easements in the City of Covington, which protect nearly a mile of a state-designated native brook trout stream, contain portions of a public hiking trail, and border the George Washington National Forest.

Smyth County had the most open space protected with 2,569 acres on five easements.

The 2012 easements include about 120 miles of streams, 11,000 acres of U.S. Department of Agriculture-designated high quality farm soils, and 1,700 acres along state-designated scenic roads and rivers, among other conservation values.

VOF now protects about 675,000 acres — more than 1,000 square miles — across 107 localities. That is an area three times larger than Shenandoah National Park. Roughly 75 percent of the acreage lies within the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Conservation easements are voluntary agreements between private landowners and a qualified land trust such as VOF that restrict future development while allowing compatible uses such as farming, forestry, and recreation. Landowners who donate easements can receive state and federal tax benefits.

VOF was established by the Virginia General Assembly in 1966 to encourage the preservation of the Commonwealth’s natural and cultural heritage lands. It operates seven regional offices in Virginia and holds more conservation easements than any land trust in the nation.

106-acre farm in Pulaski County donated to VOF

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 Smith, had been forced to sell much of his property to survive the Great Depression. Then, the war effort took even more of the Smith family’s land. A large chunk was sold to the Fairlawn Realty Company in 1941 to provide housing for the crush of people descending on the county for work at the Radford Ordnance Works — later known as the Radford Army Ammunition Plant — which produced gunpowder for World War II. A suburb was born, but a family farm was dying.

However, Smith’s father saved the best for his daughter.

The remaining property was perched high above the New River, and the 1920s farmhouse afforded views of the City of Radford across the way. Apple trees and hay fields cradled the house like a mother’s arms. Cattle grazed in green pastures as the burgeoning suburb of Fairlawn prospered and expanded, threatening to overtake the remaining farmland from which it was born.

After selling more land to the county for a new elementary school, Smith decided that her family had done enough to help the development of the young community. That was 60 years ago. Since then Smith has held on to the remaining 106-acre farm — an emerald isle in a sprawling sea of houses, fast-food joints, and shopping centers.

Smith, who never married, says, “For years I’ve known that I didn’t want the land to be developed, and then I started reading about the Virginia Outdoors Foundation in the newspaper.” Recently, she declared in her will that the farm will be given to VOF, which will forever preserve the property as open space. Smith hopes that eventually her land can become a public park with ball fields, walking trails, and picnic shelters. No matter what happens, she knows that it will be protected and remain as the open rolling fields that she has known her whole life.

VOF Executive Director Bob Lee says the gift is an extraordinary act of generosity. “The Smith farm is truly a gem. This gift will provide so many benefits to the community surrounding it, as well as the greater Commonwealth. It is rare that we have an individual so committed to not only the conservation of their land, but also to sharing it with the community.”

Middlesex easement saves family farm, protects seven miles of tidal shoreline

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 of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

“The 640-acre tract will protect more than seven miles of shoreline on the Rappahannock River from future development,” said Governor McDonnell. “This easement is part of our efforts to protect more open space, as well as working farms and forests. To date, we have conserved more than 114,100 acres since 2010.”

The property contains some of the most highly productive farmland in the region and the easement will ensure that the farm will be permanently available for production. The easement protects the property’s prime soils and shoreline by restricting future development. The land can never be divided and there are limits on the size and number of buildings and structures. In addition, the landowner will follow a conservation plan which will conserve the soil and water quality through farming practices such as no-till.

Mrs. Burch, who grew up working on the farm along with her four siblings, said, “A dear friend told me about conservation easements. She knew what the farm meant to me and how I never wanted to see it sold or developed. I decided that a conservation easement was just the tool I needed to save the farm.”

“Large waterfront farms are in high demand for residential development throughout the tidal Chesapeake Bay region,” said VOF Executive Director Bob Lee. “The vast scenic shoreline and easy access location of Weeks Farm made it ripe for development.”

VOF worked with NRCS to enroll the land in the federal Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP), which provides matching funds to help purchase development rights to keep productive farm and ranchland in agricultural uses. To purchase the development rights and place the easement on the farm, NRCS provided 47 percent of the funding through FRPP, VOF provided 16 percent through its Open Space Lands Preservation Trust Fund, and the remaining 37 percent was donated by Mrs. Burch to the Commonwealth, for which she will receive state and federal tax benefits. VOF’s contribution was made possible thanks to funding approved by Governor McDonnell for the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation, which is administered by the Department of Conservation and Recreation and provides much of the funding for the Open Space Lands Preservation Trust Fund.”

“I congratulate Mrs. Burch, VOF, and NRCS for working together to permanently preserve the historic Weeks Farm,” said Todd P. Haymore, Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry. “In addition to the environmental benefits that they provide, working farmlands produce jobs and opportunities for our rural areas, create products for marketplaces, and generate tax revenue for localities. I encourage landowners who are interested in preserving their working lands to contact organizations like the Virginia Outdoors Foundations as well as the Department of Forestry and the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to explore available conservation options in the Commonwealth.”

The seven miles of tidal shoreline will be protected with 100-foot riparian buffers that will not only help the water quality of the river, but also provide valuable continuous habitat for eagles and other wildlife. Combined with a late 2011 recordation of another 178-acre VOF easement, the protection of Weeks Farm makes a total of 818 acres preserved along the shorelines of Harry George Creek and the Rappahannock River.

“This part of Middlesex County experiences a lot of development pressure even in this economy, and the property could have been a forced sale out of the family for a large-lot waterfront community,” says VOF’s Estie Thomas, who managed the project for approximately five years from conception to completion. “Instead of losing yet another family farm, we have saved the farm for Mrs. Burch and future farmers in the region.”

Preservation at Milepost 25

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 follows the contour of the mountains, the lower speed limit of the parkway, the lack of urgency. It’s a different pace of travel up there.”

As a father himself, Mr. Colberg has enjoyed the parkway’s charm with his wife and four sons for more than 20 years from their home in Charlottesville, Va., at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Ten years ago, he noticed a small Christmas tree farm along the parkway at Milepost 25 in Nelson County. The property shared about a mile of frontage on the road and sat amidst sweeping views of the surrounding valleys. “I told my wife it was the most beautiful property I had ever seen,” he recalls.

In 2009, he learned that the 365-acre farm was for sale. His interest was piqued.

The seller was Lexington-based Washington and Lee University, which owned the farm since 1977. The property was a gift from a family who wished it to be used for the benefit of the school. For decades, W&L operated Skylark Farm, as it was called, as a retreat and conference center. In recent years, however, the school couldn’t justify the cost of maintaining the property. It put Skylark Farm on the open market with an asking price of $4.5 million.

When the National Park Service learned that the property was for sale, it became concerned. The parkway is the most-visited unit in the National Park System, with an estimated 16 million visitors annually. “Most of our visitors come to enjoy the scenic views, and Skylark Farm sits among some of the most beautiful views.” says Blue Ridge Parkway Superintendent Phil Francis. “We were concerned that the property could be developed and could be an intrusion into those views.”

Mr. Francis hoped that Skylark Farm wouldn’t end up in the hands of developers, but there were no guarantees.

Meanwhile, Mr. Colberg explored his options. He learned about the state and federal tax incentive programs for protecting land through conservation easements. An investment manager with a keen sense for finances, he realized that he could purchase Skylark Farm, place a protective easement on it, and recover a significant portion of his costs through the tax incentives.

“The more my wife and I explored it,” he says, “the more attractive we thought it was.”

In October 2010, Mr. Colberg met representatives from the Virginia Outdoors Foundation.

“They expressed that this was one of the most desirable properties on their list of potential easements, and that helped. They could see the value of it, not in a monetary sense but the value in protecting it.”

On Nov. 1, 2010, Mr. Colberg bought Skylark Farm and started the easement donation process. The easement was finalized in December 2011. It protects the views along the parkway by placing permanent restrictions on the number, size, and siting of buildings and other structures.

Mr. Colberg renamed the property Skylark Nature Preserve and Lodge (skylarkva.com). He continues to offer it for events and retreats just as Washington and Lee University did. He also offers hunting trips and continues to grow and sell Christmas trees.

“This is really a win-win program,” Mr. Colberg adds. “There is public good to it that’s a tremendous win. There is a private good to it from my family’s point of view because it helps us afford the property. And there is a wonderful sense of knowing that this property is going to be the same for a very long time.”