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Virginia Outdoors Foundation Protected 27,300 Acres in 2014

The Virginia Outdoors Foundation permanently protected 27,300 acres of farmland, forests, and other open space through 125 conservation easements in 2014.

For the second consecutive year, the largest region for newly protected acreage was Virginia’s Southside, where VOF recorded 26 easements on about 12,000 acres, led by a 3,400-acre easement on a tract of working forestland in Charlotte County.

In all, VOF protects about 760,000 acres across 106 localities—an area nearly the size of Rhode Island. A breakdown of easement acreage by locality can be found at vof.org/stats.

Conservation easements are voluntary agreements between private landowners and a qualified easement holder such as VOF that limit future development while keeping land in private ownership to be utilized for farming, forestry, and other rural uses. Because of the public benefits associated with limiting development on rural land—protecting water quality, scenic beauty, wildlife habitat, and productive soils—landowners who donate easements are eligible to receive state and federal tax benefits.

A recent survey of landowners who donated easements to VOF since 2000 found that 90 percent of them manage the land for agricultural production or forestry. Approximately 60 percent used the Virginia Land Preservation Tax Credits they received to sustain, expand, or start a new farming or forestry operation, and 20 percent did the same for a business unrelated to farming or forestry. The survey also revealed that about three-quarters of easement donors reinvested their tax benefits back into additional conservation practices on their land.

VOF easements help to protect, among other things, 350,000 acres of prime farm soils, 300,000 acres of the state’s best forestland, 4,000 miles of stream and rivers, and 100,000 acres in state and federal rural historic districts.

Survey finds VOF easements largely protecting working farms and forestland

A new survey of 631 landowners who granted conservation easements to the Virginia Outdoors Foundation (VOF) since 2000 reveals that landowners are primarily managing those lands for agricultural production and/or forestry, and that they are reinvesting many of the tax credits they receive from the state back into their operations.

Virginia established Land Preservation Tax Credits in 2000 to encourage private landowners to limit development of rural open spaces and keep the land available for farming, forestry, recreation, and other traditional rural uses.

About 83% of all the land that VOF has protected since it was established in 1966 has been protected since 2000.

The telephone survey, conducted by Responsive Management of Harrisonburg, Va., asked a number of questions pertaining to the use of the land under easement, as well as the importance of the tax credit in their decision to donate a conservation easement that limits development. The survey participants were randomly selected from a list of all landowners who donated easements to VOF between 2000 and 2014. The sampling error is at most plus or minus 3.25 percentage points.

Key findings include:
  • The overwhelming majority of landowners (90%) are managing the protected lands for agricultural production or for forestry.
    • Those 90% managing the land for agricultural production or forestry were specifically asked if they conduct any of six potential economic activities on the land. The top tier includes raising livestock (51% of landowners report that land use) and growing commercial agricultural crops (41%). Lower on the list, but still with a substantial percentage, is commercial timbering (29%).
  • 73% said the protected land is important to their livelihood, with 31% saying it’s “essential.”
  • 87% said the tax credits were important in their decision to donate an easement, with 34% saying the credits were “essential.”
  • 16% lease the land to hunters/anglers for hunting or fishing access.

 

The survey also revealed that landowners are reinvesting tax credits back into their businesses. For instance, of those who applied for tax credits:

  • 61% used the credits to sustain, expand, or start a new agricultural or forestry operation.
  • 19% used the tax credits to sustain, expand, or start a new business unrelated to agriculture or forestry.
  • 51% used the tax credits to implement land management practices that specifically improved farm or forest productivity.
  • 36% used the tax credits to pay down or reduce business-related debt.

 

The tax credits also appear to be fueling additional conservation benefits beyond the easement. About 3 out of 4 landowners (70%) said they used the tax credits to implement land management practices that benefit water, soil, wildlife, or forest quality or that provide other conservation benefits.

Finally, 96% of the respondents said they have recommended or would recommend to another landowner donating a conservation easement to VOF.

Says VOF Executive Director Brett Glymph, “VOF strives to protect land that is livable and workable for people, especially farmers and foresters who represent Virginia’s number one industry. This survey shows that VOF easements are not just a tool for protecting the natural resources that make our Commonwealth a wonderful place to live, but also for protecting the resource base that fuels a significant portion of our economy.”

Formed by the Virginia legislature in 1966, VOF protects more than 735,000 acres (1,100 square miles) of open space in Virginia—an area nearly the size of Rhode Island. It holds easements in all but two counties, and in 13 independent cities. These lands help to protect more than 3,500 miles of streams, 325,000 acres of designated prime farmland, 290,000 acres of designated high-quality forests, and 200,000 acres of “ecologically significant landscape cores” as defined by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. Over the last decade, VOF has protected farms and forests at a rate of about 5 acres every hour. Roughly 95% of all Virginians live within 10 miles of a VOF easement.

Download a copy of the survey report

November 6 board meeting relocated to Capitol Square

Note: This post was updated on October 31, 2014.

In response to growing public interest, the Virginia Outdoors Foundation’s scheduled November 6 Board of Trustees meeting has been relocated to Senate Room A in the General Assembly Building at Capitol Square in Richmond.

Details about the meeting, including agenda and background materials, may be found here. Details are still evolving and will be finalized no later than Monday, November 3.

Anyone who would like to submit written comments for this meeting may email them to bcabibbo@vofonline.org or mail them to VOF’s Warrenton office. Comments must include your name, address, and daytime phone number for verification purposes, or they will not be accepted as part of the official meeting record. Comments received before 5pm on October 31, 2014 will be provided to the trustees in advance of the meeting.

VOF expands public comment period for Nov. 6 board meeting

The Virginia Outdoors Foundation will be expanding the public comment period at its Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday, November 6, 2014 in Richmond in order to accommodate growing interest in several agenda items.

Details about the meeting can be found here. The full agenda and background materials will be posted by close of business on Monday, November 3.

Among the topics expected to be addressed at the meeting are two dozen new land conservation projects, as well as stewardship-related requests from Washington and Lee University, Loudoun County, and a Fauquier County landowner.

Fauquier County landowner Piedmont Agriculture Academy LLC, represented by owner Martha Boneta of Paris, Va., and legal counsel William Hurd, will make a 20-minute presentation requesting that VOF consider accepting a voluntary assignment of a conservation easement that is currently co-held with the Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC), a private land trust based in Warrenton. Ms. Boneta and Mr. Hurd will explain the reasons for the request, and PEC will be given 20 minutes to provide its own information.

Supporters of Ms. Boneta are planning to hold a rally prior to the board meeting, and VOF has been told that many of these supporters may wish to speak during the public comment period about the issue. Normally, the public comment period is less than 10 minutes, but because of the increased interest and desire to accommodate the public, the period is being expanded to 20 minutes. Individual speakers will be limited to three minutes.

Anyone who would like to submit written comments may email them to bcabibbo@vofonline.org or mail them to VOF’s Warrenton office. Comments must include your name, address, and daytime phone number for verification purposes, or they will not be accepted as part of the official meeting record. Comments received before 5pm on October 31, 2014 will be provided to the trustees in advance of the meeting.

“As a public agency with public board meetings, VOF strives to accommodate public input,” says VOF Executive Director Brett Glymph. “As an organization whose work is primarily based in partnerships with private landowners and other governmental and nongovernmental agencies, it’s also very important to our trustees that when an issue arises that merits special attention, our landowners and partners are given the opportunities they need to find a resolution.”

VOF statement on proposed gas transmission lines

Update: The Highland Recorder reported in August that the Spectra proposal has been suspended.

The Virginia Outdoors Foundation has learned that three energy companies—Dominion Resources Inc., Spectra Energy, and EQT Corporation—are developing natural gas transmission line proposals that could traverse areas of Virginia where VOF holds a significant number of open-space easements. We want to make certain that any of these pipelines, if constructed, will not impair the conservation values protected by our easements.

It is our understanding that these projects are in the earliest planning period and that no determinations have been made as to the precise location or details of the pipelines. VOF has shared information with the gas companies regarding the location of our easements and, in order to ensure easement compliance, requested that we be consulted prior to conducting any survey work that involves clearing of vegetation, earth disturbance, or use of motor vehicles, self-propelled machinery, or power equipment. We will continue to gather as much information as we can on all of the proposed pipelines.

Whenever utility expansion is proposed on an easement property, VOF must take into account all of the protected conservation values as well as the clear language of the restrictions. Our current language for utilities in our easement template ensures that the construction and maintenance of public or private utilities will not impair the conservation values of the property.

VOF has permitted public and private underground lines to cross easements after analyzing the impacts to the protected resources and making the determination that those resources would remain unharmed. Some examples of protected resources that could be negatively impacted by an underground line include archaeological resources, karst resources, no-cut zones in forested areas, and specially protected habitat areas.

VOF will monitor the progress of the proposed projects, and we encourage our landowners and partners to keep us informed of new information they may receive.

More Southside landowners embracing conservation easements

Nowhere is the demand for conservation easements more evident than in Southside—a region stretching along the Virginia-North Carolina border from Patrick to Dinwiddie.

Approximately 40 percent of the Virginia Outdoors Foundation’s new easement acreage in 2013 was recorded in Southside. Halifax County led the state last year with 9,140 newly protected acres of farmland, forest, and other open space.

The largest easement, in both Halifax and the state, was donated by the Rowland family on Falkland Farms, a 7,312-acre farm near Scottsburg. It is one of the largest contiguous private properties in Virginia east of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and contains nearly 10 miles of frontage along the headwaters of the John H. Kerr Reservoir, and the Dan, Bannister, and Hyco rivers.

A second Halifax easement was donated by Delegate James Edmunds on his 872-acre farm, Elm Hill, in South Boston. About 82 percent of the farm’s soils are designated as prime farming soils by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and 39 percent of the timber is classified as having a “High Forest Conservation Value” by the Virginia Department of Forestry. The property fronts a designated Scenic Byway for nearly two miles and Birch Creek for more than a mile.

“Elm Hill is part of an original land grant to Nicholas Edmunds, my ancestor, and now most of that parcel is back together and in the Edmunds’ ownership,” says Del. Edmunds, who is a long-time supporter of conservation easements. “This farm means a great deal to me, and it gives me great peace in knowing that it will be preserved in its original farming state forever. The easement was an easy decision and provided the perfect tool to keep the land in its current state for my children, grandchildren, and descendents for years to come.”

Noting the region’s trend, VOF’s Sherry Buttrick says, “Southside is rich in open space and natural resources, and as more people in the region become familiar with the easement program and the tax benefits of land conservation, we are seeing them protect more of their land for farming, forestry, and other rural land uses.”

VOF board votes to no longer accept easements with retained oil and gas rights

At its April 22 meeting, the Virginia Outdoors Foundation’s Board of Trustees voted that, going forward, it will decline to accept charitable gifts of easement that retain rights for on-site oil and gas drilling.

The decision was made after extensive research and input gathering, which included a VOF-hosted public forum in Fredericksburg on March 13.

Although VOF’s standard conservation easements have always prohibited all forms of mining, the agency has occasionally, at the request of the landowner, allowed limited extraction of oil and gas from the surface of the property, subject to restrictions designed to protect conservation values.

In 2012, the VOF trustees adopted additional restrictions for easements with retained oil and gas rights. As interest has grown in Virginia to explore for natural gas, the number of landowners requesting retained oil and gas rights has increased. The board expressed concern that this increasing demand could present challenges to its resources in the future, and several trustees also expressed concerns about potential adverse impacts that natural gas exploration could have on protected lands.

For easements that already include retained drilling rights, VOF will vigorously enforce the restrictions to ensure that conservation values remain protected. To date, no one has exercised retained drilling rights on a VOF easement.

“We thank the many partners, agencies, landowners, and citizens who have given us their input on this issue over the last few years,” said Board of Trustees Chair Stephanie Ridder. “VOF will do whatever we can to protect open spaces and the environment now and for future generations.”

Family protects 350-year-old farm along the Mattaponi River

It’s one thing for a farm to stay intact for 350 years. It’s another thing for a farm to stay in the same family for that long.
Next year, Locust Grove will achieve both.

The King and Queen farm has been owned and operated by the Walker family since February 26, 1665, when the King of England granted the land to Major Thomas Walker. Sitting high above the Mattaponi River just downstream from the village of Walkerton, the 634-acre property has survived thanks to the hard work and dedication of 12 generations of Walkers.

Last year, the current owners —siblings Missie and Jerry Walker, and Jerry’s wife, Cecky—ensured the farm’s future as open space by donating a conservation easement to the Virginia Outdoors Foundation.

The easement limits divisions and buildings on a property that is a developer’s dream, given its proximity to Richmond and million-dollar views of one of the state’s most scenic tidal rivers.

It also protects a wealth of cultural and natural resources.

DSC_7073
From left, Cecky and Jerry Walker discuss their easement with Estie Thomas of VOF and Rex Springston of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

An archeological resource on the property, Fort Mattapony, is listed on the National Register and was used by Mattaponi Indians for protection against hostile tribes from the north. (The family still enjoys a close relationship with the tribe.)

Today, the Walkers manage the land mostly for small grain and turf production. More than half of the soils on the farm are designated by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service as Prime Farmland. To supplement their farming income, the family makes Locust Grove available for weddings, reunions, festivals, Scouting activities, meetings, art shows, and other events. They host an annual Wine & Arts Festival, as well as an annual Christmas art show that is free to the public.

The property’s most striking feature, though, is the 1.5 miles of frontage it shares with the Mattaponi River. Not only is this stretch of the river popular with boaters and anglers, but it is also home to a wealth of plants and animals, including several rare species. The easement protects more than 16,000 feet of forested riparian buffers on the river and several tributaries—all helping to prevent erosion and runoff from polluting the water.

In April, the easement was recognized for its exceptional public benefits when the McAuliffe Administration presented the Walkers with a Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award.

Locust Grove was one of several properties along the Mattaponi that went under easement last year. Another was on an 875-acre easement across the river on a farm called Enfield. Together, the easements illustrate a trend among Tidewater landowners to protect what remains of the region’s riverfront farmland.

Explaining the trend to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Jerry Walker said, “The people involved are my age or older…. They’re looking at it as a way to hold onto these farms for themselves and their children.”

Governor McAuliffe Appoints New VOF Board of Trustees Chair

Governor Terry McAuliffe recently appointed Stephanie Ridder, of Flint Hill, Va., to be the new Chair of the Virginia Outdoors Foundation’s Board of Trustees.

Ms. Ridder grew up in Fairfax County and has lived with her husband, John Beardsley, on their VOF-protected farm in Rappahannock County for the past 34 years. They board horses, raise organic hay and are creating a pollinator meadow on the farm. Steph got her B.A. from Harvard University and her J.D. from the University of Virginia. She worked for the Rappahannock Legal Services Corporation in Fredericksburg and then in Culpeper representing low-income Virginians. She is currently teaching at the George Washington University Law School. Steph has served on the boards of the Virginia Women Attorneys Association, Virginians Against Domestic Violence, and the Piedmont Environmental Council, among others. She is currently serving as the chair of the Child Care and Learning Center in Rappahannock and on the board of the Krebser Fund, an advisory board to PEC.

“As an easement donor herself, Ms. Ridder is deeply committed to VOF’s mission,” said VOF Executive Director Brett Glymph. “We look forward to her leadership as we work to achieve the Commonwealth’s land conservation goals.”

VOF is governed by a board of seven at-large trustees appointed by the Governor for four-year staggered terms. The Governor appoints a chair from among the seven trustees. The Board of Trustees meets at least three times per year to review easement projects and policy matters.

For a list of all trustees, visit https://www.vof.org/about/board-of-trustees/.

Videos from March 13 oil & gas forum now online

Videos from the Virginia Outdoors Foundation’s March 13, 2014 forum about conservation easements and oil and gas production are now accessible through VOF’s YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/vofonline.

The approximately 4.5-hour forum has been divided into three segments, featuring each of the three main presenters: Michael Ward of the Virginia Petroleum Council, Kate Wofford of the Shenandoah Valley Network, and Reneé Carey of the Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy.

The third segment includes nearly 1.5 hours of public comments and questions regarding VOF’s policies that allow some donors of conservation easements to retain limited mineral rights that open the door to potential subsurface oil and gas drilling on the properties.

Additional resources related to this issue can be found below. Anyone who wishes to comment on VOF’s policies regarding retained mineral rights on easements may submit comments to Jason McGarvey, communications and outreach manager, at jmcgarvey@vofonline.org.

 

Resources

Forum Panelist Presentations (PDF)

  • [wpfilebase tag=fileurl id=136 linktext=’Michael Ward Presentation’ /]
  • [wpfilebase tag=fileurl id=138 linktext=’Kate Wofford Presentation’ /]
  • [wpfilebase tag=fileurl id=140 linktext=’Renee Carey Presentation’ /]

Articles & Action Alerts

Policies

Background on Oil & Gas Rights in Easements

  • [wpfilebase tag=fileurl id=135 linktext=’Land Trust Alliance — Practical Pointers Series: Gas Exploration, Extraction and Conservation’ /]
  • [wpfilebase tag=fileurl id=141 linktext=’Land Trust Alliance — Problem Solving for Oil and Gas Activities in Conservation Easements’ /]
  • [wpfilebase tag=fileurl id=139 linktext=’Land Trust Alliance — Oil and Gas, and Fracking (??!!), CAN work with Conservation Easements – Sometimes’ /]