For Immediate Release
Bob Lazaro
PEC Director of Communications
571-225-0198

More Than 325,000 Acres Conserved in the Piedmont

18,065 Acres Conserved in Piedmont Region for 2009
Montpelier, Portions of Brandy Station Battlefield Among Properties Protected

(Warrenton, VA - February 1, 2010) In 2009 residents of the Piedmont permanently protected 18,065 acres of open space through the use of conservation easements. More than 325,000 acres of land are now conserved in the nine-county Piedmont region.

The movement to protect privately-held rural land from development has been experiencing tremendous momentum in Virginia's Piedmont region, with landowners conserving an average of 22,270 acres every year for the last five years. The total for 2009 brings the number of acres conserved in the nine counties served by the Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) to 325,530 acres, an acreage that is larger than Shenandoah National Park.

"We're immensely pleased at what communities in the Piedmont have been able to accomplish to provide a legacy of conserved open space for our children and future generations," says Chris Miller, President of PEC. "When it comes to conservation, this is one of the most successful regions in the entire country."

A number of significant values were protected as the result of easements filed in 2009. The PEC accepted several notable easements including 719 acres at Madison's Montpelier, and over 1,000 acres at historic Redlands in Albemarle County. Other notable easements include the protection of portions of Culpeper County's Brandy Station Battlefield by the Department of Historic Resources and protection of the land surrounding the drinking water supply for the Town of Purcellville by the Virginia Outdoors Foundation.

The Piedmont region continues to lead the state of Virginia, which is among the top five states in the nation for protecting land through private conservation easements. The nine counties of Virginia's Piedmont -- including Loudoun, Clarke, Fauquier, Culpeper, Rappahannock, Madison, Orange, Greene, and Albemarle -- have conserved more land than almost any state in the nation.

Bob Lee, the Executive Director of the Virginia Outdoors Foundation (VOF) said, "Working with PEC and others, VOF was able to protect more than 10,000 acres in PEC's region in 2009 and 55,000 acres statewide," said VOF Executive Director Bob Lee. "From historic Montpelier in Orange County to the drinking water supply for the Town of Purcellville in Loudoun County, our easements ensure that Virginia's cultural and natural resources are being protected for future generations."

According to a 2003 study that was done by the American Farmland Trust in Culpeper County, farms and other open lands use only $0.32 in local services for every dollar of taxes paid, while homes require $1.22 for every dollar paid. Easements also support two major industries of the Piedmont: agriculture and tourism. Like other landowners, farmers can gain needed capital by voluntarily conserving their land and earning a substantial state tax credit which they may either use or sell on the open market. Farmers also benefit from reduced appraisal values on their land, which lightens their tax burden. In Albemarle, Clarke, and Fauquier counties, working farms also have the option of receiving money from publicly supported Purchase of Development
Rights (PDR) programs.

"Conservation easements help us to maintain the quality of life and strong sense of place that has kept families here for generations, and attracted new residents in the past several decades," said Heather Richards, Director of Land Conservation for the PEC.