Download the Spring 2008 Greene County Clarion (7.1 MB pdf)

Dr. Colin and Roxanne Hagan think that Greene County needs to use more foresight as it deals with growth. While they recognize that people need places to live, they see new subdivisions taking over what used to be countryside without much regard for where water will come from to serve the developments or whether trails and open land are going to be available for people to walk, bike or ride horses. "This area needs farms," Roxanne says. "And there need to be places where kids can have lessons and ride ponies." In order to provide for those and other future needs, the Hagans decided to permanently protect their 78-acre farm between Ruckersville and Standardsville, where they raise horses and run a veterinary clinic. Last year, they donated a conservation easement on the property.

While this land preservation agreement restricts the property's potential for development, it preserves other kinds of potential-for the community to build nature trails that connect to Ruckersville Elementary School next door, for example, or for Roxanne or a subsequent farmer to offer riding lessons, as she has in the past. The conservation easement also preserves the land's natural ability to filter water, produce food, improve air quality and shelter wildlife. While the terms of every conservation easement are unique, the Hagans agreed to fence animals away from a stream that runs through the property and to avoid mowing near the stream during the season that birds build nests near the ground.

By giving up development rights in a fast-growing area, the Hagans sacrificed some of their equity in the property-but significant state and federal tax incentives made this decision economically viable for them (see p. 4).

Their property was part of 1,021 acres protected in Greene last year, bringing the total amount of private conservation land to 7,200 acres or 7% of the county. And all of this was protected in the last six years. Communities with a longer history of conserving land demonstrate that even more significant gains are possible. For example, in Albemarle over 73,000 acres of private land, or 16% of the county, are protected so far.

Of course, conservation alone isn't going to keep Greene rural, especially in the face of immediate growth pressures. The community needs to complement it with thoughtful local plans and effective policies. But for places that matter deeply to people, conservation provides the strongest level of protection, particularly since it's permanent. As Dr. Hagan points out, "There's going to come a time, whether it's one hundred years from now or twenty-five years from now, that people are going to appreciate the fact that there's still some open land."