Since the Crooked Run Valley's landscape is so important to the community, we wanted to let you know that there will be ongoing construction on and adjacent to Ovoka Farm, Sky Meadows State Park, and the Appalachian Trail within the next few months. Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation will be expanding their existing right-of-way, including the area along PEC's southern property line, in order to install an additional gas pipeline. This project was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

PEC has worked with Columbia Gas and its contractors to ensure that the FERC environmental standards are met during construction and that the land will be restored to its prior condition after construction is completed. PEC will continue to monitor Columbia Gas's construction progress as they lay the new pipeline along the Southern boundary of PEC's properties. View photos of the construction.

In exchange for the trees Columbia Gas will remove along the new pipeline, PEC has worked with Columbia Gas to leverage funds for tree planting and water quality protection measures along the tributaries of the Gap Run. This will be the third Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) project that we have placed on our Ovoka property and installation will begin this summer.

PEC Has Been Instrumental in Protecting the Crooked Run Valley
In 2000, The Piedmont Environmental Council stepped up and protected 1,237 acres of highly significant scenic, historical, ecologic, and recreational lands in Paris. Since that time, PEC has placed over 250 acres in conservation easement and has transferred 445 acres to the National Park Service for inclusion in the Appalachian Trail. The Whitehouse loop trail provides one of the most dramatic scenic overlooks on the AT and offers hikers a view over a largely protected landscape that looks much as it did when young George Washington surveyed the land in the mid-1700's. PEC still retains ownership of over 750 acres.