PEC focuses on nine counties and one city in the northern Piedmont of Virginia: Albemarle, Charlottesville, Clarke, Culpeper, Fauquier, Greene, Loudoun, Madison, Orange, and Rappahannock.
We also team with local organizations to promote thriving communities and healthy natural resources in a much larger region, including the Shenandoah Valley, the central Piedmont, and the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Corridor. In addition, we are proud to serve as fiscal sponsor of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, an organization that focuses on land use and policy in the greater Washington D.C. area.
Creating a community park takes quite a bit of planning, which is why the historic railroad town of Remington is about to receive support for adding recreational space for its residents and visitors.
Situated on a scenic natural crossing of the Rappahannock River, Remington has an abundance of character and contains elements of a walkable community, including a compact street grid. But the town has few common areas for recreation and no official public access to the river.
Shenandoah National Park just grew a little bigger and a little more beautiful. This past May, We donated a 17.2-acre property of ours in Rappahannock County to the National Park Service. A forested and vacant parcel on a mountain slope south of Sperryville, Virginia, the land is within the legislative boundary of Shenandoah National Park.
“The property is surrounded by the park on three of its four sides, so it’s a key puzzle piece,” says Carolyn Sedgwick, PEC’s Rappahannock County land conservation officer, who oversaw the donation from PEC to the National Park Service. “This great public-private partnership with the National Park Service has resulted in the expansion of one of the most important wildlife corridors on the east coast.”
The donated acreage is by an area in the national park designated as federal wilderness — the highest conservation designation for federal land — making it an important and strategic area to conserve.
The following email alert was sent out on August 29, 2016 regarding proposed design standards for development in Barboursville:
The following email alert was sent out August 2016 regarding a proposal by VDOT to open a truck stop in Markham, VA:
The following email alert was sent out August 2016 regarding Dominion’s plans to rebuild the Cunningham-Dooms line and the upcoming SCC public hearing:
On the evening of March 10, 2016 more than 150 individuals attended a forum in eastern Loudoun focused on improving landscaping practices for stream health, water quality and the environment. Hosted by The Piedmont Environmental Council in partnership with Loudoun County, Common Space for the Greater Good presented solutions for Home Owners Associations and residents to restore streams, reduce pollution and attract birds, bees and butterflies – and provided real-life examples that have been adopted by many communities in Loudoun and elsewhere.
On April 16, 2016, Piedmont Environmental Council hosted our fifth annual mountain heritage celebration at Graves Chapel in Graves Mill, Virginia. Nearly 300 attended over the course of the day – visitors learned about the rich culture and traditions of the families that once called these mountains home. Many even walked the trails through Shenandoah National Park to see some of these former home sites in person. It was a wonderful day, filled with music, memories, and a renewed appreciation for the Blue Ridge Mountain heritage. Thank you to all who took part!
Graves Mill historic sites map >>
Please consider becoming a PEC member or renewing your membership to help make events like this one possible!
Each winter, one hundred state delegates and forty state senators convene for the Virginia General Assembly, in either a 45-day “short session” or a 60-day “long session.” This year—it was a long session.
We’re continuing our efforts to increase the habitat available to the eastern brook trout and other fish species with two pilot culvert removal projects…
In partnership with Sugarland Run HOA, the Broadlands HOA, the Red Cedar HOA and Loudoun County Government, we’ve finished planting 3.26+ acres, 968 native trees and shrubs, in three Loudoun Communities.
Thank you to our wonderful volunteers and involved communities for helping Loudoun streams, our local environment and the Chesapeake Bay! Thanks also to grants from The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Fairfax Water, and generous in-kind support by Heritage Landscape Services, LLC and Premier Turf and Landscaping.