Gold mining historically occurred throughout Virginia in the gold-pyrite belt, including substantial operations across the PEC region in Orange, Culpeper and Fauquier counties. Now, half a century since metals were last mined commercially, the threat has resurfaced.
Our Region
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.
Your Support is Doubled for Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday is a global movement dedicated to giving back to organizations and causes you care about. Today on November 30, your donation will go twice as far thanks to the generosity of a longtime supporter who is offering a dollar-for-dollar match on any gifts we receive up to a total of $25,000! We hope you consider making a special one-time gift, becoming a new PEC member, or renewing your existing membership.
Week Ahead for November 29, 2021: Albemarle to consider stream health, addressing blighted properties
And thus begins the end of the year, with a strange month ahead of us. With the election a month in the past and the seating of new elected officials weeks away, there’s a sense that 2021 has grown a long beard. Yet, there are still lots of meetings to go and if you’re interested in getting involved or knowing more about what’s happening, there are plenty of opportunities in Albemarle County this week.
2021 Photo Contest Winners & Finalists
Announcing the winners of our 2021 Photo Contest!
Week Ahead for November 22, 2021: A slowdown for Thanksgiving, but Albemarle and Charlottesville both take up next year’s capital budget this week
The first major holiday of the season is upon us and this week is quite quiet accordingly. Still, there is business that will be conducted and this newsletter is a good source to know what is on the agendas of the handful of meetings ahead. There are no meetings scheduled in Fluvanna or Nelson counties this week. But both Albemarle and Charlottesville have important conversations about capital planning.
Weigh In: Culpeper County Comprehensive Plan
Culpeper County is undertaking a review of its existing Comprehensive Plan and needs your feedback!
Week Ahead for November 15, 2021: Council to hold public hearing for Comprehensive Plan; Albemarle Supervisors to review 328-unit Rio Point project
There are only a few more complete weeks left in 2021, and this will be one of the busiest. While the biggest item is City Council’s public hearing on the Charlottesville Comprehensive Plan, there’s a lot crammed into the next four days. This newsletter is already at length, so let’s get right to it!
Loudoun’s Environmental Commission Needs Your Feedback
As Loudoun County grows, the board of supervisors has recognized the need for improving environmental sustainability, health and resilience. Protecting natural resources, preserving energy and pivoting to renewable alternatives are essential to those goals.
To that end, this year the board empaneled a new environmental commission, which began meeting in late July 2021.
Maddensville Historic Site, Civil War Memorial, is dedicated before a crowd of 200 in Culpeper
On the stunningly sunny and crystal clear, crisp morning of Saturday, Nov. 6, just ahead of Veteran’s Day, some 200 people from far and wide came together in rural Culpeper County, Virginia to dedicate a new Civil War memorial site honoring three United States Colored Troops killed nearby in 1864 and the contributions of the family of a free Black man, Willis Madden.
2021 Photo Contest
we need your help to select the winners! Voting is easy — first, check out all the photos in the slideshow! Then, use the form to select your favorite finalist from each of our categories: Beautiful Landscapes, Native Plants and Wildlife, People and Places, and the Youth Category (ages 17 and under).