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.
Boasting 116 alumni since its inception, the seven-week Fellowship Program has helped future environmental leaders gain hands-on experience in a unique mix of topics such as land conservation, land use, sustainable agriculture, energy policy, habitat stewardship, historic preservation, transportation planning and geographic information systems (GIS) with experienced professionals.
We receive applicants from all over the country. Through a selective process, twelve college students are chosen to participate in the summer Program.
Collard greens are more than a simple side dish. Michael Twitty shares the African-American cultural history of this leafy green. Gail Taylor a grower with Three Part Harmony Farm, honors her ancestors and nourishes her community by cultivating this nutritious vegetable. Rebecca Lemos-Otero and Lola Bloom of City Blossoms teach youth to get their hands dirty by growing delicious collard greens from seeds.
The Culture of Collards from Aditi Desai on Vimeo.
Tony Newcomb dreamed of farming and his partner Hiu followed him from Ohio to northern Virginia to rent land and start a farm. With Tony’s passing in 1984, Hiu continues to sow the seeds of their collective dream into its fifth decade at Potomac Vegetable Farms with her daughter Hana Newcomb and friend Ellen Polishuk.
50 Years of Farming: For Love & Vegetables from Aditi Desai on Vimeo.
What do you do when the next generation does not want to take over the family farm? How do you keep that land in production? These are the questions at the heart of Cliff Miller’s journey to find stewards to care for the land he loves. He finds those persons in Mike and Molly Peterson of Heritage Hollow Farms and Rachel Bynum and Eric Plaksin of Waterpenny Farm.
Farming for the Future from Aditi Desai on Vimeo.
If you enjoyed the Farming for the Future film series, you may also wish to screen When Mickey Came to Town, a 30-minute film about a campaign, waged more than twenty years ago, to stop The Walt Disney Company from building an American history themed park in the historic countryside of the Virginia Piedmont.
We are mourning the loss of Bill Backer, long-time PEC supporter and Piedmont Foundation President, who passed away on May 13, 2016. An advertising genius who taught the “world to sing” when he created the 1971 “Hilltop” commercial for Coca-Cola—what many consider to be the most famous commercial ever.
Bill loved the Piedmont and chose to make Fauquier County his permanent home in 1994. I’ve known Bill for over 20 years. He was a man of incredible intellect and insight into the human spirit…
…As Doug plans for his retirement in July, I reflect on what an honor it has been to work with him through the years. We all know Doug as hard-working, passionate, funny and fearless. We also know him as the man who wears the best crazy socks.
He has been my boss for the majority of his time at PEC, but most importantly, he has been my friend. He never asked staff to do anything that he wouldn’t do, always standing and working beside us to see an event or project through to the end. He always encouraged us to grow our interest and ideas into projects that may align with PEC’s mission, while igniting our excitement that we too are helping make a difference…
Part of a nine-mile trail system with old-growth forests and meadows, the Montpelier-Grelen Trail links the historic James Madison’s Montpelier with Grelen Nursery, a 25-year-old working tree nursery in Orange County.