In 2019, private landowners, working together with land trusts and public agencies, protected 12,475 acres of land in Albemarle, Clarke, Culpeper, Fauquier, Greene, Loudoun, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock counties. The 2019 conservation easements bring the total protected land in The Piedmont Environmental Council’s (PEC) nine-county region to 421,415 acres, accounting now for nearly 20 percent of the entire land area in the nine counties.
Press Center
Please address general press inquiries to Cindy Sabato at [email protected] or 540-347-2334 x7021 — or to the point of contact listed in a specific press release. You can also get in touch with PEC on twitter: @piedmontenviron.
Montpelier CEO Kat Imhoff to join The Piedmont Environmental Council
Piedmont Environmental Council President Chris Miller is pleased to announce the appointment of Kat Imhoff to the organization’s staff on Dec. 2. Imhoff joins the organization following seven years as president and CEO of James Madison’s Montpelier
New bridge improves access to one of Shenandoah Park’s most unique trails
A new 35-foot span bridge across Cedar Run opened this week, offering hikers and nature-loving community members improved access to the popular Whiteoak Canyon trailhead and opening up three miles of stream habitat to native fish for the first time in decades. The effort is a public-private partnership between Shenandoah National Park, The Piedmont Environmental Council, Trout Unlimited, and the local landowners, the Graves family.
Gordonsville Parks Growing with New Addition
Town to Trail, a working group of the non-profit The Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC), is excited to announce the acquisition of the vacant lot at 204 Allen Street, which PEC purchased with contributions from private donors over the last year.
PEC Reports on Local Land Conservation Totals for 2018
The Piedmont Environmental Council reports a total of 408,939 acres have been protected in Albemarle, Clarke, Culpeper, Fauquier, Greene, Loudoun, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock counties by landowners working together with land trusts and public agencies. The total includes 7,739 acres added in 2018.
Stream crossing projects aim to ease passage for fish, and people
The Piedmont Environmental Council and Virginia Department of Transportation are collaborating to reconnect brook trout habitat and improve flood resiliency and public road-stream crossings in the Virginia Piedmont.
Building Strong Rural and Urban Communities
Drawing over 150 attendees, PEC held their Annual Meeting on October 21 at historic Castle Hill Farm in Keswick. First Lady of Virginia Pamela Northam was in attendance and spoke about the importance of conserving lands in the state. Following the First Lady’s remarks, keynote speaker Charles Marohn, President and Founder of Strong Towns, delivered the keynote address.
Family Farm Preserved for Future Generations
This summer, in an effort to preserve the prime farmland and help ensure continued operations, the Nixons chose to permanently protect 382 acres of their land through a conservation easement with the Piedmont Environmental Council, Culpeper Soil and Water Conservation District and USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Groups Release Safety and Traffic Solutions for Route 15 North of Leesburg
With the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors scheduled to vote on a first phase widening of Route 15 for 3.6 miles north of Leesburg, a coalition of smart growth, conservation and preservation groups and numerous local residents are pressing the Board to instead adopt an approach that is safer, cheaper and more effective.
Waverley conserved
The Piedmont Environmental Council worked with Ms. Tieken to put 669 acres of her property under conservation easement at the close of 2017. Down the road from James Madison’s Montpelier, the farm is located within the Madison-Barbour Rural Historic District and has over a mile of frontage on Constitution Highway. The district, known to have well-drained soils, rolling terrain and a mix of agricultural and forest land, now has a total of 14,645 acres conserved.