Thank you for taking a moment to read about PEC’s achievements across our region and throughout our programs this year. We could not do this work without your support and your commitment, so thank you for giving generously and engaging in the future of your community!
Conserving Land
Conservation easements help ensure that the Virginia Piedmont is always characterized by its open spaces, healthy environment, and cultural resources.
Conservation Funding Workshop & Social 2025 – Resources
It was fantastic to have such an engaged crowd at our recent Conservation Funding Workshop and Social at Powers Farm & Brewery in Midland!
A legacy of conservation and community at risk in Fauquier County
From their storied pasts to the present day, the Fauquier County towns of Remington, Bealeton and the many unique crossroad communities in the surrounding region have been characterized by their rural charm. And for decades, The Piedmont Environmental Council has been committed to collaborating with these local communities on conservation, land use planning, historic preservation and public access to nature. But as pressure for massive data center complexes spreads beyond Northern Virginia into the Piedmont’s special rural communities, we worry the progress and investments we and many others have made toward conserving, enhancing and preserving these communities will be lost forever.
1990s | PEC opposed the Fauquier Forward plan that would have widened Virginia State Route 28 and replaced the agricultural economy through that area with suburbs. Instead, we advocated for an alternative vision of conservation and helped create the county’s Purchase of Development Rights program, which pays landowners to relinquish development rights on their properties, thus supporting farmers, preserving the environmental and economic benefits of agriculture and preventing costly sprawl. Since then, Fauquier’s PDR program has become a model for other places, creating an important tool for landowners who want to keep their land in farming.
2006 | PEC helped the county acquire Rappahannock Station Battlefield Park, preserving this critical battlefield for a future public park and recreation area near the town of Remington. PEC supported development of a master plan for the park and continues to advocate for walking trails and interpretive signage that will tell the important history of the town and this historic battlefield.
2017 | In support of Remington’s effort to strengthen tourism and enhance pedestrian safety, PEC received a PATH Foundation grant to develop a plan called Remington Walks. This plan to rejuvenate Main Street with walking trails, town signage, pedestrian-friendly connectivity and more was developed with input gathered during community meetings and walking audits with residents. Remington Walks was adopted into Remington’s comprehensive plan and has been a guide and supportive document for several subsequent projects, including a gazebo next to the town hall, completed trail connections to Margaret Pierce Elementary and an improved railroad crossing accessible for strollers and wheelchairs downtown.
2021 | PEC and numerous partners set about creating an Upper Rappahannock River Water Trail that provides much-needed public access at several points along this Virginia-designated scenic river. In August 2021, we helped cut the ribbon on the new Rector Tract public canoe and kayak launch a short walk from downtown Remington. Open dawn to dusk, this launch closes a 25-mile gap in public access to the river between Riverside Preserve and Kelly’s Ford in Culpeper County.
2021 | Waterloo Bridge over the Rappahannock River is the uppermost point of the historic Rappahannock Canal, an important historic resource and a unique community treasure. Built in 1878, it was closed in 2014 and slated for replacement by the Virginia Department of Transportation. Advocating for its restoration, rather than replacement, PEC invested in a consultant to put forward a restoration alternative, held numerous community meetings, pushed VDOT to consider other options, and, with the financial help of the Hitt family, was able to fully restore the oldest metal truss bridge still standing in Virginia today.
2021 | PEC established a native plant garden at C.M. Crockett Park in Midland. As a part of our efforts to promote native landscaping practices, we applied for a grant from Kortlandt Fund of the Northern Piedmont Community Foundation to purchase the native plants for the project. We also designed the garden and worked with the Fauquier Parks and Recreation Department and community volunteers to install it.
The network of support to conserve, enhance, and preserve Remington and southern Fauquier extends well beyond PEC. The local churches, the Virginia Cooperative Extension, and John Waldeck established the Remington Community Garden. The town utilized a PATH Make It Happen Grant to build a new gazebo next to the town hall. And the Remington Community Partnership — run by the tireless Mary and Ray Root — has worked to document, preserve and promote the historic resources of the town. Countless people have led numerous other projects, but a comprehensive list could take up the entire publication!
Remington and its surrounding areas are at the intersection of two very different futures. The tremendous work we’ve all already done together paves a path that retains the region’s rural charm, agricultural heritage and economy, and promise of a vibrant place for visitation and recreation.
This progress is threatened by pressure from multiple data center proposals that could put more industrial development in the quaint town of Remington than all the commercial space in Fauquier County combined. Together these projects would open a floodgate of new transmission lines, substations, construction traffic, air pollution, noise, and massive concrete computer warehouses that will crowd out other forms of investment and business interest and induce even more industrial sprawl.
Before our county leaders make major decisions that will forever alter a critical piece of Fauquier’s rural identity and economy, it’s important to revisit and remember the investments and community accomplishments made in the face of past development pressures that would have transformed this region.
This article appeared in the 2025 fall edition of The Piedmont Environmental Council’s member newsletter, The Piedmont View. If you’d like to become a PEC member or renew your membership, please visit pecva.org/join.
Conservation Benefits Everyone
The car in front of me swerved to miss something in the road. I slowed, watching a small creature make its slow, plodding way across the asphalt. As I got closer, I realized it was a tiny baby opossum. Three other babies had already been struck in the road, with no mother in sight.
Broad Run Bridge Expansion Proposal Threatens Chapman-Beverley Mill
Chapman-Beverley Mill Historic Site. Photo credit: Virginia.org
Sign the Change.org petition urging VDOT to reconsider its proposal to replace and significantly widen the I-66 bridge at Broad Run, which would put the historic Chapman-Beverley Mill at risk of significant, irreversible damage!
A proposal from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) would replace and significantly widen the I-66 bridge at Broad Run, leading to potentially disastrous implications for historic Chapman-Beverley Mill, as well as the Broad Run-Little Georgetown Rural Historic District and the surrounding area.
We are urging community members and those who share our concerns about this issue to attend VDOT’s upcoming public hearing on Thursday, May 29, 2025 and/or submit written comments to voice your opinion and commitment to protect these precious historical landmarks and conservation lands from the unnecessary and costly development of VDOT’s proposal.
Scroll down for hearing info and location, as well as how to submit written comments.
Background
In summer 2023, VDOT approached PEC about its proposed replacement of the bridge “superstructure” for the portion of Interstate 66 that crosses over Broad Run, directly in front of the Chapman-Beverley Mill. (A superstructure is the elevated portion of the bridge where cars drive. Here is another example of a superstructure project in Virginia, and here is more general information about superstructures).
However, in January 2025, VDOT sent us this letter, notifying us that it had decided to pursue a full bridge replacement for reasons it points to as being the expected lifespan of the substructure, the cost of a new bridge relative to the superstructure placement and the fatigue stress caused by the existing design.
VDOT’s new proposal would significantly widen the shoulders on both sides of the bridge by 30 feet, supposedly intended as pull-off areas for trucks and breakdowns.
PEC and other consulting parties, including the Bull Run Mountains Conservancy, Prince William County, Fauquier County Board of Supervisors, and the Buckland Preservation Society, have all raised concerns that this new proposal extends too close to the historical Chapman-Beverley Mill and the surrounding Broad Run/Little Georgetown Rural Historic District. Collectively, we are requesting more information about why such a wide shoulder is necessary.
Public and privately conserved land appears in green.
The Fauquier Board also recently passed this resolution asking VDOT to hold a public hearing on this important project.
That hearing will take place on Thursday, May 29 in Marshall, VA.
VDOT Public Hearing Info
When: Thursday, May 29, 5 – 7 p.m. (Inclement weather date: June 5, 2025)
Where: Marshall Community Center, 4133-A Rectortown Road, Marshall, VA 20115
What you can do:
1. Speak at the public hearing if you can, and/or
2. Submit written comments to VDOT by June 9:
• Print and fill out the comment form and mail it (mailing address listed on the form). You can also drop off the comment letter at the public hearing.
• Email comments to Mr. Kevin Barnholt, Project Manager, Virginia Department of Transportation at [email protected]. Please reference “Interstate 66 Bridge Over Broad Run Comment” in the subject line.
With multiple groups raising concerns and the potential loss of irreplaceable historical landmarks, it’s clear that additional discussions are needed to ensure that this thoroughfare is protected from further harm, both now and in the future.
PEC position: Just the existing bridge structure should be repaired, as originally planned, and the bridge should not be fully replaced and certainly not widened.
Sign the Change.org petition urging VDOT to reconsider its proposal to replace and significantly widen the I-66 bridge at Broad Run, which would put the historic Chapman-Beverley Mill at risk of significant, irreversible damage!
Talking Points
We urge those who share our concerns to attend the upcoming public hearing on May 29 and/or
submit comments to VDOT by June 9, 2025 to express your opposition to VDOT’s new proposal to replace and significantly widen the bridge, which would have potentially disastrous implications for the Chapman-Beverley Mill.
Below are key points you should know about the proposed bridge expansion. In addition, we have provided a link to download more talking points for use when providing input, which include additional details on VDOT’s proposal and our concerns about the potential impacts to the Chapman-Beverley Mill, Broad Run-Little Georgetown Rural Historic District and the surrounding area.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Under the original 2023 proposal, all work would have occurred within the existing footprint, and VDOT stated there would not be a significant increase in the bridge’s width. The new plan, which calls for full replacement of the bridge and its support structure, is costly and unnecessary, and would have much more drastic implications. Specifically:
- Such a replacement will require new pilings and new foundations to be installed, which may require blasting or other excavation impacts. Foundation work near the fragile Chapman-Beverley Mill structure would create vibrations that could put the Mill at risk of significant, irreversible damage.
- Widening I-66 by 60 feet directly in front of the mill will put the mill at risk.
- In addition, new shoulders and approaches would be required, all of which will increase the proposed impacts of the new bridge.
- VDOT hasn’t addressed the impact on the mill of the construction process and the finished product, as well as vibrations from traffic that will be closer to the Mill once the wider bridge is complete.
- Because the VDOT bridge project is federally-funded and has a potential impact on historic properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it invokes Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. Section 106 requires VDOT to identify and assess effects on historic properties, consider alternatives to avoid or mitigate any adverse effects, and designate affected stakeholders as consulting parties to provide public input and recommendations on the project.
- VDOT has made a Determination of “No Adverse Effect” and sought agreement from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR). This determination of no adverse effect is the result of the Section 106 hearing.
- PEC asked DHR not to concur with VDOT’s determination and to request that the bridge replacement proposal’s impacts be reevaluated and that lower impact, more cost effective alternatives be pursued. In response, DHR sent this letter to VDOT outlining its concerns about the potential negative impacts of the bridge replacement and related work on the Chapman-Beverley Mill.
- Although VDOT sent this letter in response to DHR’s letter and questions, its response does not sufficiently address concerns about the long-term impacts of the wider bridge on the mill or ongoing long-term maintenance requirements and costs as well as other matters.
- Furthermore, shoulders on bridges are not preferred locations for vehicles to pull off. The bridge replacement and expansion opens the door to a wider I-66 and for the shoulders to eventually become travel lanes in the future, which would put traffic even closer to the historic Chapman-Beverley Mill.
View/download additional talking points on the Broad Run/Chapman-Beverley Mill bridge expansion by clicking below.
Conserving a Crown Jewel in Culpeper County
Western View Plantation in Culpeper County gets its name from the panoramic vista of the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah National Park seen from its pastures and fields. This 700-acre working farm exemplifies the kind of agricultural operation that sustains a thriving rural economy.
Thanks to the efforts of many — including a farming family dedicated to conserving farmland for the continuation of our local food systems — PEC used $1.6 million of state and federal funding to purchase an Agricultural Land Easement that now permanently protects the excellent soils and streams that run through Western View.
PEC’s Big Year in Conservation
Last year, within The Piedmont Environmental Council’s nine-county region, landowners partnered with conservation organizations like ours to conserve 5,446 acres of lands and forever protect the many public benefits they provide the region.
Conservation Funds Protect Clarke County Property
Sometimes advancing conservation in our region means supporting another partner’s vision. This was the case last year, when The Piedmont Environmental Council contributed funds from our Clark County Land Conservation Fund to the purchase of a conservation easement at the 43-acre Lilly property, facilitating a conservation win for all parties.
The Little Forest That Could
Deep within the center of a former 1,200-acre monoculture pine plantation-turned-utility-scale solar project lies a donut hole of amazing, permanently protected natural hardwood forest. It exists because Christine and Bob Putnam took yet another of their many steps of fierce commitment to the environment and to Albemarle County by placing their 70 acres of forestland into a conservation easement with the Albemarle County Easement Authority last year.
The Next Generation
For over 100 years, three generations of Goodalls have owned and worked to improve their land in Madison County, which now stands at 596 acres after enlarging the farm several times. Now, brothers Joe and Paul have fulfilled their parents’ final wishes to keep the land as a farm. In April, PEC used grants from the USDA’s Agricultural Land Easement program, the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation, and the Volgenau Foundation to purchase a conservation easement for $1.3 million, permanently protecting the farm for the next generation.