Safeguarding the landscapes, communities and heritage of the Piedmont by involving citizens in public policy and land conservation. Learn more about our work by browsing the subject areas below and find out how to get involved!
If you can connect and have a good relationship, farmer to landowner, this can be an amazing, beautiful and productive thing. It really can work,” says Katharine Wilson, manager of the new Berrey Hill Farm in Madison County.
When speaking with Katharine and Holly, it’s immediately apparent the right people have come together to form a partnership. They both seem equally as passionate about protecting the health and ecology of the land and building community through healthy food.
The other night as I drove home, I paid attention to each bridge crossing. There were 18 concrete slab bridges. A majority of our roadways are repetitive monolithic creatures with little character or interest of their own. This reminded me of a statistic I once heard about how the drive to somewhere can be a valuable part of the tourist experience. Most people probably don’t travel out of their way to visit a historic bridge, but crossing one is a memorable part of the journey. And if you live near one, it probably is a part of what defines ‘home’ for you.
The Commonwealth’s historic bridges create a sense of place and a link to the past. These bridges – versus featureless concrete slabs – are community amenities. They provide not just the physical crossing of a stream or river, but an experience that connects people to both the road and the surrounding landscape.
As part of our ongoing habitat restoration project at our Piedmont Memorial Overlook property near Sky Meadows State Park, the Virginia Department of Forestry helped us conduct a prescribed burn on 5 acres of our native warm season grass meadow. Prescribed fire reduces fuels, suppresses some woody species, recycles nutrients and stimulates plant growth– all of which improves habitat for wildlife.
Updates from the around the PEC region, organized by county. Here’s the blurb from Culpeper, which actually applies to residents in multiple counties: The Culpeper Soil and Water District recently secured funding from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality for a Septic System Repair and Replacement Fund that’s available to residents of Culpeper, Greene, Orange, Madison, and Rappahannock Counties. Failing septic systems can affect both ground and surface water quality. The funds cover 50 percent of approved costs and are only available for a two-year term…
Pedestrian and bicycle trail systems can improve our health, increase property value, provide sustainable transportation choices and even strengthen a community’s economy — especially in an urban area.
Something not everyone may know about PEC is that we’ve been working to increase public access to parks, historic sites and a number of different trail networks. This type of work helps provide more options for people in the region to enjoy the beautiful outdoors and connect with the land. Trails in urban settings can also provide a more sustainable and healthy way of traveling in and around neighborhoods. These benefits are why we have raised funds for the extension of the Warrenton Branch Greenway in Fauquier County and partnered with James Madison’s Montpelier and Grelen Market to facilitate the creation of the Montpelier-Grelen trail, to name a few.
What’s good for wildlife is often good for water quality,” said Celia Vuocolo, PEC’s wildlife habitat and stewardship specialist, as she spoke to guests at the fifth Annual Thumb Run Open House.
This sentiment was reinforced at the event, held on November 13 at the Orlean Fire Hall, by speakers Amy Johnson of Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Virginia Working Landscapes Program, Janet Davis of Hill House Farm and Nursery and Dr. Tania Cubitt of Performance Horse Nutrition LLC, whose presentations focused on grassland bird conservation, landscaping for wildlife and healthy horse pastures, respectively. While the presentation topics varied, the underlying theme was the same — land stewardship supports clean water.
Interested in managing your property or backyard for wildlife, but not sure where to start? Our guide, Managing Land in the Piedmont of Virginia for the Benefit of Birds and Other Wildlife, introduces landowners to land management options that should be considered for a variety of habitat types.
At Bean Hollow Grassfed, Mike Sands wanted to use his training to revive Over Jordan Farm’s worn-out pastures and develop a financially stable farm model. Read about our approach to this project, or listen to Mike Sands directly.
In June 2012, PEC received a grant from The Volgenau Foundation to improve wildlife habitat in the northwestern region of Fauquier County. This project area is geographically defined by the Thumb Run watershed; all water in the region drains into Thumb Run and eventually the Rappahannock River. Wildlife habitat improvement goals for this project align with state priority wildlife species including: early successional song birds, pollinators, fresh water aquatic species such as mussels, amphibians, and more. Improving the connectivity of habitat “corridors” such as riparian buffers is a key focus of the project. Habitat practices that have other environmental benefits such as improved water quality are also of high priority. Get involved!