Many tools are available to preserve rural land, from private land conservation to Purchase of Development Rights programs, land use taxation, zoning provisions and more.
Our Work
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!
Planning and Zoning Terms
Definitions and descriptions of important terms and concepts.
Controlling the Costs of Growth
Uncontrolled growth can cause taxes to skyrocket, but with good planning and the use of proffers and other tools, communities can accommodate growth without a budget crisis.
Revolutionary Soup: Pushing for a Food Revolution
When Will Richey bought Revolutionary Soup in downtown Charlottesville five years ago, he started working with local farmers to provide as many of the restaurant's ingredients as possible — from fresh, flavorful salad greens to the meat in his popular lamb curry soup.
Caromont Farm: Farmstead Cheeses with the Flavor of Virginia
Gail Hobbs-Page was given her first pair of goats as a young child growing up on a farm in North Carolina. Her father gave her the animals because he wanted to try goat's milk. Little did he know, that decision would mark his daughter's life.
Retreat Farm: Healthier Food, Healthier People
Frank and Cindy Gillan manage 100 acres of the beautiful Retreat Farm in Rapidan, VA. When the Gillans came to the farm almost 12 years ago, they started with a small vegetable garden. Today, that garden has grown into a five acre plot that produces a variety of fruits and vegetables, and the Gillans are raising about 100 Karakul sheep, 25 Piedmontese cows, 60 chickens and a few pigs.
Better Comprehensive Planning
Every locality in Virginia must express its goals in a Comprehensive Plan, a twenty-year vision which must be reviewed and/or revised every five years. These documents are of foundational importance for communities that wish to shape their own future.
Waterpenny Farm: Sustainable Farming Offers a Sustainable Lifestyle
Rachel Bynum and Eric Plaksin of Waterpenny Farm in Sperryville, V.A., were drawn to farming for a number of reasons, but, for Bynum, the lifestyle of small-scale farming was a major factor in her career decision. Rachel majored in environmental studies in college, and was first exposed to sustainable farming in a class.
The Wine Kitchen
A few years ago, Jason Miller and Michael Mercer noticed a hole in Leesburg’s restaurant scene. The quaint town was surrounded by farms and vineyards, and yet there was no farm-to-table restaurant — no restaurant that seemed dedicated to relying on local food sources.
Potomac Vegetable Farm
The vision of “the American farm” has long been that of the family farm — a plot of land that is worked and managed by a family, and then passed down from generation to generation. Today, however, that is often not the case — and Potomac Vegetable Farms (PVF) is living, growing proof.