A Great Day at Eldon Farms: Annual Gathering Recap

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PEC President Chris Miller and Board Chair David Aldrich presenting a conservation award to the Akre family, owners of Eldon Farms, at the 2025 Annual Gathering. Photo by Hugh Kenny/PEC.

Dear Supporter

I want to follow up on the great event we hosted a few weeks ago, which many of you were able to attend. This year’s annual gathering on June 8 – Inspiring Conservation – was a particularly special event at a truly magnificent property that is a shining example of how conservation and thoughtful land stewardship can align to support the community, agriculture and biodiversity.

As PEC Board Chair David Aldrich framed it, our work is all about “communities connecting corridors of conservation,” people working together to combine our individual efforts that result in large landscape level connectivity with our farms, natural areas, towns and cities as an integral part of the larger whole. And despite some rain, this was PEC’s biggest annual gathering with over 400 attendees!

A big thank you to the Akre Family for hosting this year’s event at Eldon Farms, their 7,100-acre Rappahannock County property. The Akre’s commitment to establishing Eldon Farms as a community resource is a remarkable gift to Rappahannock County and the Piedmont region.

Our key message at this year’s event was how PEC is working to navigate change. Because of the collective work to conserve and restore the lands and waters of the Piedmont, we are making progress towards building a larger and more resilient network of conserved lands that improve water quality, protect wildlife habitat, improve communities, and support agriculture in our landscape. Yet we are hosting a globally significant transformation of lands for data center development that is putting unprecedented pressures on our natural resources. PEC will continue to advocate at the local and state level for policy changes to address the impacts of this industry.

We were so fortunate to have a keynote address from renowned landscape architect Thomas Woltz, principal at Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects based in Charlottesville. Woltz, who is shepherding Eldon’s transformation into a resource for all that will incorporate agriculture, community and ecological health, spoke about the intersection of conservation and cultural landscapes.

Workshop Highlights + Resources

If you missed our annual gathering or would like to revisit the workshop presentations, we invite you to check out the links below which, which along with a few additional resources, provide a recap of the afternoon sessions.

Keynote speaker Thomas Woltz presenting. Watch the highlights video of his talk. Photo by Hugh Kenny/PEC.

Workshop: A Walking Tour of Conservation at Eldon Farms

Led by Eldon Farms Geneticist and Agribusiness Manager John Genho, who was joined by PEC’s Community Farm Manager Teddy Pitsiokos, Conservation Field Representative Keely Murphy, Stewardship Coordinator Michaela Weglinski, and Plantings for the Piedmont Assistant Ellie Young.

John Genho led over 100 participants on a 3/4-mile walk around Eldon Farms, discussing the farm’s evolution toward rotational grazing, improved soil health, and land stewardship. He highlighted Eldon’s commitment to preserving land and water, prioritizing nature and wildlife, and promoting biodiversity. The discussion emphasized the importance of experimentation and employing trial and error to inform what works and what doesn’t, such as for managing invasive plant species, practicing seasonal burning, and preserving and promoting wildlife habitat.

Not only did participants learn about best practices from Eldon Farms, but had the chance to connect with fellow landowners about their experiences. It was a great reminder that valuable knowledge about more sustainable land management isn’t limited to technical experts from PEC and our partners; it also resides with many of our neighbors and community members.

Eldon Farms’ John Genho talking about conservation practices during the walking tour. Photo by Lindsey Loving/PEC.

Workshop: Connectivity and Larger Landscapes – from Blue Ridge to the Bay

Led by PEC’s Director of Conservation Mike Kane and Rappahannock-Rapidan Conservation Program ManagerBryn Sonnett. Deputy Director of Conservation Valerie Peterson joined as a moderator and Bettina Ring, Virginia State Director for The Nature Conservancy (TNC), joined for the post-presentation discussion.

Mike and Bryn discussed how Eldon Farms is part of the larger conservation landscape and an essential piece in connecting the Blue Ridge Mountains to the lower Rappahannock River watershed. They discussed how the Upper Rappahannock River watershed is a globally significant conservation area and the work, including land conservation, wildlife habitat enhancement, water quality improvement and public access, PEC and many partners are doing in this area to accelerate conservation efforts. Along with programs like Plantings for the Piedmont and the Virginia Grassland Bird Initiative, PEC employs several tools to accomplish this work including the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) ACEP-ALE program and the American Farmland Trust’s Land Transfer Navigators Program. 

Bettina Ring, joined the Q & A session to discuss how The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) work in Virginia contributes to the larger landscape. She highlighted restoration efforts with the Longleaf Pine, the Cumberland Forest Project resulting in TNC’s largest-ever acquisition in the eastern U.S. and their coastal resilience work with the Volgenau Virginia Coast Reserve.

Workshop: How to Meet the Demand for Native Plants – The Importance of Native Plants in Restoring the Upper Rappahannock

Panel discussion moderated by PEC Senior Advisor and Director of Strategic Partnerships John McCarthy, with PEC Plantings for the Piedmont Program Coordinator Linnea Sherman, PEC Virginia Grassland Bird Initiative Assistant Lauria McShane, Hill House Nursery’s Janet Davis, Sunnyside Farm & Conservancy’s Nick Lapham and co-owner of Piedmont Nursery Nick Heflin.

The panel provided a broad overview of the rising demand for native plants with Sunnyside Conservancy’s Nick Lapham offering the land owner perspective, Janet Davis representing the native plant grower perspective and Nick Heflin speaking to the process of installing native plants. The panel emphasized that converting to natives is an iterative process that begins with tackling small, manageable projects. Linnea Sherman and Lauria McShane shared resources (listed above) that can help property owners who are curious about native plants.

Our panel of PEC staff and partners share their perspectives on how to meet the demand for native plants. Photo by Hugh Kenny/PEC.

Workshop: Data Centers & Virginia’s Clean Energy Future

Presentation by PEC’s Director of Land Use Julie Bolthouse and Senior Energy & Climate Advisor Ashish Kapoor.

Julie and Ashish’s energy briefing offered a comprehensive overview of Virginia’s rapidly evolving energy landscape and its intersection with data center development. The session highlighted how Virginia has become the world’s largest data center hub, consuming 25.6% of the state’s electricity, with demand projected to more than double by 2045. This explosive growth, driven largely by AI and cloud computing needs, is creating unprecedented challenges for our electric grid and pushing back progress toward clean energy goals.

Against a backdrop of the urgent need for policy reform through enhanced transparency, state oversight, fair cost allocation and efficiency incentives, their presentation highlighted Virginia’s progress under the Clean Economy Act, including advances in utility-scale solar development and the critical role of distributed generation, battery storage and innovative solutions like agrivoltaics.

Participants gained insights into practical next steps, from supporting legislative initiatives like the Virtual Power Plant Program to implementing smart grid technologies and advancing community solar projects, as well as how strategic policy changes and clean energy investments can help Virginia meet growing demand while protecting ratepayers and advancing our sustainability goals.

All in, the day was a great success. With many thanks to our generous annual gathering sponsors Jean Perin, George Ohrstrom, II, Helen DuBois, David Aldrich, Joe Gale and Ryan Crabbe for their ongoing partnership and support, and to the Akre Family and the wonderful staff at Eldon Farms for their generosity in hosting us.

If you enjoyed the event, please consider making a special donation at pecva.org/give to help us put on events like this in the future and continue our work.

Make a Special Donation

Whether you were able to attend the annual gathering or not, we hope you’ll join us in celebrating all we’ve been able to achieve together in our region. Your unwavering commitment to protecting and restoring the lands and waters of the Virginia Piedmont while building stronger, more sustainable communities inspires us every day.

Yours sincerely,

Chris Miller
President
[email protected]
540-347-2334 x7100