As PEC’s Tree Planting and Stewardship Coordinator, I’d like to invite you to join our conservation team this fall to plant native trees and shrubs along waterways in the Virginia Piedmont. We’re looking for volunteers to help out on four different days in October and November.
PEC Conservation Funds
Land conservation funds managed by The Piedmont Environmental Council or Piedmont Foundation.
Re-aligning Land and Nature at the Holden Farm in Loudoun County
In 2021, the Holdens partnered with The Piedmont Environmental Council to permanently conserve their rolling 35-acre farm just south of the historic Quaker village of Lincoln.
Rappahannock Headwater Stream Initiative
The Headwater Stream Initiative is a joint project of The Piedmont Environmental Council and Friends of the Rappahannock.
Working Together for Clean Water and the Brook Trout
PEC has been working with state agencies, partner organizations and landowners to improve fish passage across the Piedmont, one barrier at a time.
Appalachian Conservation Corps blaze new trail at Rappahannock County Park
Rappahannock County Park has been visited recently by the Appalachian Conservation Corps (ACC), an AmeriCorps program of Conservation Legacy. The Piedmont Environmental Council, PEC’s Krebser Fund for Rappahannock County and Friends of the Rappahannock (FOR) have partnered with the ACC to bring a crew of 6 young adults to the Piedmont region for tree plantings and trail maintenance projects.
History at the Top of Bull Run Mountain
Stretching 15 miles from the village of Aldie in Loudoun County south to New Baltimore in Fauquier County, the Bull Run Mountains have stories to tell. The mountain range is home to 10 unique plant, forest and woodland ecosystems supporting uncommon and threatened plant and animal species. Its hills were the scene of the Battle at Thoroughfare Gap during the Civil War. The rocky ridges and quartzite cliffs on its western side, along with the shadow of its eastern toe and its hollows, are said to have once guided slaves fleeing bondage via the Underground Railroad.
Catoctin Creek Conservation Fund
The Piedmont Environmental Council’s Catoctin Creek Conservation Fund assists with the costs of conservation easements and land purchase transactions to protect the agricultural, historic, rural, and scenic character of the Catoctin Creek watershed in Loudoun County, Virginia.
Julian Scheer Fauquier Land Conservation Fund
The Piedmont Environmental Council’s Julian Scheer Fauquier Land Conservation Fund (the “Fauquier Fund”) is dedicated to protecting land with important natural, historic, scenic, and agricultural resources in Fauquier County, Virginia. An advisory committee, composed of local residents and PEC staff, helps identify potential projects and provide information to landowners about protecting their land.
The Little Park that Could
Along the Rush River in the town of Washington, just a few miles east of the Shenandoah National Park, the 7.3-acre Rappahannock County Park is best known by locals for its pirate-ship playground, skate park, tennis courts, and picnic area. But, it has also come into focus recently for its natural beauty.
Webinar: Fauquier Farm and Land Conservation
PEC’s Julian Scheer Fauquier Land Conservation Fund and the Fauquier County Agricultural Development Department hosted this webinar for Fauquier County landowners interested in learning how to protect their land with a conservation easement, and also to promote the open application period for Fauquier County’s PDR program, which is currently accepting applications through June 30, 2020.