RICHMOND—The Department of Conservation and Recreation today announced $7.5 million in Virginia Land Conservation Foundation (VLCF) grants, which will fund 30 conservation projects and protect 8,000 acres of land across the commonwealth.
Private land trusts, local governments and state agencies will use the VLCF grants to acquire and protect significant lands in the following categories: farmland, forestry, historic resources, natural areas, and parks and open space. The grant selection process incorporates ConserveVirginia, the commonwealth’s innovative land conservation strategy that is based on “smart map” technology.
“The Virginia Land Conservation Foundation grants program helps protect our most important natural resources and provide more access to the great outdoors for everyone to enjoy,” said Governor Northam. “Through ConserveVirginia, we’re making sure we prioritize protecting lands that bring the most benefit, addressing historic inequalities, and widening our public land program into new areas. Each one of these grants is an opportunity to protect public space in our local communities.”
“From working farms to forests, historic cultural treasures, natural area preserves and other open spaces, the latest round of Virginia Land Conservation Foundation grants will protect a wide variety of lands throughout the Commonwealth,” said Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources Ann Jennings, who serves as chair of the 19-member VLCF board that votes on the grants. “These funded projects meet high standards to help provide clean water to the citizens of the Commonwealth and to restore the Chesapeake Bay.”
An interagency workgroup reviewed and scored grant applications and made recommendations for funding to the board, which approved the awards on Oct. 27. The Department of Conservation and Recreation provides administrative support to the VLCF through the state Office of Land Conservation.
“These awarded projects demonstrate significant progress toward achieving the Commonwealth’s land conservation goals,” said Department of Conservation and Recreation Director Clyde E. Cristman. “As the statewide clearinghouse for land conservation, the Department of Conservation and Recreation and our partner agencies work to ensure the competitive grant process provides the greatest positive impact across the Commonwealth.”
This was the third round of awards approved by the VLCF board in 2021. A total of $3.4 million in grants was approved Feb. 5 and another $4.8 million was approved on June 10.
The following table gives the VLCF funding amount (not the total project cost) for the projects in the five categories.
Farmlands Preservation
| Project name | Location | Requesting organization | Grant amount | Description |
| Forkland Dairy | Cumberland County | Virginia Outdoors Foundation | $500,000 | Conservation easement to protect a 920-acre farm. |
| Thomas Neck Family Farm | Essex County | Virginia Outdoors Foundation | $879,750 | Conservation easement to protect 841 acres of farm and forest lands. |
| Kevin Jones Farm (Phase II) | Stafford County | Stafford County | $120,250 | Conservation easement to protect a 70-acre historic farm. |
Forest Preservation
| Project name | Location | Requesting Organization | Grant Amount | Description |
| Pierces Lowgrounds | Greensville County | Virginia Outdoors Foundation | $350,000 | Open-space easement to protect 2,860 acres of forest and farmland. |
| Roanoke River Working Forest | Charlotte County | The Conservation Fund | $464,000 | Conservation easement to protect 932 acres of forestland next to a new forest. |
| Over the River and Point Beach | Southampton County | Department of Forestry | $225,000 | Conservation easement to protect 322 riverfront acres including a bottomland peninsula. |
| Poplar Hollow | Shenandoah County | Department of Forestry | $300,000 | Conservation easement to protect 611 acres next to a forest. |
| Caroline Diamonds | Caroline County | Meadowview Biological Research Station Inc. | $161,000 | Acquisition and conservation of 96 acres of a rare gravel bog and oak barren uplands. |
Historic Preservation
| Project name | Location | Requesting organization | Grant amount | Description |
| Siegen Forest | Orange County | The Germanna Foundation | $647,370 | Conservation easement to protect 170 acres of the Wilderness Battlefield with 19th century archeological artifacts. |
| Campbell’s Bridge Mills | Chesterfield County | Capital Region Land Conservancy | $375,000 | Acquisition and conservation of 5 acres with historic resources at Campbell’s Bridge. |
| CCTSC Restoration Project | Campbell County | Campbell County Training School Complex, Inc. | $69,075 | Conservation easement to protect a 9-acre property with four historic buildings. |
| Pegram’s Battery Tract at Cedar Mountain | Culpeper County | American Battlefield Trust | $249,876 | Acquisition and conservation of 45-acre Pegram’s Battery Tract in the Cedar Mountain Battlefield. |
| Edwards | Rockingham County | Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation | $158,679 | Acquisition and conservation of 107 acres of high ground in the Battle of Port Republic. |
Natural Areas Protection
| Project name | Location | Requesting organization | Grant amount | Description |
| Difficult Creek South Addition | Halifax County | Department of Conservation and Recreation – Natural Heritage Division | $30,000 | Acquisition of a 2-acre addition to the natural area preserve that will connect with a significant 7,300-acre protected site. |
| Pedlar Hills Glades Natural Area Preserve Addition | Montgomery County | Department of Conservation and Recreation – Natural Heritage Division | $515,000 | Acquisition of a 156-acre addition to the natural area preserve to protect rare species habitats and rare woodland natural communities. |
| Deep Run Ponds Natural Area Preserve Land Donation | Rockingham County | Department of Conservation and Recreation – Natural Heritage Division | $20,000 | Acquisition of a 1-acre addition to the natural area preserve that supports mature forests. |
| Dendron Swamp Natural Area Preserve Addition | Sussex County | Department of Conservation and Recreation – Natural Heritage Division | $300,000 | Acquisition of a 102-acre addition to the natural area preserve to protect a Bald Cypress – Water Tupelo Brownwater Swamp community. |
| Poor Mountain Natural Area Preserve -Northeast Addition | Roanoke County | Department of Conservation and Recreation – Natural Heritage Division | $236,847 | Acquisition of a 77-acre addition to the natural area preserve to protect habitat for the globally rare piratebush (Buckleya distichophylla) and buffer for prescribed fire management needed to maintain the preserve. |
| Chestnut Creek Wetlands Natural Area Preserve Addition | Floyd County | Department of Conservation and Recreation – Natural Heritage Division | $165,000 | Acquisition of an 11-acre addition to the natural area preserve to protect habitat for two endangered animals and a globally rare plant. |
| Difficult Creek North Addition | Halifax County | Department of Conservation and Recreation – Natural Heritage Division | $50,153 | Acquisition of a 1-acre addition to the natural area preserve to enable prescribed fire management needed to maintain the preserve. |
| The Cedars Natural Area Preserve Powell River Addition | Lee County | Department of Conservation and Recreation – Natural Heritage Division | $50,000 | Acquisition of a 205-acre addition to the natural area preserve to protect habitats for newly discovered, significantly rare plant species and for rare mussels, fish and aquatic species. |
| Pinnacle State Natural Area Expansion – Weaver Creek | Russell County | The Nature Conservancy | $133,000 | Acquisition of a 92-acre addition to the natural area preserve including a riparian corridor along a significant tributary to the Clinch River. |
Open Space and Parks
| Project name | Location | Requesting organization | Grant amount | Description |
| Copper Creek Initiative | Scott County | Department of Wildlife Resources | $100,000 | Acquisition of 8 acres at Copper Creek and the Clinch River for new public fishing and boating access. |
| Camp Kum-Ba-Yah | City of Lynchburg | Virginia Outdoors Foundation | $250,000 | Conservation easement on 42 acres to protect urban forest and recreational programs. |
| Eleanor Park Conservation Easement | Town of Colonial Beach | Town of Colonial Beach | $387,416 | Conservation easement to protect green space with mature hardwood trees along the Potomac River. |
| The Green at the Science Museum of Virginia | City of Richmond | Virginia Outdoors Foundation | $250,000 | Acquisition of 5 acres to turn a parking lot into an urban park and sustainable landscape. |
| Brander Street | City of Richmond | Capital Region Land Conservancy | $150,000 | Acquisition and easement to protect 6 acres next to Ancarrow’s Landing and across from Great Shiplock Park. The path of the Richmond Slave Trail crosses the property. |
| Basic Park – Natural Area | City of Waynesboro | City of Waynesboro | $87,500 | Acquisition of 44 acres to provide public access to forest trails and river fishing and to protect buffers along the South River and Steele Run. |
| Brush Mountain Park – Edison Property Expansion | Town of Blacksburg | Town of Blacksburg | $210,000 | Acquisition and easement to protect 207 acres of richly biodiverse forest habitat to become part of the Brush Mountain Park system, linking to a Jefferson National Forest trail system. |
| Ballenger Creek Nature Preserve | Fluvanna County | Tadpole Land and Trail Conservancy | $65,084 | Acquisition and easement of 73 acres of forest along Ballenger Creek for public access and trails. |
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