Conservation News

April 2015

from the Land Trust of Virginia

There has been much discussion within the land trust community about how we measure success. The Land Trust of Virginia’s work involves a broad range of activities in support of our main goal, the conservation of land, and in order to be successful we must constantly improve all aspects of our organization.

A good measure of our ongoing efforts to improve upon our past achievements is our reaccreditation by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission in August 2014. The preparation of our application for renewal of our accreditation, and the review by the Commission, took a year to complete. As with our initial accreditation in early 2009, we were among the first land trusts in the country to achieve this reaccreditation status. The time required for this rigorous review of LTV’s adherence to the Land Trust Alliance’s Standards and Practices will serve us well as we make plans to expand our easement intake and stewardship programs.

In addition to the 630 acres protected by four conservation easements donated to LTV in 2014, we began work with almost a dozen other landowners who have expressed an interest in making similar donations in 2015. Several of these easements have already been drafted and are being prepared for review by our Easement and Stewardship Committee. The properties

are located in eight counties, including three in which LTV does not yet hold easements.

In 2014 LTV continued to build on previous successes with our Preserving Rural Villages and Communities Initiative, a program designed to help protect the areas surrounding rural villages in Loudoun and Fauquier Counties. As we begin 2015, two new studies are underway, one for the village of Lucketts in northern Loudoun County, and another for the villages of Rectortown and Delaplane in northern Fauquier County.

Several years ago LTV produced a detailed mapping study of properties fronting on Goose Creek in Loudoun and Fauquier Counties. This study, in cooperation with the Goose Creek Association, identified parcels that should be considered the highest priorities for conservation. Our success with this study provided LTV the basis for undertaking our largest mapping study to date, our Blue Ridge Conservation Priorities Initiative. This initiative started in 2014 and LTV will complete the first phase of this project in 2015.

LTV exists to help landowners who wish to permanently protect their properties through the donation of conservation easements. We look forward to building on our past successes to make 2015 our best year yet.

A Look Back at 2014 and a Look Ahead at 2015

with special feature Sculpture in

the FieldsSunday, May 31st from

3:00 pm to 6:30 pmat Lee Hall in The Plains,

VirginiaLee Hall is the home of Chris and Li l la Ohrstrom, and is the centerpiece of their 160-acre farm. Several years ago Chris and Lilla protected their beautiful property with a conservation

easement. Lilla is a well-known artist and teacher and is the owner of the Youngblood Art Studio in The Plains.

For more information and tickets, visit landtrustva.org/events or call our office at (540)

Please join us atThe Land Trust of Virginia’s 17th Annual

Garden Party to Save Virginia’s Countryside

Please note that this year ‘s Garden Party is beginning an hour earlier than usual so that our many guests who also wish to attend the Middleburg Humane Foundation’s 21st Birthday Bash, which is being held on the same date, can fit both events into their busy spring schedules. The MHF event will be at the MHF Farm in Marshall from 4:00 to 8:30 pm. 

The Garden Party will also feature a large silent auction highlighted by this incredible six bedroom beachfront villa on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Don’t miss it!

The Land Trust of Virginia will hold a conservation easement workshop at the Lucketts Community Center on April 8th 2015 from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm.

This latest workshop in LTV’s Preserving Rural Villages and Communities Initiative is designed to reach out to landowners and citizens of Lucketts and surrounding areas, and provide them with information about the significant conservation values in their community and the means to protect these values in perpetuity. Using LTV’s in-house Geographic Information System (GIS), this initiative involves detailed research and analysis of conservation values such as open space, natural and historic resources in small communities like Lucketts. LTV staff then verifies the data through fieldwork. These conservation values are what make places like Lucketts so special - beautiful open farmland and forests surrounding a historic village center.

Once the research work is completed these presentations are given to educate the community and local residents about the conservation values on their properties. A tax attorney will also give an overview of how landowners can benefit from the tax incentives associated with conservation easements.

Come join us!

Lucketts Rural Village Initiative Presentation

Many large tracts of land within the study area are unprotected - leaving Lucketts vulnerable to loss of natural, historic, and cultural resources.

LTV studied conservation values on private land within 3 miles of the village of Lucketts - come join us and learn what we found!

Phil Paschall has undergraduate and law degrees from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Those who know Phil well will tell you that his long-time work as a contract attorney with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration may be his “day job”, but that his heart’s work, and his real passion, is land conservation. Since the 1970’s, he has given generously of his time to a number of organizations whose work focuses on the protection of the natural, scenic and historic resources in Virginia.

Phil has been a member of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club for over thirty-five years and serves as their land acquisition officer. He has worked with PATC on many successful projects to protect land both along the Appalachian Trail corridor and within its viewshed in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

Phil and his wife, Betty, are long-time residents of Waterford in northern Loudoun County. His commitment to the conservation of his home community is evident in the time he has given as a director of the Waterford Foundation and his ongoing efforts to protect one of Loudoun County’s oldest and best known villages.

Phil is one of LTV’s longest serving board members, and is the Co-Chairman of our Easement and Stewardship Committee. He was a part of LTV when it was a small all-volunteer land trust and was a key participant in its transition to becoming the larger and professionally staffed organization that it is today.

His depth of knowledge about land conservation and his devotion to the work of the Land Trust of Virginia has made Phil an invaluable member of our organization and one to whom we owe a large debt of gratitude.

Board Member Profile:

Phil Paschall

Many thanksto our Business Sponsors

Carole Taylor & George RollMiddleburg Real Estate

Conservation Partner:

Loudoun Wildlife ConservancyLoudoun Wildlife Conservancy (LWC) is a local, all-volunteer environmental non-profit dedicated to promoting the preservation and proliferation of healthy wildlife habitats in Loudoun County, Virginia. LWC has four primary initiatives: 1) Environmental Education and Outreach; 2) Environmental Monitoring, including Stream Monitoring, Amphibian Monitoring, Bluebird Nestbox Monitoring, Christmas Bird Counts, and Butterfly Counts; 3) Habitat Restoration; 4) Conservation Advocacy.

For the past few years, LWC has been monitoring amphibian populations on Gum Farm, one of the Land Trust of Virginia’s easements near Lucketts. This historic property contains a globally rare wetland community, the Piedmont Upland

Depression Swamp, which i s home to Wood Frogs, Spring Peepers, Jefferson Salamanders, Spotted Salamanders, Marbled Salamanders and Fairy Shrimp. The monitoring at Gum Farm is assisting LWC in its efforts to develop an inventory of the species present in Loudoun County, to track populations and trends, and to identify areas of critical habitat.

For more information on the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, please visit: www.loudounwildlife.org

Upcoming Events from our partner organizations and friends:Loudoun Hunt Point-to-Point Races Oatlands Plantation, April 12, 2015

Great Meadow Foundation Virginia Gold Cup: Saturday May 2, 2015 Great Meadow International: June 19-21, 2015 Twilight Polo: Saturday nights beginning May 9, 2015

Fifth Annual Joseph Miller Abstract Photography ExhibitA spectacular display of talent, skill, creativity and imagination in photographic artistry, and a testament to an ever-increasing interest in and love of abstract photography due in large part to the efforts of its founder and namesake. Located at 4811 Catharpin Road, Gainesville, VA. Exhibit hours are as follows: Friday May 1 – May 24, 2015: Every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm; Monday May 25: 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm.

Summer Safari 2015Sponsored by Piedmont Environmental Council, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, and Shenandoah National Park Trust: Saturday, June 6, 4:00 pm – 9:00 pm, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, 1500 Remount Road, Front Royal, VA. Now in its fifth year, this much-anticipated gala celebrates Virginia’s Living Landscapes and includes self-guided wildlife walks; opportunities to mingle with and learn from National Park Rangers, Smithsonian scientists and conservation professionals; and cocktails, dinner and music overlooking the national park. Tickets are $250. Sponsorships are available. Go to http://snptrust.org/2015/02/summer-safari-2015/ for more information and to purchase tickets for this exclusive event.

Blue Ridge Conservation Priorities Initiative Update

The Land Trust of Virginia is nearing the completion of the first phase of its Blue Ridge Conservation Priorities Initiative, a study of approximately 200,000 acres along the Blue Ridge Mountains. LTV’s study area extends from the northern end of the Shenandoah National Park all the way to the confluence of the Shenandoah River and the Potomac River at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Only about 30,000 acres, or roughly fifteen percent of this section of the Blue Ridge is currently protected by national or state parks, or by conservation easements donated by individual landowners.

LTV’s mapping focuses on natural resources and conservation values found on properties within the study area. The data gathered includes such conservation priorities as the species richness of mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles that can be found on these properties. Also considered were parcels identified on the National Wetlands Inventory, parcels that contain flood zones, hydric soils, and perennial streams, and parcels within a 500-foot buffer of State Scenic Rivers. Other mapping highlights parcels with greater than 15% slopes, parcels containing forest cover, and parcels with prime farmland soils. Overlaid on these natural resource maps are layers showing National and State Scenic Byways, areas of historical and archeological importance, areas within the viewshed of the Appalachian Trail Corridor, and areas determined

b y t h e V i r g i n i a D e p a r t m e n t o f Conservation and Recreation to be the most vulnerable to development pressures.

These mapping criteria, and several o t h e r s , w e r e a n a l y z e d f o r t h e i r occurrence on parcels larger than fifty acres. From this analysis, LTV developed a list of 288 properties containing just over 40,000 acres as the highest priorities for conservation. This is almost equal to the entire acreage that is currently either publicly or privately protected within the 200,000-acre study area.

LTV will hold a series of presentations in April for landowners in Loudoun, Fauquier, Clarke and Warren Counties whose properties have the highest conservation priorities. Meetings will also be held with organizations that share an interest in the conservation of the Blue Ridge Mountains within the study area.

Looking north from the southern boundary of the Blue Ridge Study area, straddling Fauquier County (right)and Warren County (left)

Lick Branch at Stone Oak

In a Secret Canyon II, Freeman Patterson

John Magistro has decided to restart his wetlands and stream consulting business and will be leaving LTV in early April.  John had originally intended to resume his consulting work in late 2013, but when Don Owen announced his retirement from his position as LTV’s Executive Director in November of that year, John agreed to stay on at LTV and assume the interim role of “Acting Executive Director” until the board decided what to look for in a new Executive Director and until a search was conducted for Don’s replacement.  Since then John has handled this new set of responsibilities while continuing his work as our Director of Conservation. We appreciate everything that John has done for LTV, not only during the past year or so, but also over the previous four years he has worked with us.  We will miss him, but we know that he is returning to a professional path he had been on for many years prior to joining LTV.  Many thanks and all of our best wishes to you, John! 

Welcome to LTV! Leslie Van Sant will join the Land Trust of Virginia as our new Executive Director on April 1st.  Leslie joins LTV with a wealth of administrative experience gained in a career that has focused on communications

and development work. Leslie has been a part of the Loudoun and Fauquier County community for many years.  She was the President of the Great Meadows Foundation (GMF) from 2002 to 2008.   Prior to joining GMF, Leslie worked in communications and development for a number of non-profits including the American National Red Cross and the UN Foundation. Since then she has been consulting with several organizations to strengthen their outreach and fundraising efforts.  She is also currently on the Board of Directors of the Middleburg Montessori School and the Atoka Preservation Society.

 LTV looks forward to having Leslie's guidance as we continue the expansion of our easement intake and stewardship programs.   Clare Rodenberg has recently joined LTV as our Mapping Specialist.  Her work will support LTV’s easement intake and stewardship programs. 

Clare is a Delaplane resident who graduated from the Wakefield School and went on to earn a degree in Environmental Science from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA.  She is currently completing the first year of UMW’s Masters degree program in Geospatial Analysis (computer-based mapping).  Clare has a strong interest in using her mapping and research skills for land conservation. 

She is already working on a variety of projects including LTV’s Preserving Rural Villages Initiative and Blue Ridge Conservation Priorities Initiative. She will also assist in the production of baseline documentation reports (BDR’s) for our new conservation easements.  

Farewell and Thank You

P.O. BOX 14MIDDLEBURG, VIRGINIA 20118

2014 - 2015Board of DirectorsBirge S. Watkins, ChairmanChris Dematatis, President Carole Taylor, Vice PresidentSally Kurtz, SecretaryJames Behan, TreasurerHarry AthertonMalcom BaldwinJay BryantHenry C. DayPatricia EwingLilla OhrstromPhil PaschallJames RichClaude SchochTurner T. Smith, Jr.George Thompson

Advisory CouncilAva AbramowitzChilds F. BurdenSteffanie BurgevinPatric CopelandPenny DenegreWayne GibbensMissy JanesMerritt JonesYakir LubowskyMalcom MathesonMary Leigh McDanielAnne McIntoshMs. Allen OhrstromLinda PorterLaura RheintgenKathy Ribaudo Schuyler RichardsonEdith Smart

Staff & ContractorsLeslie Van SantExecutive Director

Ashton ColeDirector of Conservation and Stewardship

Louise SearleOutreach CoordinatorClare RodenbergMapping Specialist

Stacie RaedelOffice Manager

Stephen C. PriceLegal Counsel

Hunton and Williams LLPPro Bono Counsel

Non-Profit U.S. Postage

PAIDMiddleburg, VA

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Volunteer Profile:Kathy Ribaudo

After twenty-six years as an attorney at the Interstate Commerce Commission, Kathy Ribaudo retired from the General Counsel’s office in 1996 and made the move from Foggy Bottom to Middleburg.   Kathy’s “retirement” schedule, however, looks at times like a full-time job.  Her engagement with many organizations in the local community includes generous contributions of her time to LTV, especially her involvement with LTV’s Garden Party.  After attending several Garden Parties and learning more about LTV, she knew she wanted to help in some way.  The time she gives and the energy she brings to our work has made this important annual fundraising event even more

successful.  We appreciate all that Kathy has done for LTV and are grateful for her ongoing efforts on our behalf. Thanks, Kathy!

Become a member (or renew your annual membership!) at www.landtrustva.org.

Kathy with Birge Watkins, Chairman.