Land conservation makes a difference in the region
Land plays an essential role in guaranteeing that communities have healthy and thriving spaces. The Trust works throughout the region to balance growth and development with land conservation.
In the past fiscal year, NVCT assisted three private landowners who chose to permanently conserve their land. The new conservation properties, located in the City of Alexandria, and in Prince William and Loudoun counties, are in both urban and rural areas, and protect working land, tree cover, water resources, and open space. These and other lands conserved in the last two years were designated as Virginia Treasures by the Commonwealth.
The pressures of development are increasing throughout the area. In response, NVCT has sharpened its commitment to land conservation, connecting with the essential public issues in our region that focus on clean water, clean air, and good health. All of NVCT’ s service area is within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and that offers many opportunities to protect water and natural resources on an even larger scale.
As NVCT moves into the future, it will heed three calls to action to drive land conservation in the region: conserve natural areas; improve water quality; and strengthen the organization.
Land conservation provides natural places for children to play, scenic views and green spaces that help improve health and well-being, working farms that sustain us, nature preserves and landscapes that contribute to our quality of life, and historic homes that connect us to the past. These benefits are of vital importance now and for future generations.
Our Mission: NVCT conserves land that has natural, historical, and cultural value to our communities
Since 1994, NVCT has conserved more than 6,500 acres in the region. The Trust holds 99 deeds of conservation easements on 3,357 acres, and owns 20 properties.
The Trust was instrumental in helping the state protect the 2,872-acre Crow’ s Nest Natural Area Preserve in Stafford County, and owns a 70-acre great blue heron rookery on adjoining land. The rookery protects one of the largest nesting areas in the Chesapeake watershed.
NVCT protects conservation values on parcels of all sizes in urban and rural communities in the region.
The Trust works in Arlington, Caroline, Fairfax, Fauquier, King George, Loudoun, Prince William, Spotsylvania, and Stafford counties, and in cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, and Manassas.
Great blue herons nest high in the trees at the Potomac Creek Heronry, Stafford
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