This comprehensive handbook (Download the PDF (1.5mb)) provides an overview of sources of public funding available to landowners and organizations for land conservation in Virginia's northern Piedmont region and throughout the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Sources of Funds for Conservation includes both state and national programs for protecting land with environmentally sensitive ecosystems and habitats, such as streams and wetlands, as well as working forests, pasture, and cropland. The programs provide either full grants, cost-sharing and low-cost loan assistance for on-the-ground conservation measures or benefits to landowners through reduced taxes. All the programs have been enacted with the purpose of protecting the Chesapeake Bay and Virginia's other natural resources, as well as preserving open space, working landscapes and rural quality of life.

The Piedmont Environmental Council has detailed over seventeen existing programs in this handbook, including:

* Tax Incentives for the Donation of Conservation Easements
* Conservation Reserve Program
* Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program
* Environmental Quality Incentives Program
* Wetlands Reserve Program
* Virginia Aquatic Resources Trust Fund
* Farm and Ranchland Protection Program
* Forest Land Enhancement Program
* Forest Legacy Program
* Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program
* Partners for Fish and Wildlife
* Land and Water Conservation Fund
* Transportation Enhancement Program
* Best Management Practices for Forestry and Agriculture
* Virginia Land Conservation Fund
* Open Space Lands Preservation Trust Fund
* Purchase of Development Rights Programs

Special thanks to the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund, Town Creek Foundation, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, all of which provided funding that helped produce and distribute this handbook.

Download the PDF (1.5mb)