PEC Properties

Video: Prescribed Burn at the Piedmont Memorial Overlook

Video: Prescribed Burn at the Piedmont Memorial Overlook

As part of our habitat management efforts at the Piedmont Memorial Overlook near Sky Meadows State Park, the Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) conducted a prescribed burn on four acres of our native warm-season grass meadow.

Community-based Partnerships Take Root & Grow in Loudoun County

Community-based Partnerships Take Root & Grow in Loudoun County

The Piedmont Environmental Council is proudly working with multiple community partners to support local farms and farmers, create more public access to outdoor spaces, and support the county’s food insecure population. Some of these initiatives were inspired or amplified by the Covid-19 pandemic, while others continue to advance PEC’s core mission of protecting and promoting the Piedmont’s natural resources, rural economy, history and beauty.

George Mason University students to survey Roundabout Meadows vegetation

George Mason University students to survey Roundabout Meadows vegetation

George Mason University plant ecology students are helping The Piedmont Environmental Council measure the success of our wetlands restoration effort at Roundabout Meadows. With a grant from the Virginia Native Plant Society, the students are establishing a baseline dataset by collecting and identifying all plant species there.

July at the Piedmont Memorial Overlook

The native flower meadow our Piedmont Memorial Overlook property is almost at peak bloom!

This 50-acre property, which has one of the best views in Northern Virginia, is publicly accessible via Sky Meadows State Park. It’s a one-way 1.6-mile hike there via the Ambassador Whitehouse Trail, but many people make it a 4.6-mile loop that includes a stretch of the Appalachian Trail.

Year One on the Farm

Year One on the Farm

Loudoun County is one of the most affluent counties in the nation and simultaneously home to some 14,000 people without reliable access to affordable, nutritious food. It is consistently one of the fastest-growing counties in the nation, and yet over 200,000 acres is planned to remain rural with over 58,000 acres of permanently conserved open space. Nestled among the three roundabouts of Routes 15 and 50 and Howser’s Branch Road, lies PEC’s Community Farm. Located at the literal intersection of suburban and rural Loudoun County, it is perfectly positioned both to shine a light on the value of conservation and to make practical, tangible progress to address food insecurity in the community.