Over a 20 year period, The Piedmont Environmental Council has played a leadership role in preserving the historic and scenic landscape at Gilberts Corner. This Rte. 15 & 50 corridor serves as the symbolic gateway to the Piedmont; essentially a transition point between suburban and rural Loudoun County. PEC has defined the vision, forged the partnerships, created the policy framework and actively engaged in a series of conservation transactions covering some 326 acres that is designed to preserve the rural character of Gilberts Corner.
Conserving Your Land
Find out more about permanently protecting your land with a Conservation Easement.
Renewed Accreditation
We are happy to announce our accreditation as a land trust was renewed in August 2016 — a mark of distinction in land conservation. Initially accredited in 2011, the renewal by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission signifies its continued confidence that PEC’s lands will be protected forever.
Fenced in at Roundabout Meadows
Polluted water is not only bad for us and the environment, but it’s bad for livestock as well,” says Celia Vuocolo, habitat and stewardship specialist at PEC.
A significant stewardship project is wrapping up this fall at Roundabout Meadows, the 141- acre property near Gilbert’s Corner that was gifted to PEC in 2013. The project is focused on implementing agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs) that will keep livestock away from the property’s streams and provide a clean source of water for cattle. As part of the effort, over 2 miles of fencing and almost a mile of pipeline plumbing for a watering system have been installed.
“Our long-term plan for Roundabout Meadows is to retain its agricultural use, and we want to do so in a manner that is in harmony with being good stewards of the land and water resources, while farming continues on the property,” says Michael Kane, director of conservation at PEC.
PEC Donates Land to National Park
Shenandoah National Park just grew a little bigger and a little more beautiful. This past May, We donated a 17.2-acre property of ours in Rappahannock County to the National Park Service. A forested and vacant parcel on a mountain slope south of Sperryville, Virginia, the land is within the legislative boundary of Shenandoah National Park.
“The property is surrounded by the park on three of its four sides, so it’s a key puzzle piece,” says Carolyn Sedgwick, PEC’s Rappahannock County land conservation officer, who oversaw the donation from PEC to the National Park Service. “This great public-private partnership with the National Park Service has resulted in the expansion of one of the most important wildlife corridors on the east coast.”
The donated acreage is by an area in the national park designated as federal wilderness — the highest conservation designation for federal land — making it an important and strategic area to conserve.
Montpelier-Grelen Trail Receives “Virginia Treasures” Award
Part of a nine-mile trail system with old-growth forests and meadows, the Montpelier-Grelen Trail links the historic James Madison’s Montpelier with Grelen Nursery, a 25-year-old working tree nursery in Orange County.
What Are the Tax Benefits of an Easement?
Learn more about the tax benefits associated with donating a conservation easement.
Fauquier Hits a Conservation Milestone
A significant milestone happened this summer that took the collective effort of hundreds of landowners, farmers and families. Leading the charge, Fauquier became the first county in Virginia to forever preserve more than 100,000 acres of land using conservation easements.
Two Thousand Trees Planted
An interview with PEC’s Sustainable Habitat Program Assistant Celia Vuocolo: What type of restoration happened at the Overlook this past fall? We did a large forest-edge planting of about 2,000 trees and shrubs. The goal was to create a “soft edge” where the forest meets the meadow…
PEC Response to Threatening Online Posts
In the last couple of weeks, The Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) has been the subject of a number of articles published online. The articles relate to PEC’s monitoring and enforcement of a conservation easement on real property owned by Piedmont Agriculture Academy, LLC (“PAA”), of which Martha Boneta is a member. The history of this easement has been posted on PEC’s website for some time and can be found at this link: https://www.pecva.org/land-conservation/conserving-your-land/855-easement-on-ovoka
Making Progress at the Piedmont Overlook
It’s been busy at the Overlook these past few months! PEC is in the final year of a cost-share agreement with the Natural Resources Conservation Service to improve the property’s habitat and increase its biodiversity. The marquee part of this grant is the creation of a 17-acre native grass and wildflower meadow on land that was formerly a pasture dominated by tall fescue.