Governor Northam has signed into law important legislation preserving the integrity of conservation easements throughout Virginia.
Press Center
Please address general press inquiries to Cindy Sabato at csabato@pecva.org or 540-347-2334 x7021 — or to the point of contact listed in a specific press release. You can also get in touch with PEC on twitter: @piedmontenviron.
![Local Land Conservation Total in 2020](https://www.pecva.org/wp-content/uploads/easement-map-2020-cross-section-1-1024x512.jpg)
Local Land Conservation Total in 2020
5,287 acres of land were protected by conservation easements last year.
![Piedmont Environmental Council announces staff changes for Charlottesville and Albemarle, Culpeper, Greene and Madison counties](https://www.pecva.org/wp-content/uploads/adam-chris-joint-photo-3.jpg)
Piedmont Environmental Council announces staff changes for Charlottesville and Albemarle, Culpeper, Greene and Madison counties
Piedmont Environmental Council President Chris Miller is pleased to announce the appointment of Chris Hawk as its Land Use Field Representative in Albemarle and Orange counties and of Adam Gillenwater as Senior Policy Manager & Land Use Field Representative in Culpeper, Madison and Green counties. Both began their new positions on October 30 and work out of PEC’s Charlottesville office.
![Ovoka Farm joins Piedmont Environmental Council’s Farm to Food Bank initiative with 10,000 pound meat donation](https://www.pecva.org/wp-content/uploads/images/agriculture/animals/angus-beef-cows-1000x.jpg)
Ovoka Farm joins Piedmont Environmental Council’s Farm to Food Bank initiative with 10,000 pound meat donation
Ovoka Farm owner Karen Way, of Paris, is donating 10,000 pounds of locally-raised ground beef and ground pork toward The Piedmont Environmental Council’s Farm to Food Bank initiative, which is supporting food banks throughout the northern Piedmont.
![Return of brook trout signals promise for trout stream restoration efforts](https://www.pecva.org/wp-content/uploads/DWR-biologists-fish-count-trout-credit-Claire-Catlett-1500x-1024x591.jpg)
Return of brook trout signals promise for trout stream restoration efforts
Find out about recent fish counts.
![Historic Rappahannock County Property Records Related to Shenandoah National Park Creation are now Available to the Public](https://www.pecva.org/wp-content/uploads/J.-Bernard-and-Ruby-Bolen-and-Family-in-front-of-home_calate1890s_RappahannockCounty_credit_RHS-1024x489.jpg)
Historic Rappahannock County Property Records Related to Shenandoah National Park Creation are now Available to the Public
In partnership with James Madison University, and with funding from supporters including William Dietel and Jennifer Manly, The Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) has completed the digitization of thousands of legal documents related to the Commonwealth’s 1930s-era condemnation of private lands in Rappahannock County for the creation of Shenandoah National Park (SNP).
![George Mason University students to survey Roundabout Meadows vegetation](https://www.pecva.org/wp-content/uploads/PEC-properties/celia_vuocolo_roundabout_meadows_sign_winter_2016-1000x.jpg)
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.
![Final Property Acquired for Gordonsville Town-to-Trail Initiative](https://www.pecva.org/wp-content/uploads/gordonsville_park_system_drone_looking_north_1_may_2020_with_labels_credit_marco_sanchez_2000x-1024x512.jpg)
Final Property Acquired for Gordonsville Town-to-Trail Initiative
Big news for the Town-to-Trail initiative.
The Piedmont Environmental Council connects local beef farmers with local food pantries during pandemic shortage
In partnership with American Farmland Trust, Seven Hills Food Co, and 4P Foods, The Piedmont Environmental Council is providing 800 pounds of beef to four food banks in Fauquier, Orange, Madison and Culpeper counties. PEC has raised philanthropic support, including a $2,500 gift from American Farmland Trust, to help source the beef from Culpeper’s Locust Dale Cattle Company, which is a pilot producer in AFT’s Sustainable Grazing Project.
Call for Volunteers for Community Farm at Roundabout Meadows’ Loudoun Hunger Relief Effort
Now that Virginia’s stay-at-home orders have been lifted, the Piedmont Environmental Council is calling for volunteers to help plant, cultivate and harvest 15,000 pounds of fresh produce at its Community Farm at Roundabout Meadows for donation to Loudoun Hunger Relief.