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.

PEC Lauds New Woolen Mill Bridge Connection

Today, the Piedmont Environmental Council is celebrating this morning’s installation of a new 140-foot pedestrian bridge over Moores Creek in Albemarle, which will soon provide pedestrian and bicycle access from The Wool Factory at the end of East Market Street to the Rivanna Trail on the south side of the creek.

PEC connects local beef farmers with local food pantries during pandemic shortage

PEC, in partnership with Fauquier Community Food Bank and Lakota Ranch, which lies on the border of Culpeper and Fauquier counties, will pilot a new initiative connecting high-quality, locally-raised beef with local food pantries experiencing shortages of ground beef during the Covid-19 pandemic. At 11 a.m. on Wednesday, July 1, Lakota Ranch Farm Manager Jeremy Engh will deliver the first 50 pounds of ground beef to the Fauquier Community Food bank at 249 East Shirley Avenue in Warrenton.

In support of local dairies and the food-insecure, PEC connects local milk with local food pantries

At 9 a.m. on Friday, June 12, Maola Dairy will deliver 280 gallons of locally-produced milk to Blue Ridge Area Food Bank’s Thomas Jefferson Area Branch location at 1207 Harris Street in Charlottesville, for distribution to eight other food pantries in Albemarle, Greene, and Madison counties and the City of Charlottesville.

Historic Truss Bridges named among Virginia’s Most Endangered Historic Places

Virginia’s few remaining historic metal truss bridges, with their unique architectural qualities and irreplaceable role in the state’s heritage, is on Preservation Virginia’s list of Most Endangered Historic Places for 2020. Every year since 2005, the organization has released a list of historic features within the Commonwealth that face imminent or sustained threats, in hopes of encouraging citizens, organizations and local and state governments to advocate for their protection and preservation. The organizational released its 2020 list yesterday, as part of National Historic Preservation Month.

Local Land Conservation Surpasses 12,000 acres in 2019

Local Land Conservation Surpasses 12,000 acres in 2019

In 2019, private landowners, working together with land trusts and public agencies, protected 12,475 acres of land in Albemarle, Clarke, Culpeper, Fauquier, Greene, Loudoun, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock counties. The 2019 conservation easements bring the total protected land in The Piedmont Environmental Council’s (PEC) nine-county region to 421,415 acres, accounting now for nearly 20 percent of the entire land area in the nine counties.

New bridge improves access to one of Shenandoah Park’s most unique trails

A new 35-foot span bridge across Cedar Run opened this week, offering hikers and nature-loving community members improved access to the popular Whiteoak Canyon trailhead and opening up three miles of stream habitat to native fish for the first time in decades. The effort is a public-private partnership between Shenandoah National Park, The Piedmont Environmental Council, Trout Unlimited, and the local landowners, the Graves family.