Sometimes advancing conservation in our region means supporting another partner’s vision. This was the case last year, when The Piedmont Environmental Council contributed funds from our Clark County Land Conservation Fund to the purchase of a conservation easement at the 43-acre Lilly property, facilitating a conservation win for all parties.

The Lilly family has owned their cattle farm since 1997 and wanted to see it continue to be used for agriculture while maintaining its natural beauty. For the Clark County Land Conservation Easement Authority, conserving the property played a vital role in protecting groundwater and providing clean drinking water, as the property has karst geology and is part of Clarke County’s groundwater recharge area. A conservation easement would retire two of the three development rights on the property, while leaving one for Mary Keith Lilly’s son to one day build a house. In spring 2024, PEC, Clarke County, and the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Farmland Protection Fund each supplied $37,625, totalling 75% of the easement purchase price. The landowner, Mary Keith Lilly, donated the remaining 25%. This project exemplifies the strength of the relationship between PEC and the easement authority and was a success for PEC’s local conservation funds, which give us creative flexibility to bolster conservation in our region. The advisory committee for the PEC Clarke Fund recommended that PEC provide the funding that made the easement possible. PEC’s Clarke Conservation Fund continues to support the easement authority in increasing conservation in Clarke County.

This article appeared in the 2025 Spring edition of The Piedmont Environmental Council’s member newsletter, The Piedmont View. If you’d like to become a PEC member or renew your membership, please visit pecva.org/join.