PEC’s Julian Scheer Fauquier Land Conservation Fund and the Fauquier County Agricultural Development Department hosted this webinar for Fauquier County landowners interested in learning how to protect their land with a conservation easement, and also to promote the open application period for Fauquier County’s PDR program, which is currently accepting applications through June 30, 2020.
PEC Conservation Funds
Land conservation funds managed by The Piedmont Environmental Council or Piedmont Foundation.
2020 Bluebell Walk Video
It’s bluebell season, and this weekend would have been our annual Bluebell Walk on Cedar Run. Since we couldn’t gather together in person, Margrete and Mike Stevens, who host the event at their farm in Catlett, VA, made this fantastic video to bring the beauty of spring to all of us at home!
Fronting the Costs: Fencing at Mountain Hollow Farm
Eight generations of cattle farming had taken its toll on the streams at Dean and Carina Elgin’s Mountain Hollow Farm in northern Fauquier County. Historically, “all the cattle had access to the creek. That was our watering system. And that was the norm in that day,” Dean Elgin said. But by 2015, the Elgins wanted to repair the streambank erosion and reduce the water pollution caused by the foot traffic and waste generated by 200 cattle moving in and out of the water repeatedly. But there was a problem.
A Fish Runs Through It
As the fog broke on a brisk November morning in Madison County, more than three dozen people arrived at the Whiteoak Canyon trailhead ready to celebrate the new, 35-foot, open-span bridge over Cedar Run. They marveled at the sounds of water bubbling over the rocky streambed from the north side of the bridge to the south. Many walked upright beneath the sturdy, brown, steel-framed structure. And all excitedly searched the deep pools for our guests of honor—the native brook trout, a species of concern on Virginia’s Wildlife Action Plan.
Whiteoak Canyon Trailhead
SYRIA, VA: The new 35-foot span bridge across Cedar Run offers 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.
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.
Stream crossing projects aim to ease passage for fish, and people
The Piedmont Environmental Council and Virginia Department of Transportation are collaborating to reconnect brook trout habitat and improve flood resiliency and public road-stream crossings in the Virginia Piedmont.
A Legacy of Love
Through the Headwaters Stream Initiative, an astounding 3,765 trees were planted on 16 acres the Goodall property in Madison County, including 4,600 linear feet of stream.
Free Flow
PEC has taken on the work of restoring local rivers by removing culverts and low-water crossings that can be roadblocks to stream health. By replacing these barriers on roads and driveways with fish- friendly designs, we are improving habitat and water quality.
Many aquatic species, including Virginia’s state fish, the Eastern brook trout, benefit from these restoration projects. Ideally, we hope these projects will influence government agencies to incorporate fish-friendly designs as they update roads and stream crossings.
PEC Donates Land to National Park Service
Shenandoah National Park just grew a little bigger and a little more beautiful. This past May, The Piedmont Environmental Council donated a 17.2-acre property it owned in Rappahannock County to the National Park Service. A forested and vacant parcel on a mountain slope south of Sperryville, VA, the land is within the legislative boundary of Shenandoah National Park.