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The Historic Virginia Land Conservancy has permanently protected 6,450 acres of land by working with land owners to acquire easements that dictate how the property can be used.
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Conservation easements protect bald eagle habitat in the Carr’s Hill area.
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“We call it vitamin G,” says Caren Schumacher, the land conservancy’s executive director. “Green Space.”
Imagine, if you will, that you and your family are taking a day trip to Colonial Williamsburg.
You take the exit off Interstate 64 and turn the car onto Route 132, enjoying the tree-lined road. Perhaps, it’s springtime, and the trees are just beginning to bud in all shades of green, a beautiful start to an afternoon puttering around the famed Historic Area.
Now imagine the same road, dotted with fast food restaurants and strip malls. A McDonald’s here, a Burger King over there, and maybe, a Walgreens. Not quite as relaxing, is it?
Fortunately, you don’t have to view a busy, commercial scene, and because of the Historic Virginia Land Conservancy, you’ll never have to. Thanks to the partnership between the conservancy and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation who owns the land, the 312 scenic acres along a three-quarter-mile segment of highway between Queens Creek and Bypass Road will forever remain unchanged, protected from development. Besides allowing for permanent views of nature from Interstate 64 to the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor Center, the conservation easements protect an archaeological site and a bald eagle habitat in the Carr’s Hill area.
For the past twenty-six years, the land conservancy has worked to protect and preserve significant natural, scenic, agricultural, and historic land in the greater Williamsburg area. Through provisions under the Virginia Conservation Easement Act, the organization keeps green spaces green.
“We call it vitamin G,” says Caren Schumacher, the land conservancy’s executive director since 2001. “Green space.”
To date, the organization has permanently protected 6,450 acres of land. It does so by working with land owners to acquire easements that dictate how the property can be used. In a nutshell, property is protected from future development unless specified in an agreed-upon legal document.
Ownership remains with the landowner even after a deed of conservation easement is signed. However, the land conservancy has the right to visit the property annually to see the agreement is being followed—making sure there are no new houses or barns that shouldn’t be on the property, for example, and most importantly, making sure the easements are “in perpetuity” (future property owners cannot change them).
“Perpetuity is forever, and that’s a really long time,” Schumacher says.
Started in 1990 by a group of people concerned about the future growth of the area, the organization was first known as the Historic Rivers Land Conservancy. Within five years, the organization acquired its first conservation easement, which protected 222 acres on Governor’s Land. In 1996 it was renamed the Williamsburg Land Conservancy.
Last year, during its twenty-fifth anniversary, the land conservancy expanded its work into the Rappahannock River area. It made sense, Schumacher says, to change the name—yet again—to the Historic Virginia Land Conservancy.
Now, the group protects land in the lower James, York, and Rappahannock River watersheds. That includes the cities of Williamsburg and Suffolk as well as James City, King William, Charles City, New Kent, York counties and the entire Middle Peninsula.
In Suffolk, 127 acres of land border the Nansemond River and Bennett’s Creek, which are protected despite repeated attempts by developers to put up houses. The Cornell family has owned the land since 1946. Eagle Point, as they call it, is home to several endangered/threatened species, including bald eagles, peregrine falcons, and piping plovers.
The popular Greensprings and Virginia Capital trails? Both trails are immensely popular with bicyclists, runners, and walkers. They’re also protected by the land conservancy. Together, that’s about 140 acres of greenspace that can never be built upon, only enjoyed by the community. Same goes for the 1,600-acre York River Preserve in New Kent County.
There are a number of farms that are protected, including the 214-acre Mainland Farm in James City County. This is the oldest continuously cultivated farm in the United States and the site of the Revolutionary War Battle of Green Springs. Also protected are nearly 200 acres on what’s known as Wessex Hundred Farm, where the Williamsburg Winery is located.
Patrick Duffeler and his late wife, Peggy, purchased the property in 1983, opening the winery to the public in 1988. They always intended the land to stay green, says one of Duffeler’s two sons, Patrick Duffeler II, the president and CEO of the winery.
“We live in a world where it seems like shopping malls creep up overnight, and it’s not always the most attractive,” Patrick Duffeler II says. “Anything we can do as citizens to protect greenery and make sure our kids have an opportunity to be in the woods and not have to worry about traffic, we do.”
Besides protecting green space and allowing nature to shine through, another benefit of conservation easements is economic, Schumacher says. Landowners get tax breaks while the easements help keep the area beautiful for the many tourists who visit.
“There’s a real economic value to this area in terms of tourism,” Schumacher says. “These permanent green spaces make this area unique. If we look like Anytown, U.S.A., people would not want to live, work or simply visit for a while. We’d be just another stop along the Interstate. It’s the character and ambiance—that special feel we have in town—that brings people back year after year, and that’s good for business, too.”
Schumacher says the organization maintains good partnerships with local government. And it is not, she stresses, a no-growth organization. Rather, she says, the conservancy believes that by working with builders and developers, preservation and progress can work together.
Over the years, the land conservancy’s philosophy has attracted many supporters in the community: those who help keep the organization running through donations and participation in fundraising events. Kathy Howell, president and creative director of Howell Creative Group, a Williamsburg marketing firm, has been involved with the conservancy since the late 1990s.
Her company donates marketing services to the conservancy, while Howell and her husband, Mark, list it in their estate plans. The organization’s work is that important to them, she explains.
It’s really about quality of life, Howell says. The conservancy helps foster that mindset by balancing development with protecting the land, and that’s worth supporting, she said.
“When you walk outside, and you see trees and water and animals and birds, it makes me personally take a deep breath,” Howell says. “You look around and you don’t see giant skyscrapers and miles of pavement. There’s something really special about nature, and that’s important to me.”
For more information visit williamsburglandconservancy.org.
