Natural Resources

Land Preservation

Land Preservation

Rich, diverse natural resources are some of the Commonwealth's most important assets. Increasingly, Virginia government and citizens are partnering to preserve the Commonwealth's open spaces -- a challenge that requires foresight, commitment, and good planning.

Why is This Important?

Of all the development that has occurred in the last 400 years, more than a quarter of it has taken place just in the last 15 years. Virginia lost over 200,000 acres of forest, farm, and other rural land to development between 2002 and 2007.  Good stewardship means taking action to ensure that the natural, cultural and historic resources treasured by Virginians are available for future generations to enjoy. Protecting land also helps meet important goals for water quality, wildlife habitat, recreation, and overall quality of life.

How is Virginia Doing?

State Conservation Efforts

Counting the combined efforts of private and public entities, an average of 67,479 acres per year were protected from development in Virginia between 2001 and 2011. Between 2007 and 2010 alone, 387,103 acres were placed under protection. Now Virginia has a new goal for preserving an additional 400,000 acres by 2014. As of July 2011, 62,019 acres had been preserved towards that goal.

Acreage Preserved in Virginia, 2001-2011

Fiscal Year	Total Statewide Acreage Preserved	Annual Acreage Preserved
2001	3,035,806	43,100
2002	3,086,326	50,520
2003	3,134,522	48,196
2004	3,174,019	39,497
2005	3,243,079	69,060
2006	3,313,584	70,505
2007	3,411,172	97,587
2008	3,504,983	93,811
2009	3,594,437	89,454
2010	3,700,687	106,249
2011	3,734,975	34,289
Source: Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation's Conservation Lands Database

According to the state's best estimate, as of July 2011 over 3.73 million acres of open space, parks, historic lands, natural areas, forests, farms and other lands have been preserved by federal, state and local governments, and private conservation organizations. These lands -- kept free of development through land ownership and easements -- represent about 14.8 percent of the Commonwealth's total acreage (25,270,000 acres). Slightly less than two-thirds (or about 65%) of the preserved lands are held by the federal government, 26 percent by the state, about 4 percent by local governments, and 5 percent by private / non-profit organizations.

The Commonwealth also participates in the Chesapeake Bay Program, a partnership focused on restoring the Bay and committing to specific land preservation and environmental goals. Among the many provisions of the Chesapeake 2000 agreement is an ambitious commitment to permanently preserve 20 percent of watershed lands in each participating state by 2010. Available data shows that Virginia, as of July 2010, has preserved 2,659,122 of its 13,831,890 Chesapeake Bay watershed acres -- or 19.2 percent.

Land Preservation by Virginia Region, 2010-2011

Region	Preserved Land (in sq. miles)	Preserved Land as Percent of Total	Preserved Land (in sq. miles)	Preserved Land as Percent of Total
	2010		2011
Central	937.53	10.1%	957.20	10.3%
Eastern	290.55	14.7%	292.43	14.8%
Northern	565.20	18.6%	569.98	18.8%
Southside	176.93	2.8%	182.03	2.9%
Southwest	819.45	12.9%	827.82	13.0%
Hampton Roads	332.15	14.0%	332.73	14.0%
Valley	1,853.85	36.2%	1,859.28	36.3%
West Central	806.52	15.9%	814.43	16.0%
Virginia	5,782.17	14.6%	5,835.90	14.7%
Source: Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation's Conservation Lands Database

Among the regions, the Valley region had the largest percentage of preserved land in 2011, with 36.3 percent preserved. The Northern region had the second highest at 18.8 percent. The Southside region had the smallest percent of preserved land at 2.9 percent, followed by the Central region at 10.3 percent.

Lost Land

On the debit side, Virginia lost 208,600 acres of forest, farm, and other rural land to development between 2002 and 2007, for an overall loss rate of 1.06 percent. This rate was lower than previous periods. It was also lower than peer states Maryland (1.96%) and North Carolina (1.68%) but the same as Tennessee -- and higher than the national average of 0.55 percent. North Dakota was the leading state, with a rate of only 0.02% for rural land lost.

What Influences Land Preservation?

Citizens across the Commonwealth have been voluntarily placing conservation easements on their lands since 1966. Many of these easements are held by the Virginia Outdoors Foundation (VOF), which holds more conservation easements -- over 3,100 easements protecting more than 600,000 acres -- than any public land trust in the nation. Private and non-profit organizations also play a key role in conserving important lands in the Commonwealth.

State and federal tax incentives make donations of conservation easements financially possible for some landowners. For many others, conservation is only feasible if a land trust or government agency can make the purchase. Land preservation in Virginia is currently driven by a combination of citizen donations, state and federal tax incentives, local government activities, and federal funding. Federal funds for land conservation programs have been declining in recent years.

Local government programs for the purchase of development rights (PDR) are gradually taking hold in Virginia. Under these programs, localities purchase conservation easements from farmers and other landowners in order to keep some land in the area free of development. Currently, 22 localities have instituted PDR programs, of which 18 have some level of funding; five other localities are in the process of adopting a program.

Additionally, Frederick County recently adopted the state's first transfer of development rights (TDR) program -- where development rights are severed from a land parcel and traded in a private market for use on another parcel of land. Frederick County has designated areas to be protected ("sending areas") and areas where additional growth is desired ("receiving areas") so that transfers of development rights can be traded between them.

What is the State's Role?

The Commonwealth conserves land by:

• purchasing lands for public use
• giving tax incentives to private landowners for conservation
• matching grants from land trusts that purchase land and easements

Virginia has a number of state entities whose mission includes the protection of important lands:

• the Department of Conservation and Recreation
• the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
• the Department of Forestry
• the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
• the Department of Historic Resources, and
• the Virginia Outdoors Foundation

These agencies advise landowners on conservation options, buy land, hold conservation easements, and maintain databases that track various land attributes. The Virginia Land Conservation Foundation makes matching grants to land trusts and local governments.

What Can Citizens Do?

Individuals and groups are strongly encouraged to be active participants in resource management. To learn more about Virginia's environment, stewardship and public participation opportunities, and the partners engaged in conservation, please visit Virginia Naturally or the Virginia Conservation Network.