Good conservation news in the Shenandoah Valley

Valley Conservation Council just sent out their 2011 Annual Report along with their February newsletter, Vision, and both contain great news for conservation efforts in the region. The headliner story - "Region Has Four of the Top Five Conservation Counties for 2011" touts the hard work and successes in acreage conserved by private landowners in cooperation with the Virginia Outdoors Foundation (VOF). Leading the list is Rockbridge County (11 new easements in 2011 comprising 2,260 acres bringing the county's total to 35,200 acres) and Bath County (eight new easements comprising 2,567 acres bringing their total to 23,956 acres).  Augusta County (17,777 cumulative acres) and Highland County (11,284 cumulative acres) are also in the Commonwealth's top five.

New Mole Hill Easement
in Rockingham County.
Photo from VCC website.

Virginia's largest agricultural county, Rockingham, is far behind its neighbors to the south with only 3,721 acres in conservation easements with the VOF. But the good news for 2011 is that seven new easements totaling 1,066 acres were added, a 40% increase. Keep in mind that other organizations like the Virginia Department of Forestry have easements (including one of 1,000 acres in Rockingham) that are not included in the totals.

The newsletter and annual report highlight other important work of VCC, which has focused on local and regional policies that, while allowing for inevitable growth, promote minimal impacts on the Shenandoah Valley region's environmental, agricultural, historical, and cultural heritage. You may not own land to place in an easement or be able to attend VCC's programs, but you can donate to their important work that helps sustain what we love about the Valley! Lots of small donations add up... and that ain't chicken feed.

In Case You Missed Gov. Kaine's Announcements

In all the distractions about sleeping pilots, revival of the public option, and the beautiful weather keeping us busy outside, you may have missed several interesting and important press releases from Governor Tim Kaine. Each, in their own way, are good news for Virginia.

The Governor announced that the Virginia Outdoors Foundation approved 17,000 acres to be placed under conservation easements. Also, the Roanoke City Council agreed to support plans to establish two perpetual conservation easements on Mill Mountain and the surrounding 600 acre park. In 2006 Governor Kaine announced a goal of preserving 400,000 acres within 10 years. To date, about 350,000 acres of open land has been preserved. The Governor has led in the creation of 12 natural preserves, six new state forests, two new state parks, and three wildlife management areas.

Governor Kaine also announced that 119 bridges across the Commonwealth will be replaced or repaired using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Many of these bridges are in the Shenandoah Valley and western Virginia including six in Rockingham, three in Augusta, three in Rockbridge, and 17 in Nelson. Most are obviously smaller bridges but all were deficient and, if left unattended, would become unsafe. The contracts, to private contractors, will total $50.7 million = jobs, paychecks, boosts to local economies. The Commonwealth is receiving $694.5 million in highway funding from AARA.

Governor Kaine also released his statement to the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on the Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act of 2009. He is absolutely right that federal recognition of the Chickahominy Tribe, the Chickahominy Tribe – Eastern Division, the Upper Mattaponi, the Rappahannock Tribe, Inc., the Monacan Indian Nation, and the Nansemond Indian Tribe is long over due.

Two years after the 400th anniversary of the first permanent English settlement at Jamestown, it is especially tragic that these tribes still have yet to receive equal status with the 562 other Federally Recognized Tribes in the United States.

Now is the time to honor their heritage.

Virginia’s Tribes are unique. Unlike most tribes that obtained federal recognition when they signed peace treaties with the United States government, Tribes in Virginia signed their peace treaties with the British Monarchy. Hostilities between the Tribes and the European settlers effectively ended in 1677 with the Treaty of the Middle Plantation, yet these Tribes continued to be tested by centuries of racial hostility, state-sanctioned coercive actions, and systematic mistreatment.