Conservation Easements

Getting Started

Introduction l Development Rights: Donation l Development Rights: Purchase l Easement Holder l Getting Started

Many public and private agencies and organizations are involved with easements. Use the list below to help you find additional information for the easement you're interested in creating.

Development Rights: Donation

• Virginia Outdoors Foundation
• Piedmont Environmental Council
• Nature Conservancy
• Western Virginia Land Trust
• Preservation Alliance of Virginia
• Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Riparian Easements

• Valley Conservation Council
• James River Association
• Chesapeake Bay Foundation
• National Committee for the New River
• Friends of the Rivers of Virginia
  540.343.3696

Historic Area Easements

• Historic Resources, Virginia Dept. of
• Preservation Alliance of Virginia
• Civil War Trust Battlefield Easements 703.682.2350

Development Rights: Purchase

• The Forest Legacy Program through the Virginia Department of Forestry.
• Farmland Protection Program Natural Resources Conservation Service
• Special Use Valuation Contact your local county Office of Taxation.

Public & Private Agencies

Agricultural/Forestal Districts

• County Administrator or Planning Commission
• Valley Conservation Council

Offering the most easement options

• Western Virginia Land Trust serves 23 counties
• Valley Conservation Council
• Conservation Inc. (primarily in SE Virginia; 757.623.0777)

Additional Conservation Easement Holders

State Agencies

• Conservation and Recreation, Virginia Department of
• Game and Inland Fisheries, Virginia Department of
• Marine Resources Commission

Private Non-Profit Agencies

• American Farmland Trust
• Friends of Dragon Run Watershed
• James River Association
• Land Trust of Virginia
• Middle Peninsula Land Trust 434.757.1701
• Northern Virginia Conservation Trust - A nonprofit land trust operating in Northern Virginia that has protected 1411 acres, holds 62 easements, and owns 14 properties.
• Potomac Appalachian Trail Club
• Potomac Conservancy
• Scenic Virginia, Inc.
• Virginia Conservation Network
• Williamsburg Land Conservancy

Conservation Incentive Programs

This summary of "Cost-share" programs describes ways landowners and citizens can share the cost of conservation projects.

Additional information and resources

• American Farm & Ranch Protection Act
• American Forests - American Forests is a world leader in planting trees for environmental restoration, a pioneer in the science and practice of urban forestry, and a primary communicator of the benefits of trees and forests.
• Virginia Land Conservation Foundation - of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
• Forest Legacy Program: Assessment of Need (English; PDF format; 1.2MB)

Last modified 2007-07-12