Conservation Program Updates, Summer 2005

Farmland Preservation Program (FPP) and Conservation Easements: A capacity crowd gathered at the home of Judith Richards Hope on May 14 for the county’s "First Annual Rappahannock Evening View." The event was held to honor last year’s conservation-easement donors and to raise funds for the Farmland Preservation Program. Speaker Bob Lee, Executive Director of the Virginia Outdoors Foundation (which holds most conservation easements in the county), described to more than 220 participants how to keep the county rural and scenic, with abundant forests and open space. The event was sponsored by the Rappahannock County Conservation Alliance (RCCA). County residents showed their support for easements in general and FPP in particular by oversubscribing to the event. Several dozen people remained on the waiting list when space at the event ran out.

Krebser Fund for Rappahannock County Conservation: The Krebser Fund has successfully assisted two landowners in placing their property in conservation easements and currently is working with another family in getting their property protected. The fund, which protects Rappahannock land from development by placing it in easement, is making good progress on arrangements for its first annual fundraiser scheduled for September 13, 2005, at the Inn at Little Washington. The fundraiser will include an art show featuring work from local artists and a seven-course meal under the direction of the Inn's incomparable Patrick O'Connell. For more information, please contact Fran Krebser at 540-635-0821 or Alan Zuschlag at 540-937-6124.

Small Watershed Protection Program: RappFLOW has received a small grant from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation to develop its data-collection processes for its proposed water-protection project for the Thornton River: "People, Land, and Streams of the Upper Thornton River Watershed: A Model for Countywide Watershed Management Planning." For more information on the project, visit www.RappFLOW.org. RappFLOW is still waiting for the response from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation on its proposal for the project, which RappFLOW submitted in January.

Return to RLEP Archives

Return to Search