Several of the bills that we supported are on Governor Northam’s desk awaiting signature, and the budget ended up relatively strong for clean water and farmland protection programs, considering current fiscal constraints.
We applaud the restoration of funding to the county’s Conservation Easement Authority (CEA) to ensure Shenandoah County’s continued progress in land preservation – a community-wide benefit.
Hidden Springs Farm, operated by Walter and Joan Brown is not only a Virginia Century Farm, but is one of the last African American farms in Augusta County.
It’s always been fun to play outside in Waynesboro and eastern Augusta County, but the city is taking it up a notch for its people, plants, fish and birds by strengthening its new relationship with the South River and existing natural and historic resources.
Despite opening in the middle of a global pandemic, visitors have discovered Seven Bends State Park, the new park in Woodstock bordered by the North Fork of the Shenandoah River.
This act addresses the problematic legal structure of heirs’ property that has been a major factor in the decline in the number of Black-owned farms in Virginia and in the country.
The below is an article originally published in the Waynesboro The News Virginian (found here) by the Alliance’s Augusta County...
As always, Alliance staff tracked legislation and made advocacy trips to Richmond during the 2020 session. Your calls and emails to legislators made a difference—thank you!
It can take a village to preserve such a treasured place. Nearly 50 people, including the Bullard family and Potomac Conservancy staff, worked together to protect this special land for generations to come.
A committee of state legislators is meeting right now to finalize the budget. Please ask the members of this committee to support sufficient funding for land conservation and agricultural best management practices, like stream livestock exclusion and native tree planting. In order to meet the state’s 2025 water quality goals, there must be funding in place to get this work done.
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