This year, we’re excited to present the 2025 Valley Treasure Award to Tim Murray and Dee Dee Sellers. Tim and Dee Dee have worked tirelessly over the past 20 years to maintain the agricultural landscape of Mauzy, a small community in Rockingham County with rich history and scenic beauty, particularly by engaging their community to prevent excessive development of the I-81 interchange at Exit 257. 

By encouraging fellow residents of Mauzy to attend planning commission and board of supervisors meetings and leading a letter-writing campaign, Tim and Dee Dee played an instrumental role in showing decision-makers that the community values its agricultural and forested lands.

After successfully preventing this rezoning and the environmental damage that may have resulted, the Mauzy community, led by Tim and Dee Dee, pursued a more binding measure for keeping Mauzy rural. They led the charge for the creation of an Ag-Forestal District in Mauzy comprising over 1,800 acres of private land, the first new Ag-Forestal District in Rockingham County in 25 years. 

Their work is not done– the truck stop proposal has returned once again. Still, these efforts have been no small feat. These accomplishments can be attributed to Dee Dee & Tim’s perseverance and commitment to their community in establishing guardrails to continue the preservation and resiliency of the Mauzy region. The Alliance is pleased to honor these local conservation heroes as our 2025 Valley Treasure award recipients.