Group hopes to educate landowners about preservation

Katie Beth Ryan
Published: April 29, 2008

Amherst County landowners can help protect their property from over-development, with help from the Central Virginia Land Conservancy.

The group will meet at 7 p.m. on May 8 at the Amherst Livestock facility off U.S. 29 in the Clifford area. The meeting will provide area farmers and landowners with information on conservation easements, a voluntary land preservation program.

“It’s to encourage landowners who don’t want to see their land developed to help them preserve their land forever,” said Shannon Brennan, a member of CVaLC’s board of directors. “There’s just huge development pressure throughout the state, and any land we can save for future generations is important.”

Land tracts of 100 acres or more are being targeted for conservation easements, she said. Preserving acres of farmland is especially important, as the demands on the world’s food supply are growing.

“If we don’t have land for future generations to grow their food on, we’re going to be in trouble,” Brennan said.

CVaLC was formed in 2003 as a sister organization of the Greater Lynchburg Environmental Network. GLEN members saw land conservation as one of their key goals.

Brennan said that Amherst County is a focal point of CVaLC’s efforts.

Since its inception, CVaLC has preserved 2,800 acres in the greater Lynchburg area, 1,500 of which were in Amherst County alone.

Ryan writes for the Amherst New Era-Progress.