Va board awards $4.3 million for land conservation

The Virginia Land Conservation Foundation has awarded $4.3 million in grants to help preserve 8,390 acres across the state.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, who announced the 16 grants today, said they are part of his "Renew Virginia" initiative to preserve 400,000 acres by 2010. Each grant requires a matching sum.

The largest grant, $800,000, was awarded to the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust to acquire 1,100 acres for the Crow's Nest Natural Area Preserve.

The others are:

-- A 268-acre conservation easement in Northampton County, farmed by the Richardson family since 1945. Grant: $250,000.

-- A 1,072-acre easement of forest land in western Rockingham County, owned by the Feedstone Hunt Club within the George Washington National Forest. Grant: $275,615.

-- A 216-acre working dairy farm in Clarke County, which includes 2,800 feet of frontage on Opequon Creek. Grant: $146,000.

-- Six-hundred-10 acres of the Big Woods tract in Sussex County, where a new wildlife management area will be developed. Grant: $550,000.

-- Approximately 280 acres of farmland in Fauquier County, creating a contiguous area of nearly 900 acres of preserved farmland. Grant: $198,400.

-- Reimbursement for the 2007 purchase of 2.5 acres next to the Adam Thoroughgood House property in Virginia Beach, a National Historic Landmark and one of the earliest documented structures in the nation. Grant: $425,000.

-- The 2.96-acre Pamplin Pipe Factory property in Appomattox County, listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register and National Register of Historic Places. Grant: $61,000.

-- Acquisition of the B. Williams and Co. Store property next to the 4-acre Williams Wharf in Mathews. Grant: $345,000.

-- The 204-acre Cool Spring Farm in the Shenandoah Valley National Historic and Cool Spring Civil War Battlefield Historic Districts, listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places. Grant: $123,625.

-- The Nature Conservancy acquisition of a 140-acre addition to the Unthanks Cave in Lee County, to be transferred to the state later. Grant: $150,500.

-- The Nature Conservancy purchase a 210-acre conservation easement, which includes a rare tidal bald cypress. Grant: $200,000.

-- To acquire 275 acres on the Potomac River in Loudoun County for development as a public park. The property contains a Civil War era historic house and complex. Grant: $150,000.

-- Eighty acres along the Appomattox River for development as a linear county park. Grant: $280,000.

-- Acquisition of 3,682 acres in Rockbridge and Botetourt counties for development as a Wildlife Management Area. Grant: $239,500.

-- Acquisition of 177 acres to expand a narrow corridor between Route 610 and Walker Mountain within the George Jefferson National Forest in Smyth and Bland counties for the Appalachian Trail.