Virginia has announced a third round of grants aimed at buying and preserving 8,000 acres worth of land across the commonwealth.
The Department of Conservation and Recreation on Thursday said a total of $7.5 million had been awarded to land trusts, local governments and state agencies to fund 30 conservation projects ranging from farmland, forests and historic sites to natural areas and parks.
“Through ConserveVirginia, we’re making sure we prioritize protecting lands that bring the most benefit, addressing historic inequalities, and widening our public land program into new areas,” Gov. Ralph Northam said in a statement. “Each one of these grants is an opportunity to protect public space in our local communities.”
The funded projects closest to the D.C. area were in Stafford County, where the county government was awarded $120,250 for a conservation easement to protect the historic 70-acre Kevin Jones Farm, and in Culpeper County, where the American Battlefield Trust was granted $249,876 to buy and preserve Pegram’s Battery Tract in the Cedar Mountain Battlefield.
You can see the whole list on the department’s website.
