Virginia Outdoors Foundation
Encyclopedia
The Virginia Outdoors Foundation is a quasi-state agency formed by the Virginia General Assembly
in 1966 "to promote the preservation of open space lands and to encourage private gifts of money, securities, land or other property to preserve the natural, scenic, historic, open-space and recreational areas of the Commonwealth." It currently owns 3516 acres (14.2 km²) of public land and holds and manages conservation easements
on more than 606000 acres (2,452.4 km²) of private land.
The Virginia Outdoors Foundation is governed and administered by a board of seven at-large trustees appointed by Virginia governors for four-year staggered terms. The sitting governor appoints a chairman from among the seven trustees.
Some of the properties that the Virginia Outdoors Foundation currently protects through conservation easements include Carvins Cove and Mill Mountain owned by the City of Roanoke, Wildwood Park in the City of Radford, Shirley Plantation in Charles City County, James Madison's Montpelier in Orange County, and more than 4,000 acres of land along the Rappahannock River owned by the City of Fredericksburg.
As of 2008, 20 percent of the land in Clarke County, Virginia
was covered by conservation easements.
Virginia General Assembly
The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere, established on July 30, 1619. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members,...
in 1966 "to promote the preservation of open space lands and to encourage private gifts of money, securities, land or other property to preserve the natural, scenic, historic, open-space and recreational areas of the Commonwealth." It currently owns 3516 acres (14.2 km²) of public land and holds and manages conservation easements
Conservation easement
In the United States, a conservation easement is an encumbrance — sometimes including a transfer of usage rights — which creates a legally enforceable land preservation agreement between a landowner and a government agency or a qualified land...
on more than 606000 acres (2,452.4 km²) of private land.
The Virginia Outdoors Foundation is governed and administered by a board of seven at-large trustees appointed by Virginia governors for four-year staggered terms. The sitting governor appoints a chairman from among the seven trustees.
Some of the properties that the Virginia Outdoors Foundation currently protects through conservation easements include Carvins Cove and Mill Mountain owned by the City of Roanoke, Wildwood Park in the City of Radford, Shirley Plantation in Charles City County, James Madison's Montpelier in Orange County, and more than 4,000 acres of land along the Rappahannock River owned by the City of Fredericksburg.
As of 2008, 20 percent of the land in Clarke County, Virginia
Clarke County, Virginia
Clarke County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 14,034. Its county seat is Berryville.-History:Clarke County was established in 1836 by Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron who built a home, Greenway Court, on part of his 5 million acre property,...
was covered by conservation easements.