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Sussex County Landowner, Longleaf Pine Enthusiast, Donates Conservation Easement to Nature Conservancy

Easement protects bald eagles, rare bats on 1,400-acre property

YALE, VIRGINIA — December 10, 2007 — The Nature Conservancy announced today that Sussex County resident William Owen donated a conservation easement on his 1,400-acre property to the international non-profit conservation organization. Located outside the community of Yale, Owen’s property features the largest planting of longleaf pine in Virginia and more than 1,200 acres of working forest. The easement ensures the property’s use for forestry into the future. 

Owen, who was born and raised in Yale, decided to place an easement on his land to help preserve the rural heritage of forestry and farming in Sussex County.

“This easement is a satisfying way to help ensure that forestlands continue their contribution to the quality of life in Sussex County,” Owen said. “I think it is important that we preserve undeveloped open space that has shaped our rural character.”

Owen’s fascination with longleaf pine began several years ago when he learned that the once widespread tree was clinging to survival in Virginia.  When early Europeans first arrived in North America, longleaf pine covered more than 90 million acres ranging from Florida to Virginia and west to Texas. Today, more than 97 percent of those forests are gone, according to the Longleaf Alliance. In Virginia, the tree is thought to have covered about 1.3 million acres historically—today it is found on less than 1,000 acres statewide. Virginia represents the northernmost reach of the tree species.

Owen has planted 200 acres of his property in longleaf pine and plans to plant another 100 acres in late 2008 or early 2009.  The Nature Conservancy will work with Owen, helping manage the forest by conducting prescribed burns. Longleaf pine is a fire-dependent species, meaning that without fire in the landscape, hardwoods and other pine species will gradually displace longleaf.

The 1,400-acre tract is home to bald eagles, a population of rare bats, several rare plants and a 200-year-old millpond.  Agricultural land makes up 124 acres of the property.  The tract is located in the watershed of Raccoon Creek, an important tributary to the Nottoway River.  Forest protection will help preserve the water quality critical for key aquatic species such as shad. 

A conservation easement is a voluntary, legally binding agreement that limits certain types of uses or prevents development from taking place on a piece of property into the future, while protecting the property’s ecological or open-space values.  A conservation easement selectively targets those rights necessary to protect specific conservation values, including water quality and wildlife habitat, and is individually tailored to meet a landowner’s needs.

Under the easement, Owen retains lifetime rights to subdivide the property once and to establish one new home site.  The easement calls for active timber management and encourages the establishment of longleaf pine.  Hunting, fishing and other general recreation activities are permitted.  The property will not be open to the public. The Conservancy will monitor the easement annually to ensure compliance and measure conservation effectiveness.
 
The Virginia Department of Forestry, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Natural Resources Conservation Service have all contributed to longleaf pine planting efforts and other conservation activities on Owen’s property. 

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.