This land will live forever

AMISSVILLE — Family, open spaces and work have happily kept Tom O’Halloran in the Piedmont for more than half a century.

And after sitting on the notion for years, O’Halloran and his family decided to make sure future generations will be able to enjoy the view of the Blue Ridge Mountains from his property in northern Culpeper County.

O’Halloran is one of several area residents to agree to a land conservation easement last year, according to the Piedmont Environmental Council.

“We’ve been talking about this since the ’80s,” he said. In December, “We finally got off our butts and did something,” he added with a laugh.

In 2008, easements brought protection in perpetuity to 361 acres in Culpeper County, the PEC said in a statement last week. More than 9,200 acres of Culpeper County are now privately conserved, including part of the Civil War’s Brandy Station battlefield.

Also last year, 14,100 acres elsewhere in the region were placed under easement, bringing more than 307,000 acres under permanent protection, according to the Warrenton-based environmental and conservation group.

“We’re immensely pleased at what communities in the Piedmont have been able to accomplish to provide a legacy of conserved open space for our children and future generations,” PEC President Chris Miller said. “When it comes to conservation, this is one of the most successful regions in the entire country.”

O’Halloran’s agreement protects 127 acres, about half of which is open space and the rest wooded.

Along with his wife, Donna, O’Halloran and his family run the Glengary Christmas tree farm on his property, which was formerly a cattle and calving operation. He said the economy of scale eventually led his family to exit the livestock business.

More than views
“Tom is such a great example of what the easement program can be used for,” said Abby Harper, the PEC’s Culpeper County land conservation officer. “Easement value goes further than protecting the land.”

Heather Richards, the PEC’s director of land conservation, agrees.

“The tremendous gains we’ve seen in conservation over the last few years reflect the growing awareness among Culpeper’s residents of the importance of their landscape,” she said.

“Conserving green spaces does more than just protecting pretty views. It protects drinking water and air quality, reduces traffic, keeps taxes down and preserves family farms.”

According to a 2003 study by the American Farmland Trust, Culpeper County farms and other open lands use 32 cents in local services for every tax dollar paid, while homes use $1.22 for every dollar paid. Land placed under permanent easement also lowers the value used by the state to determine local ability to pay, which can lead the state to increase funding for schools and other government services.

The PEC says the Piedmont region continues to lead Virginia, which is among the top five states in the nation for protecting land through private conservation easements.

The nine counties of Virginia’s Piedmont — Loudoun, Clarke, Fauquier, Culpeper, Rappahannock, Madison, Orange, Greene and Albemarle — have conserved more land than almost any state in the nation.

Easements explained
A conservation easement is a legal agreement between a landowner and a government agency or a nonprofit organization that places permanent limits on the future development of the property in order to protect the conservation values of the land. The easement may also specifically protect natural, scenic or historic features. Each agreement is unique to the property it protects. For more information about conservation easements in Culpeper County, contact Piedmont Environmental Council representative Abby Harper at (540) 729-2234 or e-mail aharper@pecva.org.