Latest news with #TheConservationFund
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Federal dollars will go toward forest conservation in southern Utah
Zion National Park is seen from the Pine Creek Canyon Overlook. (Photo by Carlo) The federal government is awarding Utah $3 million to purchase conservation easements in southern Utah near Zion National Park. The funding — awarded to the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands by the U.S. Department of Agriculture — was announced Monday and will go toward ongoing forest preservation efforts outside of the national park. Called the Zion Connectivity Project, the state will direct the funding at two properties totalling 766 acres near the north section of the national park. A conservation easement — a legally binding agreement between a landowner and government that places restrictions on the land for environmental purposes — will prevent the land from being fragmented or developed. That will help preserve the ecologically rich stretch of forest. The region contains a number of springs and streams, including the La Verkin Creek, which feeds into the Virgin River and eventually the Colorado River. The creek supports six native species of fish, like the Virgin River chub and Woundfin, both federally endangered. The forest provides critical habitat for the endangered California condor and Mexican spotted owl, and preventing the area from being segmented will help black bear, grouse, deer and elk populations. Old-growth ponderosa pines, some of them hundreds of years old, can also be found in the area. 'The strategic location of this project, combined with the presence of California condors, garnered incredible support from Zion National Park, elected officials, neighboring landowners, and other organizations. Thanks to the efforts of these private landowners and The Conservation Fund, protecting this important forested area was recognized as a priority to the national program,' said Natalie Conlin, forest legacy program manager for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands. The Zion Connectivity Project is part of Utah's Forest Legacy Program, which uses conservation easements throughout the state to safeguard forests from development, protect water resources and habitat, and keep wildlife corridors intact. The Zion Connectivity Project is sandwiched between two existing Forest Legacy projects — the Zion Overlook and Viewtop projects. The three projects create a combined 1,752-acre stretch of projected land along the northern border of Zion National Park. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Axios
28-04-2025
- General
- Axios
Preserve plan advances for Buckhead's hidden forest
A 30-acre Buckhead forest that Atlanta photographer and arts patron Lucinda Bunnen turned into a sanctuary is on its way to becoming a public nature preserve. Why it matters: Buckhead is one of the fastest-developing parts of the city but has surprisingly few accessible parks. There's nothing within 20 miles like the property — an older forest with ample acreage, a weaving waterway and rich biodiversity. Driving the news: The Conservation Fund, a nonprofit that buys and holds green spaces for future public parks, purchased the property late last year for roughly $13.5 million. It is raising an additional $2.4 million through the summer to prepare the land to turn over to the city. Catch up quick: In the late 1950s, Lucinda and her husband, Bob, an oral surgeon, purchased the house designed by noted Atlanta architect Cecil Alexander. Over the following decades, the mid-century modern house and the dense woods became a refuge for Bunnen, her children, their kids (concrete moldings of their footprints are placed throughout the property) and the arts community. Fun fact: Bunnen, who died in 2022, started creating a hilly two-mile perimeter trail after being arrested for walking her dog off its leash at the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. She hiked the path daily — sometimes twice a day — into her 90s, her son Robb, the oldest of the Bunnen's three children, told Axios. "It was everything to her. It was a rite of passage if you got invited over to walk the property with mom." What they're saying:"We were thrilled we didn't have to endure 12 McMansions going up," Robb said. Follow the money: Stacy Funderburke of The Conservation Fund told Axios the city chipped in $5 million from its Tree Trust Fund to buy the property. That money comes from fees that people pay to remove large trees inside the city limits. Buckhead has contributed significantly to the fund, according to Funderburke, but has few options for investment on the level of the Bunnen property. Private donors contributed $6 million, Funderburke said, and many neighbors and arts groups have rallied to support. What's next: Potential plans include renovating the sprawling home to become an arts center and retreat, an environmental education hub or guest lodging for visiting dignitaries, Robb said. TCF could hand off the property to the city as early as this summer or fall, Funderburke said, with city-led community planning sessions following. The big picture: "This was her spiritual place," Robb said. "She would be the most ecstatic person in the world to think the city bought the property to create the Lucinda Bunnen Nature Preserve.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Rappahannock Tribe acquires nearly 1,000 acres along its namesake river
The Rappahannock Tribe is once again the steward to all but a sliver of Fones Cliffs, preserving the land in perpetuity. ((Photo courtesy of The Conservation Fund) On Wednesday, the Rappahannock Tribe acquired the largest amount of its ancestral lands to date with the transfer of nearly 1,000 acres from The Conservation Fund, to be preserved in perpetuity under easement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Virginia Board of Historic Resources. All but a sliver of the four-mile stretch of shoreline that makes up Fones Cliffs, a cultural and ecological treasure that is the location of the tribe's historic homeland, is now protected. The area is the habitat of one of the largest concentrations of nesting bald eagles along the Atlantic coast. 'Tribal citizens will once again, after 350 years of being separated from their mother, the Rappahannock River, have unimpeded opportunities to practice life-sustaining traditions,' said Patricia Morris, the Rappahannock Tribe's marketing coordinator, via email. 'Hunting, fishing, and ceremonies can resume on the lands where their ancestors are buried.' The tribe will co-steward the land with the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge, whose goal is to protect 20,000 acres of wetlands and its associated uplands along the Rappahannock River and its major tributaries. 'We're just real thrilled that this property is back in the hands of the people that will care for it best,' said Heather Richards, The Conservation Fund's vice president for the Mid-Atlantic Region. The preservation of an additional 1,000 acres will add to what is a '…very significant contiguous block of land that's now managed for wildlife and native habitat, and that in and of itself is remarkable just in terms of the size of it and also the uniqueness of the cliffs,' said Richards. The Rappahannock people's roots stretch back centuries before Virginia was first colonized by Europeans, and research has confirmed their presence on the ancient lands surrounding Fones Cliffs. 'Before colonization, limited archeological and historical evidence suggests people were in the river valley 10,000 years ago,' said Morris. 'Captain John Smith found at least forty-three densely populated communities, indicating rich if unknown history.' The Rappahannock people's way of life was 'centered around the river – fishing, oysters, hunting, agriculture, pottery, basket weaving, fish traps, and netting – all of which was based on the natural resources of the river,' Morris said. When colonization and development displaced the tribe, forcing them inland,'it was miles away from the tribe's life-sustaining practices,' Morris said. 'The spiritual connection to the river was lost, devastating the culture and changing the history of the tribe's struggle to survive.' The tribe's return to the river is the culmination of years of effort to acquire the land, which Morris said 'felt a lot like climbing a mountain while carrying a moon-sized shopping bag of moving parts and pieces.' The land transfer marks the second major acquisition of land by the tribe along the Rappahannock River in recent years. In 2022, the tribe celebrated its rematriation to 465 acres of land bordering the waterway. Rappahannock Tribe celebrates return of Fones Cliffs acreage The Rappahannock Tribe will now have opportunities to expand its Return to the River program, which trains tribal youth in traditional river knowledge and practices. The tribe is also planning to build a small visitors' center on the newly acquired land, new pow wow grounds, walking trails and public education and recreation opportunities through a grant from the American Environmental Restoration Initiative and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Just over two years ago, the fate of the land was entirely unknown. It was in the hands of the Virginia True Corporation, a developer with big plans for the property, including the construction of an 18-hole golf course, a resort subdivision, luxury condos and federally funded housing. In 2022, the Virginia True Corporation put the property up for public auction as a result of bankruptcy proceedings. The Conservation Fund was the highest bidder in the public auction for the land and successfully acquired the property for $8.1 million. Then came more than two years of efforts to secure the funding needed to conserve the land through an easement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before it could be transferred into the possession of the Rappahannock Tribe. After some 'ordinary' delays in that process, the easement was completed in December of last year, and The Conservation Fund was 'able to move pretty quickly to get the fee title into the hands of the tribe,' said Richards. The tribe's long-awaited return to the River comes at a time of great concern for the health of the Rappahannock River itself. This week, it was designated as the sixth most endangered river in the U.S. by the nonprofit American Rivers. The nonprofit stated that 'increased strain on water resources and the absence of unified water management threaten the river's ability to meet the needs of both people and nature.' Recently, counties along the Rappahannock River have requested to withdraw more water from it than ever before in response to residential, commercial and industrial growth in the region, raising concern amongst indigenous leaders and conservationists. The Rappahannock River stretches roughly 200 miles from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay and supports a diverse range of ecosystems that provide critical habitat for fish and wildlife, according to American Rivers. Richards said that the struggle overFones Cliffs has taught her that with the right team and perseverance, 'we can actually make some really big inroads on protecting the river and really enhancing and restoring it.'SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Boston Globe
22-03-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
James Monroe's Oak Hill estate has historic roots. Some hope to preserve it as a Virginia park.
That is, maybe, until now. The DeLashmutt family, which has owned Oak Hill in the community of Aldie since 1948, hopes to convert its sprawling 1,240 acres (502 hectares) into a state park. A bill to that effect unanimously passed the House of Delegates last month but failed in the Senate. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The DeLashmutts, along with a nonprofit corporation, The Conservation Fund, hope Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin will revive the multimillion-dollar project by including it in his proposed amendment to the budget bill ahead of the General Assembly's veto session. The governor has until Monday to submit his revisions. Advertisement 'We've taken good care of it,' family matriarch Gayle DeLashmutt said, gazing up at trees in the garden during a recent tour of the grounds. 'And I think it's time to let somebody else do it.' The DeLashmutt family, which is unrelated to the Monroes, is part of a long line of Virginians who have lived in Oak Hill. Other Founding Fathers' homes in the state — Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, George Washington's Mount Vernon and Monroe's Highland estate — are owned by educational and historical institutions that open the estates' doors to the public. The residence at Oak Hill has a complex heritage: At the top of a split staircase leading to the entrance sits a gifted bell from the decommissioned USS Oak Hill. Inside, elegant parlors feature fireplace mantelpieces made of decadent marble, a gift from Monroe's longtime friend, the Marquis de LaFayette, to thank first lady Elizabeth Kortright Monroe for saving his wife from the guillotine. On an interior windowpane, a young man with the last name of Fairfax, a family that previously owned the house, scratched his name and the date of his graduation from the Virginia Military Institute. Advertisement Gayle DeLashmutt's daughter, India DeLashmutt, grew up on the estate, charging about on go-carts and sledding down steep hills in the same place that Monroe hosted first lady Dolley Madison more than 100 years earlier. Her father used to tell her stories about finding arrowheads in Little River, a tributary that streams through the property. 'There's just this span of time, and this place can really represent it,' she said. The estate also embodies the histories of the enslaved African Americans who built and cared for the property. There is George Williams, an enslaved carpenter who constructed the main house in Oak Hill, according to independent researcher Emily Stanfill. And Natus Berryman, who lived at Oak Hill before being forced to move to the South, said Lori Kimball, another researcher. Opening the estate to the public full time would allow people to learn more about their stories, Kimball said. Donna Bohanan, chair of the Black History Committee at a Loudon County genealogical library, said it would also educate the public about the Indigenous people and tenant farmers who lived on and worked the land. 'I advocate for not just focusing on the great men of history or military history because that leaves out a lot,' Bohanan said. 'By telling our more inclusive stories, we can start to see the connections between all of us as members of the human race.' Loudoun County has allocated $22 million toward the roughly $52 million needed to support the project, while The Conservation Fund and other groups have raised another nearly $25 million. The family is selling the property for $20 million. The Conservation Fund says the state won't have to pay a dime toward the project. Advertisement The legislation for such an acquisition, backed by Democratic Del. Alfonso Lopez, passed unanimously in the Virginia House last month but stalled in the state Senate. During the final days of the session, Democratic Sen. L. Louise Lucas told reporters that she thought the bill was an excellent idea but expressed concern about long-term commitments from the state, even if it has no upfront financial obligation. 'That's a lot of park for somebody to take care of,' she said. 'Those are the kinds of things you have to consider when you're working on these budgets.' Youngkin said Wednesday he was initially resistant to the project because he was not sure the business plan was fully fleshed out. But he said he felt less uneasy after touring the estate with Republican Del. Geary Higgins, whose district includes Oak Hill. 'We had a good visit, and I'm still trying to decide what we do,' Youngkin said. 'No promises, but I'm open-minded.'
The Independent
22-03-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
James Monroe's Oak Hill estate has historic roots. Some hope to preserve it as a Virginia park
The room where President James Monroe crafted part of his famed doctrine exudes a quiet, stately atmosphere. Inside the enclosed west porch a few footsteps away, a quarried-stone floor marked by fossilized dinosaur tracks glimmers in the sunlight. Just around the corner, a portico built by enslaved African Americans looks out over rolling foothills stretching into the misty northern Virginia horizon, a captivating view untarnished by monied property developments bellying up nearby. It's an early morning at Oak Hill, where centuries of history are deeply rooted in Monroe's Loudoun County estate. It's the last home of a presidential Founding Father still in private hands, according to conservation experts. That is, maybe, until now. The DeLashmutt family, which has owned Oak Hill in the community of Aldie since 1948, hopes to convert its sprawling 1,240 acres (502 hectares) into a state park. A bill to that effect unanimously passed the House of Delegates last month but failed in the Senate. The DeLashmutts, along with a nonprofit corporation, The Conservation Fund, hope Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin will revive the multimillion-dollar project by including it in his proposed amendment to the budget bill ahead of the General Assembly's veto session. The governor has until Monday to submit his revisions. 'We've taken good care of it,' family matriarch Gayle DeLashmutt said, gazing up at trees in the garden during a recent tour of the grounds. 'And I think it's time to let somebody else do it.' A long history of family ownership The DeLashmutt family, which is unrelated to the Monroes, is part of a long line of Virginians who have lived in Oak Hill. Other Founding Fathers' homes in the state — Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, George Washington's Mount Vernon and Monroe's Highland estate — are owned by educational and historical institutions that open the estates' doors to the public. The residence at Oak Hill has a complex heritage: At the top of a split staircase leading to the entrance sits a gifted bell from the decommissioned USS Oak Hill. Inside, elegant parlors feature fireplace mantelpieces made of decadent marble, a gift from Monroe's longtime friend, the Marquis de LaFayette, to thank first lady Elizabeth Kortright Monroe for saving his wife from the guillotine. On an interior windowpane, a young man with the last name of Fairfax, a family that previously owned the house, scratched his name and the date of his graduation from the Virginia Military Institute. Gayle DeLashmutt's daughter, India DeLashmutt, grew up on the estate, charging about on go-carts and sledding down steep hills in the same place that Monroe hosted first lady Dolley Madison more than 100 years earlier. Her father used to tell her stories about finding arrowheads in Little River, a tributary that streams through the property. 'There's just this span of time, and this place can really represent it,' she said. Histories of enslaved residents and Indigenous generations The estate also embodies the histories of the enslaved African Americans who built and cared for the property. There is George Williams, an enslaved carpenter who constructed the main house in Oak Hill, according to independent researcher Emily Stanfill. And Natus Berryman, who lived at Oak Hill before being forced to move to the South, said Lori Kimball, another researcher. Opening the estate to the public full time would allow people to learn more about their stories, Kimball said. Donna Bohanan, chair of the Black History Committee at a Loudon County genealogical library, said it would also educate the public about the Indigenous people and tenant farmers who lived on and worked the land. 'I advocate for not just focusing on the great men of history or military history because that leaves out a lot,' Bohanan said. 'By telling our more inclusive stories, we can start to see the connections between all of us as members of the human race.' Uncertain commitment from Virginia Loudoun County has allocated $22 million toward the roughly $52 million needed to support the project, while The Conservation Fund and other groups have raised another nearly $25 million. The family is selling the property for $20 million. The Conservation Fund says the state won't have to pay a dime toward the project. The legislation for such an acquisition, backed by Democratic Del. Alfonso Lopez, passed unanimously in the Virginia House last month but stalled in the state Senate. During the final days of the session, Democratic Sen. L. Louise Lucas told reporters that she thought the bill was an excellent idea but expressed concern about long-term commitments from the state, even if it has no upfront financial obligation. 'That's a lot of park for somebody to take care of," she said. "Those are the kinds of things you have to consider when you're working on these budgets.' Youngkin said Wednesday he was initially resistant to the project because he was not sure the business plan was fully fleshed out. But he said he felt less uneasy after touring the estate with Republican Del. Geary Higgins, whose district includes Oak Hill. 'We had a good visit, and I'm still trying to decide what we do,' Youngkin said. 'No promises, but I'm open-minded.' ___
