Stafford County has been awarded a $433,000 Virginia Land Conservation Foundation (VLCF) grant to purchase four parcels totaling 127.72 acres on the Crow’s Nest peninsula, adjacent to the Potomac Creek heron rookery and some 1,800 feet from Crow’s Nest Natural Area Preserve.
Stafford will then convey the land to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, for addition to the preserve’s existing 2,872 acres.
“Acquisition of the property will result in the protection of 121 acres of forest land, 6,400 feet of streams and wetlands, 12 historic resource sites, wildlife habit, the federally listed Small Whorled Pogonia and the Potomac Creek heron rookery,” according to a press release from Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s office. It will also allow for expansion of the hiking trail network developed within the existing natural area preserve.
Stafford’s is one of 23 Virginia Land Conservation Foundation (VLCF) grants totaling $6.42 million announced by Gov. McAuliffe on September 22, 2016. “The grants will support projects that will help shield 7,037 acres of at-risk land from development,” McAuliffe said.
VLCF grants are used by private land trusts, local governments and state agencies to protect and acquire significant lands in the following categories: farmland, forestry, historic resources, natural areas, and parks and open space. See more at: https://governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/newsarticle?articleId=16825#sthash.WfWplTJS.dpuf
