About
Shenandoah Valley
Conservancy
Protecting Farms, Forests, and Waterways for Future Generations
Shenandoah Valley Conservancy is a non-profit land trust dedicated to advancing conservation priorities in the Shenandoah Valley and adjacent Alleghany Highlands by strategically protecting farms, forests, and waterways. We are focused on protecting the natural landscapes of our service area with strategic and innovative approaches that consider the intrinsic connection between our land and water, along with the plants, animals and people they sustain.
A Legacy of Conservation
Shenandoah Valley Conservancy has been protecting land and water for almost 35 years. It was established in 1990 as the Valley Conservation Council by a visionary group of local residents concerned about protecting the Shenandoah Valley region. Since that time, conservation and conservation organizations working here have evolved, and so have we. Initially, we pursued our conservation mission by directly protecting land with conservation easements and advocating for smart growth by participating in county land use planning efforts.
In recent years as other groups have organized to tackle land use planning challenges, we redefined our role and began focusing exclusively on protecting land and water with conservation easements. In 2019, we received national accreditation as a land trust. In 2024, we changed our name to Shenandoah Valley Conservancy to clarify our geographic location and our land trust identity at the state, regional, and national levels, providing a pathway to outside funding by connecting us to top conservation priorities in North America.
Our initial conservation efforts over 30 years ago served as a catalyst to much of the great conservation work being advanced throughout the Shenandoah Valley by many others today and we continue to collaborate with our partners to carry out our mission.
Mission
Our mission is to protect the most important and vulnerable landscapes of the Shenandoah Valley and adjacent Allegheny Highlands, so working farms, forests, and waterways remain agriculturally, ecologically, and recreationally vibrant.
Vision
We envision the greater Shenandoah Valley region remaining defined by uninterrupted landscapes and spectacular open spaces that positively impact our food supply, our livelihoods, our heritage, our climate, and our world.
What’s at Stake
Running north and south between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains, the Shenandoah Valley is located at the intersection of the Appalachian Mountains and Chesapeake Bay watershed, two global conservation priorities. The Shenandoah Valley encompasses a matrix of working farms and forests – including several of the top producing agricultural areas in Virginia – bordered by extensive public lands harboring important habitats for a diversity of plants and animals, including several endemic species. With changing weather patterns, preserving prime soils and clean water in resilient landscapes, like the Shenandoah Valley, is now more important than ever.
Protecting Lands and Waters Across the Valley
Our service region includes eleven counties in the Shenandoah Valley and Alleghany Highlands:
