Conservation Strategy

Landscape-scale conservation made possible by strategic planning and landowner collaboration

Because of the expansive nature of the Shenandoah Valley and Allegheny Highlands, we work strategically to protect the most vulnerable lands and waters with high conservation value by collaborating with landowners to:

Conserve their working farms, forests and noteworthy natural areas through conservation easements
Connect them with partners to implement best management practices

Conservation Strategies

Conservation Planning

In partnership with the Shenandoah Valley Conservation Collaborative, we use state conservation data to evaluate parcels. This helps us identify key conservation values like prime soils and rare habitats, enabling quick, customized conservation easement agreements that align landowners’ visions with protecting these values.

Wildlife Corridors

For 30 years, we’ve pioneered the creation of protected corridors for wildlife movement, collaborating with conservation biologists before habitat connectivity was widely recognized. Our efforts secured corridors in Page Valley, the James River Valley, and highlighted a prospective corridor across Afton Mountain.

Remote Sensing

Incorporating remote sensing enables us to monitor steep and rugged slopes and fulfill long-term monitoring commitments on easements we hold efficiently. We use recent aerial imagery, drone footage, and ground photography to document conservation values and examine existing conditions at various spatial scales.

Notable Landscapes

Shenandoah River Valley

Along the North and South Forks, we are protecting unique wildlife habitat, working farms, forests, and a high concentration of historic sites including several Civil War battlefields. One of the many success stories along the Shenandoah River involved a multi-year effort by a group of neighbors uniting and protecting their private properties, thereby establishing a secure wildlife corridor between Shenandoah National Park and George Washington and Jefferson National Forests in Page Valley across the South Fork. Now we are working to expand the wildlife corridor across the South Fork and protect more land along the North Forth.

Middlebrook-Brownsburg Corridor

This intact cultural landscape is one of the first where we focused our farmland protection efforts with the Virginia Outdoors Foundation. Running along Middlebrook Road and Brownsburg Turnpike between Staunton and Lexington, this fertile stretch of land includes some of Virginia’s top producing farms with a rich agricultural legacy, including the invention of the mechanical harvester by Cyrus McCormick. The resilient nature of this agricultural landscape holds promise for a vibrant future, especially as more farmers protect working lands here.

James River Valley

Along with our partners, we are working to protect the James River Valley, thereby establishing a wildlife corridor connecting the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains. Trails were first established by herds of buffalo and the indigenous groups of the region in the 17th and 18th centuries. The path – which today has been transformed by Route 11 – served as a route for hunting parties, long-distance travel, and trade routes for exchange with other indigenous groups and settlers. Around 2010, Shenandoah Valley Conservancy, Rockbridge Conservation and Virginia Outdoors Foundation began focusing on a key area near Purgatory Mountain. The goal is to connect the eastern and western sections of the George Washington National Forest, Natural Bridge State Park, and Short Hills Wildlife Management Area with privately conserved lands.