Land Trust of Virginia Receives Capacity Grant from VOF and VaULT
Contact: Sally Price, Executive Director
540-687-8441
[email protected]
Land Trust of Virginia Receives Capacity Grant from
Virginia Outdoors Foundation and Virginia’s United Land Trusts
Building the Capacity of the Land Trust of Virginia’s Easement Program granted $18,000
MIDDLEBURG, Va., March 24, 2022 – The Land Trust of Virginia (LTV) is pleased to announce they have been awarded a one year grant funded by Virginia Outdoors Foundation (VOF) and administered by Virginia’s United Land Trust (VaULT). As of March 4, 2022, LTV will receive $18,000 for their project titled Building the Capacity of the Land Trust of Virginia’s Easement Program.
This grant program was created in recognition of the critical importance of accelerating land conservation throughout the Commonwealth and to highlight the power of partnership between state agencies and nonprofit land trusts. Historically state agencies have taken the majority of conservation easements, but over the last decade, Virginia’s nonprofit land trust community and specifically VaULT members have significantly increased the number of properties they are conserving each year. The percentage of the total number of easements completed by nonprofit land trusts has increased from 17% in 2015 to 49% in 2020. Of that 49%, 47% was completed by VaULT members. LTV, an accredited land trust and VaULT member, currently holds more easements than any other nonprofit land trust in Virginia.
“It is long overdue that we increase our staff dedicated to easement intake, which prompted us to apply for this funding,” said LTV Executive Director Sally Price. “Over the past five years, we have expanded our organization’s stewardship, development and education programs resulting in far more interest in our easement work. With this grant, we plan to work with a consultant and hire an additional Director of Conservation to double our easement program in the next two years.”
Last year, LTV completed 16 easements for a total of 3,040 acres, compared to 1,765 acres in 2020. These new easements expanded our footprint into six new counties, resulting in LTV easements in 24 counties across Virginia. The interest from the public in our programs, and the total recorded easements in 2021, is far more than in previous years. For more information about our work, please visit http://www.landtrustva.org.
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About the Land Trust of Virginia
The Land Trust of Virginia is a nonprofit organization that partners with private landowners who voluntarily protect and preserve properties with significant historic, scenic, or ecological value. LTV has worked with 219 families, conserving a total of 26,109 acres in 24 counties in Virginia. While LTV charges landowners for our services, the fees charged only cover about 28% of LTV’s actual costs so fundraising is essential to our mission.
