Natural Resources

Land Preservation

Land Preservation

A rich and diverse set of natural resources is one of Virginia's greatest assets. The Hampton Roads region plays an important part in Virginia's land preservation due to its location at the southern tip of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, right where the Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean.

Why is This Important?

Of all the development that has occurred in the last 400 years, more than a quarter of it has taken place in just the last 15 years. Virginia lost 206,700 acres of agricultural land, forestland, and other rural land uses to development between 2002 and 2007. Protecting land helps in meeting goals related to water quality, wildlife habitat, recreation, and quality of life.

How is Hampton Roads Doing?

The Hampton Roads region is an active participant in the Chesapeake Bay Program, which seeks to restore and protect the Bay's wetlands and estuaries.

On the whole, the percent of preserved land in the Hampton Roads region is slightly less than the state average: 14 percent of the Hampton Roads region's 4,800 square mile area is designated as protected land. The Valley, Northern, and West Central regions have higher percentages of preserved land: 36.3 percent, 18.8 percent and 16.1 percent, respectively.

Hampton Roads is also home to the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge and part of the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, as well as four of Virginia's 34 state parks: False Cape State Park, Chippokes Plantation, First Landing State Park, and the York River State Park.

Preserved Land By Region, 2011

Region	Total Land Preserved (Sq. Miles)	Preserved Land as a Percent of Total Land Area
Central	957	10.3%
Eastern	292	14.8%
Northern	570	18.8%
Southside	182	2.9%
Southwest	828	13.0%
Hampton Roads	333	14.0%
Valley	1,859	36.3%
West Central	814	16.1%
Virginia	5,835	14.7%

Virginia has over 5,835 square miles (3.73 million acres) of protected land. That is 14.7 percent of the state's total land area.

What Influences Acres of Preserved Land?

Citizens across the Commonwealth have been voluntarily placing conservation easements on their lands since 1966. Many of these easements are held by the Virginia Outdoors Foundation (VOF), which holds more conservation easements than any public land trust in the nation -- administering more than 3,100 conservation easements that protect over 600,000 acres. Private and non-profit organizations also play an important role in conserving important lands in the Commonwealth.

State and federal tax incentives make donations of conservation easements financially possible for many landowners. For many other landowners, conservation is only possible if a land trust or government agency can purchase the land or an easement. Preservation activities in Virginia are currently driven by citizen donations, state and federal tax incentives, local government activities, and federal funding for conservation activities. Federal funding for land conservation programs, however, has been declining in recent years.

Local government programs for the purchase of development rights (PDRs) are gradually taking hold in Virginia. Under these programs, localities purchase conservation easements from farmers and other landowners. At present, 22 localities have instituted PDR programs, including four localities in the Hampton Roads region: the cities of Chesapeake and Virginia Beach, Isle of Wight County, and James City County.