PWCAPrince William Conservation Alliance

Community Report, January 27, 2020

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Merrimac Farm WMA

Purchase of Development Rights: 
Funding Support for Landowners and Localities

Thursday, January 30, 7:00 to 8:30pm at Nokesville Volunteer Fire Hall, 12826 Marsteller Drive, Nokesville

Opening Remarks: Jeanine Lawson, Brentsville Supervisor

Speakers: Darryl Griffin, MCB Quantico Community Plans Officer,
Ray Pickering, Fauquier County Agricultural Development Office, and
Jeff Adams, Stafford County farmer 

PDR programs allow landowners to convert some of the wealth tied up in land into cash without relinquishing ownership or agricultural uses.

As of 2018, Fauquier County’s PDR program has purchased 654 Government agencies buy development rights from private landowners to reduce the number of houses that could be built.

As of 2018, Fauquier County’s PDR program has purchased 654 development rights, protecting 13,000 acres, at a cost of $16,700,000. Funding is provided through a local tax of $0.006. Additional funding is provided by the USDA, Virginia DCR, VDACS, Dept. of Defense REPI program, and others.

Funding support for PDR programs is available through the U.S. Dept. of Defense Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program (REPI).

This program seeks to protect military missions by helping remove or avoid land-use conflicts near installations, such as MCB Quantico. As of 2018, the REPI program has invested more than $25 million in Virginia.

Stop Mowing, Start Growing
Saturday, February 8, 9am to 3pm at Northern Virginia Community College, Workforce Center 2675 College Drive, Woodbridge, VA 22191

Invite wildlife into your backyard2nd Annual Native Plants for Beginners Symposium

Click 
here to register (required). The $20 fee covers lunch.

Join us to learn how to create a beautiful yard, habitat for birds and pollinators, save money on fertilizer and pesticides, improve water quality, and curb erosion.

Sponsored by: Prince William County Watershed Management Branch, Prince William Conservation Alliance, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Native Plant Society, and Plant NOVA Natives
 

Talk - Dr. Doug Tallalmy, author of Bringing Nature Home
Sunday, February 23, 2020, 2:30pm at Manassas Park Community Center, 99 Adams St, Manassas Park, Virginia 20111

 

Invite wildlife into your backyardDr. Doug Tallamy, a renowned author, lecturer, ecologist, and entomologist from the University of Delaware, presents on his new book, Nature's Best Hope.

 

Copies of this book, as well as his earlier work, Bringing Nature Home, will be for sale and Dr. Tallamy will sign copies. Visit displays of our sponsors and enjoy free refreshments before and after the presentation.

 

This program is free and open to the general public. For more information, contact the Extension Master Gardener Horticulture Help Line at 703.792.7747, [email protected] or Nancy Vehrs at [email protected].
 

Legislature Takes First Steps to Manage Unregulated Dumping of Construction Dirt on Rural Lands

Unregulated dumping in the Rural CrescentDevelopers have been dumping excavation fill dirt from construction sites on Rural Crescent properties, a cheaper option than dumping at a regulated site.

It’s cheaper for developers, but very expensive for taxpayers, who must pay a lot more later to offset the impacts, including flooding, damages to streams and reservoirs, loss of prime farmland soils, and more.

When an ounce of prevention is so clearly worth a pound of cure, state legislators need to ensure localities have the tools we need to address this problem, protect our quality of life and stop wasting tax dollars on expensive fixes that should have been prevented.

Delegates Elizabeth Guzman (31st District) and Michael Webert (18th District) have proposed bills that would lay the groundwork for legislation to correct this problem. House Bill 1310 would require notice to localities, including adjacent landowners, when a construction site disposes of dirt on rural lands.

House Bill 1639 would create a working group to research and make recommendations, including a regulation containing a model ordinance, to the Director of the Dept. of Environmental Quality.

Please take a few minutes to share your views with your state delegate (find your legislator here). Send an email or click here to use the form letter PEC posted, which allows you to add your thoughts in your own words.

Featherstone National Wildlife Refuge