As the suburbs of Washington grew, people who loved the rural feel of neighboring Virginia counties were alarmed. Residents of Albemarle County were equally worried as Charlottesville began to expand. Today, a group called the Piedmont Environmental Council has emerged as a champion of farmland, forests and historic sites in nine counties south and west of D.C.
Flying over Albemarle and Culpeper, Fauquier and Greene, Loudoun, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock Counties at night, you see proof of what the Piedmont Environmental Council has done – as city and suburban lights give way to an enormous swath of darkness. There are over two million acres of land in the region --- 330,000 of them in conservation easements. That means the owners have agreed not to develop their properties
“In Fauquier County we’ve reached a threshold of 100,000 acres that has been preserved by the families that own it," says Chris Miller, President of the Piedmont Environmental Council. "Albemarle’s not far behind. They’ll probably cross that threshhold in the next year.”
The organization he leads has been working since 1972 to preserve open space, even as this region grows faster than the rest of the state. The group promoted tax incentives for land conservation, launched the BUY FRESH, BUY LOCAL campaign to help farmers stay on their land, supported historic preservation with the JOURNEY THROUGH HALLOWED GROUND corridor, promoted green energy through the Solarize programs, and pushed for more mass transit in Northern Virginia.
“What we’ve learned over the last 20 years is that if you take advantage of the Metro system, you can have a lot of people in very livable communities with much less traffic and much less impact on the environment,” Miller says.
And where cars must go PEC has done battle for beautiful country roads.
“A lot of the attraction of living in the countryside is the rural road networks, and people actually love traveling on roads that have unique features such as iron truss bridges," Miller explains. "We spent some time trying to get VDOT to look at the benefits of rehabilitation as opposed to replacement.”
The council has also educated local governments about the need to protect existing water supplies.
“We’re very close to the sustainable levels of withdrawals of ground water," Miller warns. "We must really concentrate on protecting our surface water supplies so that it doesn’t become a crisis like what California is facing.”
Trees and native plants send roots deep into the ground where they hold soil in place and help to filter out pollutants. That’s why PEC hosts planting parties along streams and rivers, sometimes in partnership with homeowners’ associations.
“These are usually controlled by the builders for the first 5-10 years the community is in place," Miller says. "They are excited about working with us to plant buffers along the streams that run through their communities, create trail systems and in some cases on school sites create outdoor classrooms that also have an environmental benefit.”
The recession slowed development in the Piedmont region, but now the group says it’s facing a new push as Washington tries to economize.
“What we’ve seen in the last ten years is the relocation of federal agencies from downtown and close in suburbs out to places like Winchester and Front Royal, a little bit to Charlottesville," Miller says. "That’s probably the biggest growth driver right now is the relocation of existing federal jobs.”
The Piedmont Environmental Council will continue its work from the historic home of Civil War Cavalry Commander John Mosby. The building is nearly 200 years old, but Miller says the group wanted to stay in downtown Warrenton, rather than building new:
“The biggest source of carbon in most Virginians’ lives is driving. By staying at a location one block from Main Street, two blocks from the county offices, we’re able to cut the trips that we generate pretty much in half.”
So the council renovated and expanded the building to create a workplace for about 30 staffers and 50 board members – living by the principles it promotes, mounting solar panels on the roof, relying on geothermal energy, installing large, double-paned windows while preserving the old pine floors and fireplaces of the original home.
The PEC will host an open house at its newly renovated and expanded home in downtown Warrenton on December 11 from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., or you can take a virtual tour with Chris Miller here: