Valley Conservation Council Changes Name to Shenandoah Valley Conservancy Organization and Announces Conservation Easement to Devil’s Backbone in Highland County

In a press release, the Valley Conservation Council announced that it has changed

its name to Shenandoah Valley Conservancy. The change better reflects the organization’s evolving identity as the only nationally accredited land trust exclusively working to protect the lands and waters of the Shenandoah Valley region – including Highland County.

Shenandoah Valley Conservancy has already secured five easements and permanently protected almost 1,000 acres of additional land and more than two miles of waterways since the start of the year. This brings the total acreage of privately protected lands in the Valley to over 220,000 acres with over 40 additional easements in progress, seven of which the organization hopes to close by the end of the year. One of the recent easement highlights was secured last month when landowners partnered with Shenandoah Valley Conservancy to protect an

extensive section of Devil’s Backbone, the iconic ridge in the Allegheny Highlands in Highland

County, with a conservation easement. The area includes several rare habitats that support

unique plants and animals, such as Timber Rattlesnakes and Rusty Patched Bumble Bees.

The Valley’s conservation value is growing in regional, national and even global significance. Located at the intersection of the Appalachian Mountains and Chesapeake Bay watershed, the Valley falls within an area of world-wide significance that encompasses a rich matrix of working farms and forests, including several of the top producing agricultural areas in Virginia. The area also serves as a globally significant biodiversity hotspot.

With changing weather patterns, preserving prime soils and clean water in resilient landscapes within the Shenandoah Valley and Highland County is now more important than ever.

In fact, national conservation organization The Nature Conservancy was recently awarded $47.2 million for Virginia alone as part of a historic multi-state coalition grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The funds will be used to conserve forests and improve forest management across the Central Appalachians and Southeastern Virginia via partnership with organizations operating in the region, further underscoring the critical role the area plays in mitigating climate change.