Germanna Foundation Receives $647,370 Virginia Grant for Conserving Siegen Forest

The Germanna Foundation is thrilled to announce that we received a grant from Virginia’s Department of Conservation and Recreation of almost $650,000 towards conserving 170 acres of Germanna’s Siegen Forest, which is the land behind the Fort Germanna Visitor Center.

The description of the grant states it is a “Conservation easement to protect 170 acres of the Wilderness Battlefield with 19th century archeological artifacts.”

“We are very excited about this grant,” said Executive Director Tim Sutphin. “This goes a long way to preserving the Siegen Forest for future generations. The Germanna Foundation will continue to be stewards of this land in perpetuity for everyone to enjoy. I want to give a special thank you to the Piedmont Environmental Council for aiding the Germanna Foundation in completing a successful grant application.”

Here is the original Siegen Forest Conservation Easement motion the Germanna Foundation set forth on March 19, 2010. This process towards this grant has been more then ten years in the making!

Motion: To authorize the President and the Executive Director of the Germanna Foundation, with consultation of the Trustees, select a land conservation advisor, an attorney, a land appraiser, and an easement recipient to 1) protect the archaeological sites and natural beauty of Siegen Forest, and 2) maximize the financial returns to the Germanna Foundation.

What is a Conservation Easement?

A conservation easement is a simple legal agreement between the Germanna Foundation and an agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia (such as the Department of Historic Resources or the Virginia Outdoors Foundation) or a non-profit conservation organization (like the Piedmont Environmental Council) that places permanent limits on the future development of the property in order to protect the conservation values of the land. The easement may also specifically protect natural, scenic or historic features of the property. Since each easement is unique, the easement terms would be negotiated between the Germanna Foundation and a public agency or a qualified conservation organization. Except for rights explicitly given up in the easement document, the landowner continues to own, use and control the land. The landowner can still decide who has access to the property and for what purpose, just as before. An easement is a particularly useful tool for ensuring protection of the Piedmont’s natural beauty because an easement lasts forever – it binds not only the current landowner, but also all subsequent owners of the property. An example of the duration of an easement is the conservation easement that was entered into by the Grayson family and the Department of Historic Resources before the donation of Salubria to the Germanna Foundation; the easement runs with the land and binds the Germanna Foundation to its terms.

What are the Public Benefits of a Conservation Easement at Siegen Forest?

Siegen Forest at Germanna Ford is the earliest site of European settlement in the Piedmont, and probably has some of the earliest pre-Colombian sites waiting to be discovered. People come to experience the places that tell the story of our nation’s history, and further development will impair that experience in many areas.

Ensuring that we conserve a healthy Siegen Forest ensures that Virginia’s residents and visitors — now and in the future — can experience the Commonwealth’s exceptional natural beauty. Our forest will help retain cover for wild game, and will aid in the preservation of a healthy watershed for the Rappahannock River for years to come.

IN THE NEWS

State grants will help preserve Culpeper and Orange historic sites (Culpeper Star-Exponent, October 29, 2021)

Germanna Foundation Trustee Volker Schüttenhelm was on Radio Siegen in Germany to tell listeners about the Virginia grant given to the Foundation for protecting Germanna’s 170-acre Siegen Forest. The interview is in German. Listen:

Below is the official Virginia DCR press release of October 28, 2021:

The Department of Conservation and Recreation Announces Land Conservation Grants to Protect 8,000 Acres (October 28, 2021)

RICHMOND—The Department of Conservation and Recreation today announced $7.5 million in Virginia Land Conservation Foundation (VLCF) grants, which will fund 30 conservation projects and protect 8,000 acres of land across the commonwealth.

Private land trusts, local governments and state agencies will use the VLCF grants to acquire and protect significant lands in the following categories: farmland, forestry, historic resources, natural areas, and parks and open space. The grant selection process incorporates ConserveVirginia, the commonwealth’s innovative land conservation strategy that is based on “smart map” technology.

“The Virginia Land Conservation Foundation grants program helps protect our most important natural resources and provide more access to the great outdoors for everyone to enjoy,” said Governor Northam. “Through ConserveVirginia, we’re making sure we prioritize protecting lands that bring the most benefit, addressing historic inequalities, and widening our public land program into new areas. Each one of these grants is an opportunity to protect public space in our local communities.”

“From working farms to forests, historic cultural treasures, natural area preserves and other open spaces, the latest round of Virginia Land Conservation Foundation grants will protect a wide variety of lands throughout the Commonwealth,” said Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources Ann Jennings, who serves as chair of the 19-member VLCF board that votes on the grants. “These funded projects meet high standards to help provide clean water to the citizens of the Commonwealth and to restore the Chesapeake Bay.”

An interagency workgroup reviewed and scored grant applications and made recommendations for funding to the board, which approved the awards on Oct. 27. The Department of Conservation and Recreation provides administrative support to the VLCF through the state Office of Land Conservation.

“These awarded projects demonstrate significant progress toward achieving the Commonwealth’s land conservation goals,” said Department of Conservation and Recreation Director Clyde E. Cristman. “As the statewide clearinghouse for land conservation, the Department of Conservation and Recreation and our partner agencies work to ensure the competitive grant process provides the greatest positive impact across the Commonwealth.”

This was the third round of awards approved by the VLCF board in 2021. A total of $3.4 million in grants was approved Feb. 5 and another $4.8 million was approved on June 10.

The following table gives the VLCF funding amount (not the total project cost) for the projects in the five categories.

Farmlands Preservation

Project name	Location	Requesting organization	Grant amount	Description
Forkland Dairy	Cumberland County	Virginia Outdoors Foundation	$500,000	Conservation easement to protect a 920-acre farm.
Thomas Neck Family Farm	Essex County	Virginia Outdoors Foundation	$879,750	Conservation easement to protect 841 acres of farm and forest lands.
Kevin Jones Farm (Phase II)	Stafford County	Stafford County	$120,250	Conservation easement to protect a 70-acre historic farm.

Forest Preservation

Project name	Location	Requesting Organization	Grant Amount	Description
Pierces Lowgrounds	Greensville County	Virginia Outdoors Foundation	$350,000	Open-space easement to protect 2,860 acres of forest and farmland.
Roanoke River Working Forest	Charlotte County	The Conservation Fund	$464,000	Conservation easement to protect 932 acres of forestland next to a new forest.
Over the River and Point Beach	Southampton County	Department of Forestry	$225,000	Conservation easement to protect 322 riverfront acres including a bottomland peninsula.
Poplar Hollow	Shenandoah County	Department of Forestry	$300,000	Conservation easement to protect 611 acres next to a forest.
Caroline Diamonds	Caroline County	Meadowview Biological Research Station Inc.	$161,000	Acquisition and conservation of 96 acres of a rare gravel bog and oak barren uplands.

Historic Preservation

Project name	Location	Requesting organization	Grant amount	Description
Siegen Forest	Orange County	The Germanna Foundation	$647,370	Conservation easement to protect 170 acres of the Wilderness Battlefield with 19th century archeological artifacts.
Campbell’s Bridge Mills	Chesterfield County	Capital Region Land Conservancy	$375,000	Acquisition and conservation of 5 acres with historic resources at Campbell’s Bridge.
CCTSC Restoration Project	Campbell County	Campbell County Training School Complex, Inc.	$69,075	Conservation easement to protect a 9-acre property with four historic buildings.
Pegram’s Battery Tract at Cedar Mountain	Culpeper County	American Battlefield Trust	$249,876	Acquisition and conservation of 45-acre Pegram’s Battery Tract in the Cedar Mountain Battlefield.
Edwards	Rockingham County	Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation	$158,679	Acquisition and conservation of 107 acres of high ground in the Battle of Port Republic.

Natural Areas Protection

Project name	Location	Requesting organization	Grant amount	Description
Difficult Creek South Addition	Halifax County	Department of Conservation and Recreation – Natural Heritage Division	$30,000	Acquisition of a 2-acre addition to the natural area preserve that will connect with a significant 7,300-acre protected site.
Pedlar Hills Glades Natural Area Preserve Addition	Montgomery County	Department of Conservation and Recreation – Natural Heritage Division	$515,000	Acquisition of a 156-acre addition to the natural area preserve to protect rare species habitats and rare woodland natural communities.
Deep Run Ponds Natural Area Preserve Land Donation	Rockingham County	Department of Conservation and Recreation – Natural Heritage Division	$20,000	Acquisition of a 1-acre addition to the natural area preserve that supports mature forests.
Dendron Swamp Natural Area Preserve Addition	Sussex County	Department of Conservation and Recreation – Natural Heritage Division	$300,000	Acquisition of a 102-acre addition to the natural area preserve to protect a Bald Cypress – Water Tupelo Brownwater Swamp community.
Poor Mountain Natural Area Preserve -Northeast Addition	Roanoke County	Department of Conservation and Recreation – Natural Heritage Division	$236,847	Acquisition of a 77-acre addition to the natural area preserve to protect habitat for the globally rare piratebush (Buckleya distichophylla) and buffer for prescribed fire management needed to maintain the preserve.
Chestnut Creek Wetlands Natural Area Preserve Addition	Floyd County	Department of Conservation and Recreation – Natural Heritage Division	$165,000	Acquisition of an 11-acre addition to the natural area preserve to protect habitat for two endangered animals and a globally rare plant.
Difficult Creek North Addition	Halifax County	Department of Conservation and Recreation – Natural Heritage Division	$50,153	Acquisition of a 1-acre addition to the natural area preserve to enable prescribed fire management needed to maintain the preserve.
The Cedars Natural Area Preserve Powell River Addition	Lee County	Department of Conservation and Recreation – Natural Heritage Division	$50,000	Acquisition of a 205-acre addition to the natural area preserve to protect habitats for newly discovered, significantly rare plant species and for rare mussels, fish and aquatic species.
Pinnacle State Natural Area Expansion – Weaver Creek	Russell County	The Nature Conservancy	$133,000	Acquisition of a 92-acre addition to the natural area preserve including a riparian corridor along a significant tributary to the Clinch River.

Open Space and Parks

Project name	Location	Requesting organization	Grant amount	Description
Copper Creek Initiative	Scott County	Department of Wildlife Resources	$100,000	Acquisition of 8 acres at Copper Creek and the Clinch River for new public fishing and boating access.
Camp Kum-Ba-Yah	City of Lynchburg	Virginia Outdoors Foundation	$250,000	Conservation easement on 42 acres to protect urban forest and recreational programs.
Eleanor Park Conservation Easement	Town of Colonial Beach	Town of Colonial Beach	$387,416	Conservation easement to protect green space with mature hardwood trees along the Potomac River.
The Green at the Science Museum of Virginia	City of Richmond	Virginia Outdoors Foundation	$250,000	Acquisition of 5 acres to turn a parking lot into an urban park and sustainable landscape.
Brander Street	City of Richmond	Capital Region Land Conservancy	$150,000	Acquisition and easement to protect 6 acres next to Ancarrow’s Landing and across from Great Shiplock Park. The path of the Richmond Slave Trail crosses the property.
Basic Park – Natural Area	City of Waynesboro	City of Waynesboro	$87,500	Acquisition of 44 acres to provide public access to forest trails and river fishing and to protect buffers along the South River and Steele Run.
Brush Mountain Park – Edison Property Expansion	Town of Blacksburg	Town of Blacksburg	$210,000	Acquisition and easement to protect 207 acres of richly biodiverse forest habitat to become part of the Brush Mountain Park system, linking to a Jefferson National Forest trail system.
Ballenger Creek Nature Preserve	Fluvanna County	Tadpole Land and Trail Conservancy	$65,084	Acquisition and easement of 73 acres of forest along Ballenger Creek for public access and trails.