Clarke County
“Governor Terry McAuliffe today announced the recipients of fiscal year 2014 farmland preservation grants. Eight localities have been awarded just over $1,058,000 from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS). Localities must use the grant monies to preserve farmland within their boundaries through local Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) programs. PDR programs compensate landowners who work with localities to preserve their land permanently by voluntarily placing a perpetual conservation easement on it.
VDACS allocated almost $149,678.46 each to the counties of Albemarle, Clarke, Fauquier, Isle of Wight, James City, and Stafford, as well as the City of Virginia Beach. Rappahannock County will receive an $11,000 grant. These allocations total a little more than $1,058,000, bringing the total allocation of state matching funds to $8.68 million since 2008, when PDR funds were first distributed.
This is the seventh time that the Commonwealth has provided state matching funds for certified local PDR programs. Of the 22 local PDR programs in Virginia, 18 have received local funding over the past few years. To date, more than 6,700 acres on 49 farms in 12 localities have been permanently protected in part with $6 million of these funds. Additional easements are expected to close using the remaining funds over the next two years. Future new appropriations will help preserve additional working lands as well.”
~Writes the Winchester Daily-Monitor
~Writes the Winchester Daily-Monitor
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