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Quick Links Conservation Strategy Program Milestones Places We Protect Alexander Berger     Memorial Sanctuary Voorhees Nature Preserve Cumberland Marsh New Point Comfort Dragon Flats Guinea Marshes Contact Information Andrew Lacatell Chesapeake Rivers Program Richmond, VA Phone: (804) 644-5800

The Rappahannock, Mattaponi, and Pamunkey rivers, Cat Point Creek, and Dragon Run wind through the farms, forests, and historical sites of central and eastern Virginia. These waters represent some of the most pristine examples of tidal freshwater systems remaining in the Chesapeake Bay region and the entire East Coast. Bald eagles, waterfowl, and bottomland hardwoods thrive in the region’s high-quality marshes.

Today, 15 million people rely on this landscape, posing a serious threat to the natural integrity of the region’s lands and waters. Inappropriate land and shoreline development places tremendous stress on wetland, marsh, and riparian habitats along these Chesapeake Bay tributaries. The Conservancy is addressing this threat by restoring habitat, partnering with private landowners, promoting sound land and water use practices, and other creative strategies. 

Threats

• inappropriate development
• incompatible forestry
• invasive plant and fish species
• sea level rise 
• water management

Plants

• bald cypress-tupelo swamp forest
• sensitive joint-vetch
• scrub oak
• Parker’s pipewort

Animals

• shad 
• herring
• bald eagle
• migratory waterfowl

Dragon Run © Byron Jorjorian

Guided by conservation science, the Conservancy works with a variety of partners to protect the forests, lakes, wetlands, and unique habitats of the Chesapeake Rivers Program. Below are some of the ways we work:

• Land acquisition:
  We purchase land or interests in land and accept donations of land or conservation easements from willing sellers and donors.
• Science-based conservation:
  Using its science-based methods, the Conservancy recently partnered with the Mirant Corporation and Virginia Department of Forestry on a carbon sequestration study to guide forest restoration efforts.
• Land management:
  Our invasive species program is an example of how effective land management helps us accomplish our goals. Considered the second greatest threat to biodiversity, non-native, invasive species spread quickly, disrupt natural cycles, and crowd out native species. Through research, monitoring, and effective control programs, the Conservancy works to minimize the impact of invasive plant and fish species.
• Conservation easements:
  A conservation easement is a voluntary, legally binding agreement that limits certain types of uses or prevents development on a piece of property now and in the future, while protecting the property’s natural values.
• Education and outreach:
  We foster a conservation ethic and appreciation for nature through education and outreach. The Conservancy works to influence land-use planning and is helping local communities learn about development approaches that preserve local character, history, traditions, and, ultimately, the ecosystem itself. 
• Help to shape public policies:
  The Conservancy promotes sound land and water use policy on local, regional, and statewide levels.  The Conservancy has committed funds toward a new state initiative, the Virginia Invasive Species Council, to combat invasive species and has joined a coalition of public and private groups to launch "Virginiaforever," a campaign to garner increased public support and state funding for conservation.
• Community-based conservation:
  The Conservancy partners with local representatives from Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Friends of the Rappahannock, Friends of Dragon Run, and the Dragon Run Steering Committee to protect the area’s waterways.

Voorhees Nature Preserve, Rappahannock River © Mary Porter

• More than 7,500 acres protected in the region.
• Established two new state forests in project area.
• Added 3,000 acres to the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge.
• Involved in the Dragon Run Special Area Management Plan and Dragon Run Watershed Management Plan.
• Protected two Mattaponi River sites where 50 acres of wetlands will be restored.
• Protected more than 3,700 acres along Dragon Run.