The Nature Conservancy Signs 1,193-Acre Land Protection Agreement on Clover Hill Farm

Agreement Helps Protect Upper Rappahannock River Watershed, Preserve Piedmont Hardwood Forest

FAUQUIER COUNTY, VA—22 December 2004—The Nature Conservancy has signed a land protection agreement with Clover Hill Properties, N.V., to protect a 1,193-acre tract of gentle, rolling farmland from intense future development. The agreement, also known as a conservation easement, reduces the property’s development potential, provides ecological guidelines and timber harvesting restrictions, in addition to reducing the number of lots from 117 to 10.

The property, known as Clover Hill Farm, is located in northern Fauquier County, approximately three miles south of Interstate 66 and approximately 50 miles from downtown Washington. Clover Hill Farm is bounded on each side by roughly 600 acres of woodlands and is adjacent to Wildcat Mountain Natural Area, The Nature Conservancy’s first preserve in Virginia.

The Nature Conservancy has been working for more than three years to either purchase Clover Hill or protect it through legal agreements. Prior to the Conservancy’s efforts to protect Clover Hill, a major northern Virginia homebuilder had placed an option on the property to buy and develop it. The combined protection of both Wildcat Mountain and Clover Hill provides a significant forest block and permanent conservation area for the region’s wildlife.

“The possibility that Clover Hill could become a significant residential development has been a major concern for the county for years,” said Harry Atherton, Chairman of Fauquier County’s Board of Supervisors. “Saving this property for future generations helps maintain a substantial part of the county’s rural heritage as it faces increasing development pressures.”

The Carter’s Run Valley, where Clover Hill is located, has remained largely untouched by the rapid growth occurring throughout the northern Virginia region. The loss of Clover Hill to development would have been devastating, according to Ridge Schuyler, director of The Nature Conservancy’s Piedmont Program.

“Clover Hill not only sits adjacent to our first natural preserve in Virginia, but it lies at the heart of a largely intact 16,500-acre forest identified by the Conservancy as one of the best remaining examples of a thriving hardwood forest in the Piedmont,” Schuyler said. “In addition, the property sits astride Carter’s Run, a major tributary of the Rappahannock River that serves as a source of drinking water, recreation and critical aquatic habitat. Protecting this tract from new rooftops and roads will help protect our water quality, our forests and our nature preserve.”

The land protection agreement with the Clover Hill Properties restricts where housing can be built on the property. Eight of the remaining homesites are limited to a footprint of 20,000 square feet, including the house and all other buildings. The other two homesites permitted under the agreement must be on lots 15 acres or smaller and cannot have a footprint of greater than 10,000 square feet.

The Conservancy must approve the location of new residential housing to ensure it does not interfere with ecologically sensitive areas of the property. A forest management plan must be created and then approved by the Conservancy before any timber could be harvested from the property, according to the agreement.

Clover Hill Properties, N.V., is owned by George R. Thompson and his wife, Mary Fleming Thompson. Mary Fleming Thompson previously served on The Nature Conservancy’s South Carolina Chapter board of directors, stepping down in December 2003, and served on The Nature Conservancy’s Board of Governors from 1992 to 2000.

“Protection of property on this scale requires special people,” Schuyler said. “We were fortunate that George Thompson, a devoted member of the Fauquier community, and his wife, Mary Fleming Thompson, a devoted supporter of conservation, were willing to take on this critical protection project. We cannot save great places, like Clover Hill, without great people, like the Thompsons."