The Nature Conservancy in Virginia Completes 20,830-Acre Conservation Deal with International Paper

Virginia forests part of historic conservation deal protecting more than 200,000 acres

Richmond, Virginia?The Nature Conservancy in Virginia completed a conservation deal with International Paper that protects 20,830 acres of forestland in Sussex, Surry, Isle of Wight and Southampton counties in Virginia.

Gov. Timothy Kaine announced the closing of the Virginia conservation deal Monday evening at the Governor?s Natural Resources Leadership Summit in Marion, Virginia.

?Virginia loses more than 20,000 acres of forestland each year, so it?s critical that the public and private sectors work together to balance the fast-paced growth in our state with land conservation,? Kaine said. ?This deal between The Nature Conservancy and International Paper is an excellent example of collaborative conservation. My administration is committed to fostering more public-private efforts to meet the goals of protecting 400,000 acres by the end of the decade.?

The forested tracts in southeast Virginia are part of the Conservancy?s Southern Rivers conservation area, a top priority for the Conservancy, and home to more than 100 rare plants, animals and natural communities. These forests contribute to the water quality of the Nottoway, Blackwater and Meherrin rivers. All three drain into the Albemarle-Pamlico Sound, the nation?s second-largest estuary next to the Chesapeake Bay. The conservation deal includes the 4,900-acre Big Woods tract in Sussex County bordering the Conservancy?s Piney Grove Preserve, home to the state?s rarest bird?the red cockaded woodpecker.

?In Virginia, several hundred thousand acres of forestland are expected to change ownership in the coming years,? said Michael Lipford, executive director of The Nature Conservancy in Virginia. ?Our state needs consistent and reliable funding sources so that its conservation agencies are able to work with landowners to conserve the forests that are vital for the protection of our water quality, the support our forest products industry?the state?s largest manufacturing sector employer?and the enhancement of our quality of life.?

The Conservancy is working with the state to turn the 4,900-acre Big Woods tract into southeast Virginia?s first state forest. The remaining 15,930 acres along the Blackwater, Nottoway and Meherrin rivers are held by clients of Forest Investments Associates, a timber investment management organization (TIMO). The Conservancy is working with the TIMO and potential local, state and federal funding partners to protect critical bottomland forests with conservation easements. The Conservancy also retains first rights to future purchases of the TIMO lands.

The Conservancy is working with the Virginia Department of Forestry to secure federal Forest Legacy funds to purchase conservation easements on the TIMO land. The state forestry department has ranked the Conservancy?s Forest Legacy grant as the top-ranked project for Virginia for 2008. In addition, Isle of Wight County has expressed strong interest in partnering with the Conservancy to achieve long-term protection of tracts in the county along the Blackwater River.

The Nature Conservancy announced in March that it had reached an agreement with International Paper to acquire more than 173,000 acres in Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi. With the Conservation Fund, the Conservancy also announced plans to jointly purchase an additional 39,000 acres in South Carolina. The Conservancy later announced a separate deal with International Paper to protect more than 64,000 acres in Wisconsin. The Conservancy?s agreement with International Paper is the single largest private land conservation sale in the history of the South and one of the largest in the nation.

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The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its nearly one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States?including more than 230,000 acres in Virginia?and have helped preserve more than 117 million acres around the world. Visit us on the Web at nature.org/virginia.