Nature Conservancy Sells Cobb Island Station

Property will be protected by conservation easement; includes roughly 32 acres surrounding the building

OYSTER, VA — July 12, 2007 — The Nature Conservancy announced today that it has sold Cobb Island Station, a former U.S. Coast Guard Station, along with approximately 32 waterfront acres that surround the historic building, for $4.1 million to Cobb Island Station LLC. The building and surrounding property will be protected by a conservation easement, which the Conservancy will monitor annually.

“The Conservancy is pleased that this important piece of the barrier islands’ history will be in the hands of an organization that cares deeply for one of the Shore’s most prominent buildings,” said Steve Parker, who directs the Conservancy’s Virginia Coast Reserve Program. “The new owners understand the importance of conservation, and we are confident that they will be good stewards of Cobb Island Station.”

The proceeds of the sale will be applied to future conservation work on the Eastern Shore and in Virginia and to close any pre-existing financial obligations associated with the station.

Cobb Island Station was originally built in 1936 on Cobb Island, seven miles east of its present mainland location. After decades of service, it was decommissioned in 1964. The Conservancy purchased Cobb Island in 1973 and with it took ownership of the former Coast Guard station. After lightning destroyed Cobb Island’s sister station on Parramore Island, the Conservancy barged the 210-ton Cobb Island Station and the station’s 90-ton boathouse to the mainland onto property it owns near the Village of Oyster. The Conservancy completed renovations to the building in 2001.

The Colonial Revival building retains its original configuration and exterior. The station is composed of a main building, three and a half stories high, with a lookout cupola and porches on three sides.

The Conservancy conducted rigorous scientific and legal reviews in preparation for the sale of the Cobb Island Station to ensure that the ecological integrity of the property will be maintained. The conservation easement on the property will not permit subdivision of the property, timber harvesting, or expansion of residential capacity, in addition to other restrictions. The easement also contains provisions that encourage the preservation of the character of the historic exterior of Cobb Island Station.

Encompassing 14 barrier islands and portions of the mainland, the Conservancy’s Virginia Coast Reserve Program protects the last great expanse of coastal wilderness on the East Coast. The rich diversity of life on and around the barrier islands depends upon the water quality in the large expanse of bays, lagoons, mud flats and creeks along the seaside of the peninsula.

The Virginia Coast Reserve’s great ecological and cultural significance has been recognized through the following designations: UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve, U.S. Department of the Interior National Natural Landmark, National Science Foundation Long Term Ecological Research Site and Western Hemisphere International Shorebird Reserve Network Site.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.