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Keeping an Eye on Virginia's Last Great Places:
The Story of Transfer Property Monitors

Star performers: Irma Graf and Chester Titus



By Erin Barnes, volunteer reporter
 
When a former New York City school teacher of 28 years retired to Wintergreen Resort near Charlottesville, a sense of isolation soon followed.  So Irma Graf, a new Virginian and a seasoned volunteer, responded to an advertisement for a Nature Conservancy "transfer property monitor manager."  An ardent Appalachian Trail hiker (she will finish the 2,168 miles this summer) and a member of the Wintergreen Nature Foundation, Irma has a stake in the protection of Virginia's open spaces.  She describes her work for the Conservancy as simply a link in a chain of lifelong interest in the outdoors.

"Transfer properties" are just one of the Nature Conservancy's types of land dealings--properties that were once owned by the Conservancy and later found more beneficial to sell or give to another organization.  By entrusting the property to a dependable group, the Conservancy can then focus their efforts on new areas of importance.  In certain circumstances, federal and state agencies, like the U. S. Forest Service, Park Service, or the Virginia Department of Conservation & Recreation, call on the Conservancy to purchase land for them, because it can act quicker than most organizations. Later the Conservancy "transfers" the land over to them for their care, with restrictions of course. 

So since a fateful November in 2001, Irma has been in charge of gathering reports from all transfer property monitors statewide.  Coordinating all 51 statewide transfer properties is no easy task.  Officially transferring properties began in the 1960s, but not until the 1990s did the Conservancy set up a formal transfer property monitoring program with volunteers.  And it was volunteer Chester Titus, the former Associate Dean at the University of Virginia, who compiled and organized the thousands of pages of legalese on each property.  Now Irma spends her volunteer hours prodding the 39 volunteers with gentle reminders that their visit to a transfer property is due.

The volunteer monitor role is twofold.  They first are responsible for updating any changes in contact information and maintaining the continued, although infrequent, communication with the current landowner.  Second, volunteers must do the actual legwork of surveying the property for signs of development, from construction to pollution.  So while many volunteers enjoy this charming jaunt in the wilderness, the great importance of this sleuth work cannot be overemphasized.  

Chester, Irma, and I sat and chatted, bottlenecking the most popular hallway in the Conservancy's Charlottesville office, and not a single person seemed bothered by our hindrance.  And after a fusillade of pedestrian "excuse me's," Irma and Chester broke into an unprompted list of reasons why they loved volunteering at The Nature Conservancy.  High praise of conservation ethics and bravos to the organization could hardly be heard above the clamor of Irma and Chester repeating, "and such good people to work with."