Mid-Atlantic

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West Virginia

Historic Gettysburg ‘Day One’ Battlefield Site Is Saved

Did you know that not all of the land has been protected at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg? We've been working for more than two decades to protect the land surrounding the Gettysburg National Military Park. We recently helped the National Park Service acquire lands where the first day of fighting occurred. For the last few decades a country club, complete with a golf course, swimming pool and tennis courts, occupied the property. Find out how we were finally able to preserve this land >>

Regional Highlights

Virginia Pick-Your-Own Farm Owner Preserves Agricultural Heritage With Conservation Easement
This year’s harvest season for the Snead’s Farm in western Caroline County has yielded more than just produce and Christmas trees. We worked with with Fort A.P. Hill and the Virginia Outdoors Foundation to place a land preservation agreement on Emmett Snead III’s pick-your-own style farm.
West Virginia’s ‘Land Of Canaan’ Expands Protection
The Fund helped added 325 acres to Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge in West Virginia. The acquisition completes a multi-phase effort to protect one of the largest undeveloped areas of land within the refuge boundary. It connects two areas, securing a significant ecological corridor with the Monongahela National Forest and establishing a critical link in the Heart of the Highlands Trail.
Cape May National Wildlife Refuge
Back in 2008, we helped save nearly 400 hundred acres from development and added them to Cape May National Wildlife Refuge on Delaware Bay in New Jersey. One of the best places for birding in America, the Delaware Bay, including Cape May, was recently designated a Globally Significant Important Bird Area (IBA).
Protecting Forever Our Fields of Honor
Patrick F. Noonan, Chairman Emeritus, The Conservation Fund, shares his thoughts on saving the land for Flight 93 on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
Camp Security: A Revolutionary War POW Camp In Pennsylvania
Camp Security Park is one of only a handful of POW camps established during the Revolutionary War era that have not been lost to residential or commercial development. We protected a 115-acre refuge of green pastures, known as the Walters Farm, named one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places back in 2005 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Reaching The Summit: Balancing Nature And Commerce In The New River Gorge Region
As the new host of the Boy Scout Jamboree the New River Gorge region will enjoy an economic boon, but the communities face a tough challenge: Can they develop the necessary infrastructure and benefit economically from the event while retaining their rural character and natural landscapes? We're helping them face this challenge.
Strategic Planning To Offset Pipeline Impacts
The Fund is providing its strategic conservation assessment and planning expertise as well as its conservation leadership services to NiSource, Inc. and the USFWS as they work on a multiple species habitat conservation plan in an effort to manage over 40 federally listed threatened or endangered species that might be affected by normal pipeline operations.
Civil War Battlefield Campaign
The Fund's Civil War Battlefield Campaign works in partnerships to protect our nation's battlefields, to provide information on the 384 principal Civil War battlefields and to honor those who fought and died in the war.

Programs in the Region

Conservation Leadership Network

The Fund’s Conservation Leadership Network, based at the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, brings professionals together to forge conservation solutions. CLN offers more than 20 collaborative learning courses and workshops at NCTC, off-site locations, and through distance learning. Learn more.

The Freshwater Institute

Located in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, our Freshwater Institute works with government, industry, and nonprofits to shape sustainable, environmentally responsible solutions to water resource management. Visit Freshwater's website.

Natural Capital Investment Fund

NCIF provides financial services to small and emerging natural resource-based businesses in economically distressed urban and rural communities in North Carolina, Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia and West Virginia. Visit NCIF's website.

Ongoing Projects

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge / Chris Koontz, Flickr Blackwater NWR is often referred to as the "Everglades of the North. We've worked for more than a decade to help the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) acquire lands for Blackwater. But conservation here is about more than just protecting land. With more than 300 acres of marsh land lost to sea level rise each year and salt water intrusion destroying large tracts of vegetation, we're also helping restore the land to its native, natural state. Learn more >>

Chesapeake Bay Initiative

Sandy Point Light, Chespeake Bay Maryland Chesapeake Bay has a higher land-to-water ratio than any estuary in the world. Focusing on the top conservation priorities of Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, the Fund launched a program to protect 100,000 acres of high-priority land and water within the watershed. We've assisted our partners with several projects including the creation of an interactive map that visualizes possible scenarios that could result from storm surge and sea-level rise. We also released the book, A Sustainable Chesapeake: Better Models for Conservation, as a conservation resource for organizations involved in the restoration of the bay. Learn more.