The Williamsburg Land Conservancy is pleased to announce three new conservation easements totally 1,103 acres. Two properties are located in King William County and one property is situated in Charles City County.
The Charles City parcel is the first property the Williamsburg Land Conservancy has protected in Charles City County, and it is significant! Anne Tyler Netick, great-granddaughter of the 10th President of the United States, President John Tyler, and her husband, Joe, have placed an easement on their land totaling 107 acre. The property includes Woodbourne, the home that President Tyler built for his first wife, Letitia Christian Tyler. The property consists of cropland, timberland, is home to several of the Netick’s horses, and lies along Gunns Run, which flows into the James River.
Pete and Connie Henderson, longtime Williamsburg residents and owners of Henderson, Inc. have placed an easement on their 845-acre Edgewood Farm. This beautiful parcel of land, with frontage on Route 30 in King William County, is where the Henderson family breeds Black Angus cattle, grows hay and manages timberland. The property contains approximately 2,000 linear feet along Bull Swamp Creek, which feeds into the Mattaponi River, a tributary of the York River. “Permanently protecting our property gives us the assurance that our three children, grandchildren and the generations beyond will be able to continue to enjoy the natural beauty and bounty of this very special land,” said Mr. Henderson.
The 151-acre Custis Mill Pond property is situated contiguous to Edgewood Farm. It is home to a highly productive Loblolly Pine and Yellow Poplar forest, and approximately 2.36 miles of waterfront on Custis Mill Pond, which feeds into the nearby Mattaponi River. The property is owned by a hunting club, and preservation of the land will help support healthy sustainable wildlife populations and continued hunting and fishing habitat.
A little over a month ago, the Conservancy also accepted an easement on the 214-acre Mainland Farm, the oldest continually cultivated land in America last month. The James City County Board of Supervisors voted to permanently protect this historic property in perpetuity.
“This has been a banner year for the Conservancy’s land protection efforts,” said Joe Harrow, Chair of the Conservancy’s Board and president of Middle Peninsula Insurance and Financial Services. “So far in 2013 we have added 1,317 acres of land to the total that is protected by our organization”, he said. Harrow continued, “We are very proud of this 20% increase in our conservation holdings, and the difference we are making in our region.”
“It has been an honor to work with each of these landowners in their land protection efforts,” said Caren Schumacher, the Conservancy’s executive director. “ We are pleased to help them legally document their wishes for the future of their land ,” she continued.
The Conservancy is completing its 23rd year of protecting and preserving significant natural, scenic, agricultural and historic land in the lower James and York River watersheds. The organization protects land in James City County, the City of Williamsburg, York County, Charles City County, New Kent County, the City of Suffolk and King William County, consisting of 34 easements and four parcels of land owned fee simple.