Piedmont Environmental Council

Through land conservation and hands-on restoration activities, PEC collaborates with landowners, nonprofit organizations, governmental agencies, and volunteers to establish stream-side tree buffers, connect aquatic habitat for native brook trout, install stream fencing and alternative watering systems for livestock, and restore healthy soils to curb erosion. PEC’s longstanding relationships with rural and agricultural landowners make us a trusted messenger and partner with Soil and Water Conservation Districts and other agencies that administer funding programs for voluntary water quality improvements. When weighing in on development proposals, zoning, and comprehensive plans, PEC advocates for thoughtful consideration of implications on local and regional water supply.

Conservation of land remains a critical tool we employ to protect and improve the range of native flora and fauna thriving in our region. Additionally, from urban and suburban communities to wilderness areas in the rural Piedmont, PEC helps landowners deploy land management practices that create or improve habitat for native wildlife and pollinators and that foster well-connected plant and animal habitat corridors. As a founding partner of the Virginia Grassland Birding Initiative, PEC is assisting agricultural landowners to adapt their farming and haying practices to restore grassland habitat for native birds. This work also includes a focus on forest land, notably the large forest blocks along the Blue Ridge that provide critical habitat and water quality protection around Shenandoah National Park and the Appalachian Trail.

Parks, trails, and sidewalks help weave a community together, creating a stronger sense of place and connection and fostering economic development. PEC actively works with community members, partner organization and localities on these types of projects throughout our nine-county regions. The need for more, well-distributed public access to parks and green spaces throughout the Piedmont became manifest during the global pandemic, when residents sought respite and renewal in natural areas, parks, and trails like never before. Research shows that access to nature improves not only individual health, but also the well-being of communities.

Land conservation, which requires expertise and familiarity with complex real estate transactions, is the key to opening up new trails, parks and other conserved spaces for all people to see, experience, and enjoy. Access to recreational land and water resources also fosters appreciation. Expanding people’s access to conserved and nature-filled places.

A thoughtful approach to land use planning, paired with decision making that balances growth and development with natural and cultural resource protection, is vital to maintaining a healthy and vibrant Piedmont region. For each of its nine counties, PEC has professional staff who delve into development proposals, zoning, and comprehensive plans in order to advocate for conservation and smart growth. This staffing model allows the organization to participate locally at planning commission and board of supervisor meetings, join regional planning exercises, and advocate for sound land use policy at the state level. In these ways, we are able to weigh in directly and help residents engage effectively.

PEC advocates for an energy system that is smarter, more efficient and better accounts for the negative externalities arising from the choices we make about consumption, generation, transmission and distribution. We believe PEC’s on-the-ground perspective, dealing in both policy and its direct impacts on the communities we serve, to be invaluable in the conversations about energy taking place at the local and state level. PEC is recognized for its expertise in local land use planning and policy. We have expanded our staff expertise related to energy policy and siting, given its enormous implications for the climate, our natural, agricultural, and cultural resources, and our communities.

Preserving and protecting the farms, fields and forests that are so characteristic to the Piedmont region depends on a strong, vibrant sustainable farm economy that keeps these rural lands economically viable. PEC works directly with landowners to conserve farmland and with farm families to deploy sustainable management practices that increase productivity, while also protecting agricultural soils and the streams that provide our drinking water. Through our Buy Fresh Buy Local program and guides, we directly promote working farms and the fresh, local food they produce. We also directly support the region's food insecure population through PEC’s Community Farm at Roundabout Meadows, donating 100 percent of what is grown and harvested by volunteers and staff to Loudoun Hunger Relief, which makes sure the food gets into the hands of those who need it most.