Two Virginia Outdoors Foundation projects – Red Hill in Charlotte County and Pierce’s Lowground in Greensville County — received the Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award earlier this month at the Environment Virginia Symposium in Lexington.
The Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation placed a permanent open-space easement on Red Hill, the home of Patrick Henry, the first Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The easement resulted in 600-acres being preserved through the Virginia Outdoors Foundation. The easement is intended to protect the historic and open space qualities of the property, fund additional interpretation of existing historic elements, and enable the installation of several new historic interpretive elements. The preservation of Patrick Henry’s Red Hill was made possible through the partnership of the Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation, the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation, Virginia Outdoors Foundation, and Beechtree Group with funding from the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation and Preservation Trust Fund.
Red Hill is open to the public 362 days per year, providing substantial outreach and education to both youth and adults and receives over 10,000 visitors each year. Patrick Henry’s Red Hill provides visitors with opportunities to experience the property from the perspective of its previous inhabitants. Red Hill contains the home, law office, and burial site of Patrick Henry.
The Pierces Low Ground tract, located in Bryants Corner near Emporia, comprises 2,818 acres that have been permanently protected through the partnership of the Lee family, Rock Springs Forestry, The Nature Conservancy, the US Endowment for Forestry, Enviva, the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, and Beechtree Group. The project received funding from the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation and the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. The tract hosts significant wildlife, including threatened bird species and a scenic riverfront with old-growth cypress-tupelo swamp trees.
The annual Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards are coordinated by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. Learn more here.
