NVCT Annual Report 2015 | Page 2

Saving Nearby Nature® The Miracle of Land Conservation Dear Friends of the Trust, Land conservation in Northern Virginia is nothing less than miraculous. In addition to our strong and continuing support from Fairfax County, Arlington County, and the City of Alexandria over our 22-year history, more than one hundred families, individuals, and organizations have gifted land conservation easements and land-in-fee for the future of our communities. We have recognized this exceptional level of generosity with the publication in this Annual Report of our first-ever Honor Roll of Land and Easement Donors, celebrating these gifts to your local land trust. These generous donors are your neighbors! Our work takes us from highly developed areas in the urban core to suburban and rural lands. While our regional landscape continues to change, the key concerns for the Trust are the quality of our water resources, conserving natural areas and habitat, and connecting people to the land. The Trust is at the front line of efforts to use land conservation to help reduce storm water pollution from running through our watersheds and into the Chesapeake Bay. This is an important part of the land conservation future in Virginia and throughout our region. Land conservation is part of the solution, and we at NVCT are already finding ways to engage with stakeholders in our area to carry out the promise of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement to restore the nation’s largest watershed. Our work during this year ranged from lot-size purchases in a priority area to a major 380-acre conservation easement that complements residential development. As you can see in this report, the priority of the board and the staff is conserving our precious natural and cultural resources throughout the region. Your support enables and energizes our work. We can do more, but we need the financial gifts from our friends to add more people to our Honor Roll of Land and Easement Donors. Join us to continue the land conservation miracles in our communities. Please make a gift today, and together we will ensure there is always a view from the sidewalk and across the vistas. Pat Coady Peggy Stevens Chairman of the Board Executive Director NVCT in the community 2 • Northern Virginia Conservation Trust · Annual Report 2015