County conservation program struggles with funds

When the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors first created the Acquisition of Conservation Easements (ACE) program in 2000, a hearty economy ensured it an annual budget of $1 million. A decade later, Virginia’s once sunny financial forecast is now clouded by a severe recession that has threatened the livelihood of local programs for the past three years—and ACE is no exception.

As early as the 1990s, Albemarle identified the need to protect open space from urban growth through the purchase of developmental rights (PDRs). County organizers devised a program that would reward those residents who leave their land undeveloped with significant tax breaks. Not your typical PDR program, ACE is unique in that it specifically targets landowners of modest means—those earning an annual salary of $55,000 or less.
Albemarle County’s once thriving conservation measure saw its budget slashed by 65 percent to $350,000 in 2010. And with fewer dollars come fewer easements, leaving farmland across the county more vulnerable to future development.

During its first five years, the program protected 5,000 acres from development and, in 2006, boasted a $1.4 million budget. In the wake of an economic recession, however, dedicating a million dollars to land conservation is now out of the question for county budget makers, who have struggled to match even a third of ACE’s prior funding.
“We have obviously had to cut ACE’s funding way back,” says Albemarle County Supervisor Dennis Rooker. “It came down to schools versus ACE. We have to fund things like schools and the police department first.”

Debilitated by a diminishing budget, ACE has placed 2,500 acres under easement since 2007—a number that represents half of the acreage it protected between 2001 and 2006. The program’s most recent purchase was announced last week, when ACE bought the 96-acre Fairview Farm outside Crozet for $160,000. According to Rooker, funds from previous budgets helped pay for the newly acquired land.

“ACE was on a lag, so some money hadn’t been used. There was a time when we were doing six [properties] per year, but not anymore,” says Rooker.

Alarmed with the decrease in land conservation, ACE partnered with several county organizations in 2008 to place an additional 30,000 acres under easement by 2010. The programs, however, continued to feel the financial squeeze of the downturn.

“Though we didn’t reach our goal of 30,000 acres during this four-year period, we did protect approximately 17,000 acres at a time when real estate values were depressed and the economy was sliding into a recession,” says ACE coordinator Ches Goodall.

Despite recent struggles, ACE remains one of the county’s leading land conservationists. The program has placed five 300-plus-acre properties under easement, including the 600-acre Byrom Forest Preserve Park in Barboursville. Over the years, ACE has also protected historic properties like Donegal Farm, a southern Albemarle site that dates back to the 1700s.

The program initially strove to protect 1,000 acres per year—a figure that ACE is unlikely to meet anytime soon.

“The next few years are going to be rough,” says Rooker. And according to Goodall, the feeling is mutual.

“Though I am cautiously optimistic, current economic conditions have made it very difficult for Albemarle and other localities in the Commonwealth to achieve their goals,” says Goodall.

ACE will begin accepting new applications for the next fiscal year on June 1. As of last year, 37 out of 87 applicants were awarded easements.