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A. P. Hill added 3,000 buffer acres in '08

Fort A. P. Hill making inroads with conservation easements outside its gates

Date published: 6/9/2009

By RUSTY DENNEN

With help from landowners, conservation agencies and state and federal officials, Fort A.P. Hill fared well last year in a mission to discourage incompatible development outside its gates.

The Caroline County Army base today celebrates the completion of the latest conservation easements with a program at 11 a.m.

L. Preston Bryant Jr., Virginia's Secretary of Natural Resources; Anne Richardson, chief of the Rappahannock Tribe; and Rep. Rob Wittman will be among those attending A.P. Hill's announcement that nearly 3,000 acres were permanently protected in 2008.

That brings the easement total to more than 4,200 acres since A.P. Hill began its compatible use buffer program in 2005.

One of the Army's largest training sites along the East Coast, A.P. Hill originally had few neighbors. But with increasing growth and residential development nearby, noise and vibration from firing ranges and aircraft are becoming more of an issue with neighbors.

Bases around the country face similar problems, with the prospect of curbing or shelving those activities.

The Army aims to head off encroachment through conservation easements, which permanently prohibit most types of development.

The latest--500 acres and 182 acres--are at Camden Farm east of Port Royal.

Camden is a national and Virginia historic landmark owned by John Pratt. The property also contains American Indian sites.

Terry Banks, who heads up A.P. Hill's environmental division, said that one of the Camden easements will be used to mitigate clearing of a historic site on base.

The Army Combined Arms Support Command School at Fort Lee near Richmond has no space for field exercises. So A.P. Hill was designated for that purpose as part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission.

Mitigation funding from the closure commission was used to purchase the Camden easement, a first for a military installation.

Reggie Hall, with The Conservation Fund, said the Camden easements took several years to complete.

"The fort has a few priority areas they've identified where development is encroaching," he said.

Agencies such as The Conservation Fund, The Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land typically purchase conservation easements from willing landowners.

Those agencies, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Northern Neck Land Conservancy and Virginia Council on Indians, are part of a coalition aiding Fort A.P. Hill in its battle against encroachment.

Rusty Dennen: 540/374-5431
Email: rdennen@freelancestar.com

EASEMENTS TO DATE Over 4,200 acres in conservation easements have been established under Fort A.P. Hill's compatible use buffer program. They include: 1,300 acres along Portobago Creek, 1,805 acres along the Rappahannock River known as the Baylor tract, Pine Hill, encompassing 431 acres in Caroline and Essex counties, and 682 acres at Camden Farm.

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Date published: 6/9/2009