Cobham Park Farm near Warsaw is now in a conservation easement that will protect it from development. Visit the Photo Place

Family farm saved from development

Family places waterfront tract into conservation easement to preserve special way of life

Date published: 9/15/2009

By Rob Hedelt

LOOKING down to the Rappahannock River from a vantage point not far above, Andrew Packett can't help but see moments from his past.

Little is moving in the half-mile of shoreline at Cobham Park Farm near Warsaw on this September morning.

But in Packett's memory, its waters are splashed by the stallion he'd ride bareback into the waves as a teen on warm summer days.

Or they're being stirred by the massive rockfish he's pulled from the waters, or ducks taken down from a nearby blind.

Beyond moments like that, he said, is a more simple, but transforming sense of place that defines you after you spend four decades on land where farming, forests and family are entwined.

"I know it will sound corny to some, but after a while, you feel a responsibility to take care of the land that's been good to you," Packett said.

Packett and his wife, Cindy, are doing just that with the 436-acre farm, putting it in a conservation easement with the Virginia Outdoor Federation to prevent it from being developed.

It allows for the addition of four houses to the two already on the Richmond County property.

"We could have split it up and sold off lots and made a good deal of money," said Packett, a public relations specialist for the Northern Neck Electric Cooperative. "But what's worth more than living the life we love here in this beautiful place?"

That sentiment is the reason the Packetts will host the Northern Neck Land Conservancy's annual "Boots and Barbecue" picnic Sunday.

Packett said the nonprofit organization, which assists and educates landowners interested in placing property into such easements, played a critical role in their case.

"There's a lot involved in this, various legal and financial aspects you have to consider," he said. "The land conservancy helped us get started."

Officials with the land conservancy, which is opening the annual event to the public this year, said they like to host the events at sites placed into conservation easements, to show what can be saved.

WHAT: Northern Neck Land Conservancy's Boots and Barbecue WHERE: Cobham Park Farm near Warsaw in Richmond County. WHEN: Sunday, 1-5 p.m. COST: $20 per person prior to the event, $25 at the door INFO: 804/462-0979 or nnconserve.org

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Date published: 9/15/2009