Conservation Easements in Amherst County, Virginia

A real, substantial, ongoing VOF presence in the county

The Virginia Outdoors Foundation (VOF), the state-chartered land trust that has protected more than 930,000 acres across the Commonwealth -- one of the largest land conservation organizations in the nation -- has protected nearly 8,000 acres specifically within Amherst County. That's a genuinely substantial local footprint, not a token handful of easements, and it reflects the real conservation value of Amherst's terrain, which runs from lower-elevation farmland near the James River up into the Blue Ridge Mountains along the county's western edge.

This isn't purely historical activity, either. As part of Virginia's FY2026 Land Conservation Foundation-funded project list, VOF is working with the Conservation Fund on a project to protect 421.3 acres of hardwood forest in Amherst County, located atop Bear and Cedar mountains -- a large, current, named, and dated project, confirmed through Virginia DCR's own FY2026 approved project list.

A specific, named prior example: the Franklin family farm

A specific, reported example of how the program works on the ground here: in December 2018, a family placed a 177-acre farm on the east side of the Blue Ridge in Amherst County into a conservation easement by donating it directly to VOF, according to New Era-Progress reporting. That's the same basic mechanism as the current Bear/Cedar mountains project -- a landowner voluntarily and permanently restricting future development rights on the property, in exchange for either a direct financial benefit (in some VOF and related-program transactions) or the donor's own conservation and, often, tax-planning goals.

What this means for a land buyer

If you're evaluating a parcel in Amherst County's western, more mountainous sections, confirm directly with the Amherst County Circuit Court Clerk's office whether the specific tract already carries a recorded conservation easement -- given VOF's substantial and currently active presence in the county, this is a real possibility rather than a remote one, and an easement can significantly affect both the price and the future development potential of a parcel. If you already own, or are acquiring, forestland or farmland in Amherst and are interested in placing your own easement -- whether for conservation reasons, estate planning, or available state/federal tax incentives -- VOF is the direct point of contact, and the current Bear/Cedar mountains project with the Conservation Fund is a live example of the kind of larger forestland transaction the organization is actively pursuing in the county right now.