Protect your property with riparian buffers

Protecting Virginia’s waterways starts right here on you property. Riparian buffers, strips of trees, shrubs, or grasses planted along streams and
rivers.

Help keep our water clean by filtering runoff, trapping sediment, and reducing pollutants before they reach local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay.

These natural buffers also:

  • Help stabilize streambanks and reduce erosion
  • Filter excess nutrients and improve water quality
  • Provide valuable habitat for wildlife and support biodiversity

The Virginia Agricultural Best Management Practices Cost-Share Program can help landowners install these conservation practices through financial assistance:

  • Forested buffers – Up to 95% cost-share reimbursement, plus incentive payments of up to $580 per acre.
  • Grass filter strips – Up to 100% cost-share reimbursement, plus an additional $80 per acre incentive.

Healthy streams mean healthier communities, thriving farms, and a stronger Chesapeake Bay.

Contact your local Soil and Water Conservation District to learn how you can participate.

For more news from across the Shenandoah Valley, click here. 

Major shift in federal forest land use policy

News to know valley graphic created by Royal Broadcasting employee Brooke Greene used by permission

In a major shift in federal forest policy, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is preparing to roll back the 2001 Roadless Rule.

Virginia stands to be significantly impacted.

The state has more inventoried roadless areas than any other with 394,000 acres that would become accessible for development if the rule is rescinded.

Altogether, Virginia is home to more than 1.6 million acres of national forest.

The Roadless Rule, enacted nearly 25 years ago, restricts road construction and timber harvesting in some of the country’s most remote forest lands.

According to the USDA, the rule currently limits road development on about 30 percent of lands within the National Forest System.

The Trump Administration argues that the rule has stood in the way of effective forest management, including efforts to reduce wildfire risks.

Supporters of the rollback say the restrictions have hindered industries like logging and contributed to mill closures across the country.

Industry advocates claim that the lack of access has worsened wildfire risks by preventing proper forest thinning and fuel reduction.

However, environmental groups warn that rescinding the rule threatens clean water, wildlife habitats, and old-growth forests.

More than 500 miles of streams and rivers, in Virginia alone, are primarily protected under the rule.

While the rollback would lift federal protections, it would not immediately greenlight development.

Any new projects would still have to undergo formal application and environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act.

Legal challenges are also expected.

Previous attempts to undo the rule, including under the Bush Administration, were tied up in court.

Undoing the protections will require a formal rulemaking process and could face strong public opposition.

Beyond logging, industries like oil and gas, hydropower, and mining could also benefit if the rule is rescinded.

But many conservation groups insist that the public overwhelmingly supports keeping these lands undeveloped, regardless of political affiliation or location.

For more news from across the Shenandoah Valley, click here.