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The Land Trust of Virginia (LTV) was originally formed in 1991 as the first statewide nonprofit land trust in the Commonwealth of Virginia. LTV uses a legal tool called a conservation easement to help landowners voluntarily protect scenic, historic or environmentally sensitive lands while keeping the land in private ownership and open for compatible uses, including forestry, farming, recreation and limited residential uses.
The Land Trust of Virginia is headquartered near Middleburg, Virginia [1] and has protected more than 151 properties and 16,049 acres (40 km2) throughout the state. The greatest density of easements are in Loudoun and Fauquier Counties, but LTV also holds easements in Clarke, Rappahannock, Culpeper, Madison, Hanover, Green, and Albemarle Counties. In 2009, the Land Trust of Virginia was accredited by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the national Land Trust Alliance. The Land Trust of Virginia is one of the first 54 land trusts in the nation – and the second in Virginia - to receive such a designation.
In 2022, the Land Trust of Virginia acquired an easement in Albemarle County for a factory farm in the Totier Creek drinking water protection area, which supplies the town of Scottsville. In a press release about the acquisition, LTV claimed the farm was a “cropland operation” without mentioning the farm’s beef feedlot or its plans to develop a 51,000-turkey facility. [2] [3] Despite concerns of pollution emanating from the factory farm, the Land Trust Alliance granted LTV its re-accreditation in 2025. [4] [ non-primary source needed ]
In 2025, the Land Trust of Virginia announced permanent protection of 51-acres of donated land in Fauquier County. [5]