The Virginia Natural Area Preserve System is a system of protected areas in the state of Virginia. It was established in the late 1980s to protect sites that were designated as among the most significant natural areas in the state. To become part of the system, a site must first be designated a Natural Area Preserve by the director of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. The dedication itself is similar to a conservation easement, as it places certain legal strictures on future development on a given portion of land. As of 2013 there are sixty-one dedicated preserves in Virginia, containing examples of some of the rarest natural communities to be found in the state; in addition, many serve as a home for locally, nationally, and globally rare species. Most properties are owned by the Department of Conservation and Recreation, but some are owned by local government, while others are held by universities and private citizens. Some are overseen by The Nature Conservancy.
Famous quotes containing the words natural, area, preserve and/or system:
“If the most significant characteristic of man is the complex of biological needs he shares with all members of his species, then the best lives for the writer to observe are those in which the role of natural necessity is clearest, namely, the lives of the very poor.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)
“... nothing is more human than substituting the quantity of words and actions for their character. But using imprecise words is very similar to using lots of words, for the more imprecise a word is, the greater the area it covers.”
—Robert Musil (1880–1942)
“The worst of charity is, that the lives you are asked to preserve are not worth preserving.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“It is not easy to construct by mere scientific synthesis a foolproof system which will lead our children in a desired direction and avoid an undesirable one. Obviously, good can come only from a continuing interplay between that which we, as students, are gradually learning and that which we believe in, as people.”
—Erik H. Erikson (20th century)