POWHATAN COUNTY, Va. — A Powhatan County family has placed 134 acres of their forested property under conservation easements to protect a wildlife corridor stretching across Virginia.
Christopher Benonis and Christine Cadigan-Benonis share their property, known as Chesterbury 100, with migrating mammals and birds.
The wooded area off Miles Road is part of the Virginia Wildlife Corridor, which stretches from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Great Dismal Swamp.
"It is a highway for animals. It supports them going back and forth, getting what they need to survive. And we are glad to be a part of it," Cadigan-Benonis said.
After purchasing the landscape, the couple, who are raising two daughters, decided to protect the land permanently.
"I would say it was almost immediately that we determined that this was a place worth protecting forever. It is priceless," Benonis said.
"We’ve seen black bears, we’ve seen and heard coyotes. We’ve caught bobcats on the game camera. Deer, turkeys and lots of varieties of different birds. A couple of bald eagles," Benonis said.
The family worked with the Capital Region Land Conservancy to place the 134 acres under two easements.
Jane Myers with the nonprofit said the decision ensures the land, bordered by Muddy Creek and Cumberland County, will remain rural for generations.
"It really matters to make decisions about land conservation well in advance," Myers said. "When you start cutting off pathways, you start restricting wildlife groups, and so that whole biodiversity richness gets lost, because populations start becoming disjunct from one another."
The family noted that urban sprawl is consuming open space and woodlands along Route 60 at an alarming rate, replacing fertile farms with subdivisions and strip centers.
"I mean, I have yet to see any property that gets developed undeveloped so it’s sort of one-way street," Benonis said. "And once it’s done it’s gone forever."
Chesterbury 100 is also the first property in Virginia to enroll in the Family Forest Carbon Program.
The program provides financial and other resources to help landowners improve the health and value of their woodlands.
"This provides me with a lot of relief that we’re doing all we can to leave the world a better place, that we're supporting the animals, that we're protecting some of the history, and that we’re leaving our girls' legacy," Cadigan-Benonis said. "This is what makes us comfortable. This is this type of environment is where we’re meant to be."
Myers said striking a balance between development and conservation through responsible growth is key, adding that the family is leading by example and may inspire other landowners.
"We work in the business of forever," Myers said. "It’s exceptionally gratifying for us when we are able to really move that needle and know that we’re making a difference."
Despite rising land values that could have yielded top dollar down the road, the couple chose conservation.
"Fortunately, I think what we’ve done with the easement is going to be just as lasting as any development so hopefully this will be looking just as it does now for hundreds of years hence," Benonis said.
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