ODLC Strategic Vision and Plan for 2025-2030

Read the Old Dominion Land Conservancy Strategic Plan for 2025 through 2030.

OLD DOMINION LAND CONSERVANCY

Strategic Plan 2025 – 2030

About Us

Old Dominion Land Conservancy (ODLC) is a community-based land trust founded by people whose families have called Northern Virginia home for generations. As a result, ODLC understands the community and culture of the area, and tailors its offerings tothose needs. ODLC regularly works with small landholders and working landscapes that are the foundation of the community, and which play a critical role in protecting water quality and facilitating ecological connectivity.

Mission

ODLC works with landowners and other stakeholders to protect in perpetuity Virginia’s working lands, waterways, scenery, and natural resources.

Vision

Through our efforts today, future generations will be able to experience and enjoy the unique culture and character of Virginia’s working and natural landscapes.

ODLC BY THE NUMBERS

21,329 acres conserved across Virginia
17,437 acres conserved in Loudoun County (5.23% of county)
884 acres transferred for creation of Sweet Run State Park
136 total easements
8 easements of 500+ acres
6+ miles of Potomac
Riverfront preserved
3 fee simple properties under ownership (70.43 acres)

Parks and Natural Area Development – In addition to conservation easements, ODLC has worked with local landowners and organizations to put land into the hands of local, state, and federal management. ODLC worked with the Leggett Foundation, The County of Loudoun and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation between 2013 and 2022 to transfer almost 900 acres of land for a new state park, Sweet Run State Park, in Loudoun County. ODLC has also worked with landowners to place easements on land that was subsequently transferred to Loudoun County Parks and Recreation and NOVA Parks totalling over 348 acres on three properties. ODLC will continue to seek lands that are adjacent to existing managed lands and/or create new natural areas for the public to enjoy. Examples include access to the Appalachian Trail and Shenandoah National Park, creation of new trails on existing or new easements, and acquisition of specific lands connecting blocks of public lands.

Partnerships with Community Organizations

ODLC seeks to build relationships with other non-profits, such as Between the Hills Conservancy, JK Community Farm, Friends of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the Smithsonian Institution through financial support, partnering on projects, and membership. ODLC currently gives $15,000 annually to local organizations that support education and environmental initiatives. ODLC would like to partner with additional local organizations such as Blue Ridge Prism, and local scout troops for Eagle Scout projects for its planned improvements on the GS Markham property that will eventually allow public access to the property. Projects may include cleanups on fee properties, planting native plants, gardening, construction of structures or trails, and removal of invasive species. While ODLC has remained relatively inactive politically, it will continue to provide support for organizations that are fighting threats such as data centers and power line expansion.

Value Added

Conservation easements are often the first step for many landowners on a stewardship journey. ODLC seeks to inform landowners of other programs and initiatives that can further the stewardship of their land as well as enhance conservation values. Examples include wetland and stream bank management, nutrient capture, carbon capture, and remediation. Additionally, providing landowner education on invasive species management, native species, best land management practices, and connecting them with local sources for activities such as farming or forestry will further enhance landowner relationships. Many properties contain prime, airable land, but the landowner either lacks the experience or ability to utilize the land.

Scholarship and Improvement Opportunities

ODLC’s original mission was to support education through scholarship and education opportunities. In the spirit of this mission, ODLC will continue to support future generations of environmentally conscious youth through scholarship and internship opportunities. ODLC currently has two one-year scholarships and one 4-year scholarship for graduating high school seniors that are planning to pursue a field of study related to land conservation (e.g., forestry, etc.). ODLC seeks to expand the current scope of its scholarship and create new education opportunities through new programs.

Why ODLC?

There are 30 conservation organizations working in Virginia, including all the state’s biggest land trusts, and eight in Loudoun County alone. In this crowded field, ODLC plays a unique and critical role and—as ever small but mighty—is conserving more land in Loudoun County than any other organization. ODLC’s bread and butter is conserving parcels of land that are small by nationwide conservation standards, given the few remaining large properties that are still available for conservation in areas such as Loudoun County.

Principles & Practices

The following principles and practices guide ODLC’s strategies, decisions, and day-to-day work: • We are rooted in the community, and guided by a deep sense of place • We believe that small landowners and small properties can play a critical role in conservation • We only work with willing sellers • We meet landowners where they are • We prioritize quality easements over quantity • We don’t work with syndicates or syndicators • We are committed to long-term stewardship of the properties we conserve • We pride ourselves on a deliberate and focused approach to conservation and supporting the work of our conservation partners • We seek conservation partners at all levels Unlike other conservation organizations in the region (even land trusts), conservation easements have always been our only business: we conserve land, we monitor it, and we steward it. We pride ourselves as specialists in this work. As a small organization, we’re nimble and responsive to emerging opportunities and threats, and we offer attentive customer service to conservation-minded landowners. Additionally, we work with a wide range of public and nonprofit conservation partners for the good of our community, to improve the environment and increase opportunities for the public to enjoy conserved places, such as Virginia state parks.

 Challenges

To champion land conservation in Northern Virginia today is truly a David-versus-Goliath proposition. Northern Virginia is both historically and culturally significant, as it is home to substantial Civil War battlefields, treasured scenic byways, fragile ecosystems and waterways, and a working agricultural landscape of family farms that have been operating for generations. At the same time, a variety of intense pressures make Loudoun and neighboring counties some of the most difficult places in the country to do community-based conservation. Conservation advocates like ODLC are in a race against time to protect what’s left in Loudoun, and to prevent counties like Warren, Fauquier, Stafford, Prince William, and Frederick from falling prey to the same challenges. These places – working lands for more than three centuries that are essential to the unique character and fabric of Northern Virginia’s communities – deserve protection.

Urban Sprawl

Accelerating urban sprawl, driven by metropolitan Washington, D.C.’s rapid growth, is wreaking an epidemic of habitat loss and fragmentation and degrading water quality, and is threatening to forever change the region’s iconic landscape and a centuries-old way of life—especially in Loudoun County and the surrounding region. There has been an acceleration in the influx of people migrating west from Washington, D.C. to historically rural parts of Northern Virginia, resulting   in a major expansion of housing developments on former farm lands, which has also driven up land values and contributed to a fragmented ecological landscape. Over the last 25 years, Loudoun County’s population has increased by 155%, while similarly-sized counties in Northern Virginia have seen population growth around 80%, and smaller counties experiencing much less. The increase in population corresponds with an increase in commercial development (e.g., shopping centers), and infrastructure (e.g., paved roads). This rapid population growth and associated expansion in development has residents concerned about degrading conservation values and water scarcity.  Data Centers  The threat to our natural and working landscapes has grown even more intense with the proliferation of data centers owned by some of the world’s most powerful corporations, and the associated infrastructure development, particularly the creation and expansion of rights of way for power lines. Northern Virginia is the top location for data centers in the entire world and part of Loudoun county has been dubbed “Data Center Alley.”

Moreover, the growth continues. Unfortunately, data centers use incredible amounts of water and require massive amounts of electricity, both of which will only be exacerbated by the rise in artificial intelligence usage. This has resulted in projects that will create new – and expand existing – rights of way for more power lines that cross through easements in order to deliver more power to the data centers. There is widespread concern that this booming market, with no slowdown on the horizon, will erode decades of gains in land conservation. Given this significant expansion of commercial and residential development across Northern Virginia, there is a dwindling amount of land available for conservation, making ODLC’s mission even more vital.

Data Center Trends in Northern Virginia

According to a report prepared for the Governor of Virginia by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC Report 598, December 2024) and the Northern Virginia Technology Council’s 5th Biennial Rerport on The Impact of Data Centers on Virginia’s State and Local Economies (April 2024): Northern Virginia’s data center market grew nearly 500% between 2015 and 2023. In comparison, over that same period, growth in other large markets (e.g., California) was less than half that amount. The Northern Virginia market constitutes 13 percent of all reported data center operational capacity globally. Since 2020, data center space in Virginia has more than doubled, and is set to double again based on sites actively under development.

ODLC Goals: 2025 – 2030

1. Complete the portfolio in Loudoun County
2. Deepen ODLC’s footprint in the exurban areas of Northern Virginia
3. Enhance ODLC’s rigorous, high-quality easement monitoring using new technology
4. Bring greater intentionality to stewardship and landowner engagement

Complete the portfolio in Loudoun County

With the overall number of potential conservation lands rapidly shrinking in Loudoun County, along with zoning changes in the county, opportunities for ODLC to complete additional easements on its home turf are growing scarce. We will set the goal of securing easements on 25% of remaining parcels in Loudoun County that are: a) greater than 50 acres and b) meet ODLC’s conservation considerations, including:

• Virginia Land Conservation Foundation easement criteria
• Connectivity to other conserved lands, priority parcels, and federal, state, and municipal lands
• Role in watershed and water quality protection Value to wildlife (e.g. threatened or endangered species)
• Contribution to the preservation of publicly- accessible open space and outdoor recreation
• Cultural and historic significance
• Contribution to regional ecosystems and landscapes
• Properties with a high risk of development or facing conversion to unknown uses
• Clusters of easements that create large, unbroken blocks of conserved lands  

Deepen OLDC’s footprint in the exurban areas of Northern Virginia

ODLC holds easements in several of the jurisdictions surrounding metropolitan Washington, D.C. Although easements outside of Loudoun County have historically been a relatively small percentage of ODLC’s total portfolio, with the Loudoun “market” shrinking, ODLC wants to look more intentionally at deepening its existing presence in other parts of Northern Virginia where our expertise fits well with the conservation goals of those specific areas and where there’s a niche not being served by other conservation partners. Deepening our footprint outside of Loudoun County will enable ODLC to further advance its mission by expanding its impact at a critical time, staying ahead of a northward and westward wave of development. As in Loudoun, these pressures threaten to irrevocably transform historically-significant and fragile rural landscapes, along with the communities that have been part of them for generations. Turning some of ODLC’s focus to these areas now will enable the organization to stay ahead of the curve, and thus be more effective in conserving land.  

Enhance ODLC’s rigorous, high-quality easement monitoring using new technology

In an operating environment rich with growing threats to land conservation, it is ever more critical for ODLC to maintain robust systems and protocols for monitoring its easements and land holdings. As the organization expands its footprint in Northern Virginia, the scale and complexity of that operation will only increase. ODLC will continue to conduct annual on-site monitoring of all easements and fee title holdings. At the same time, we will also look to enhance our monitoring capacity by complementing ODLC’s current conservation monitoring operation with cost-effective monitoring technologies (e.g. satellites, drones, etc.) and software that can also help anticipate the needs and opportunities for stewardship intervention(s). Looking further ahead, we will develop a plan for expanding monitoring to support future increases in stewardship obligations.

Bring greater intentionality to stewardship and landowner engagement

As a community-based organization, our relationships with landowners, residents, public officials, local businesses, and nonprofits are paramount. How we show up in the community matters: we won’t be trusted partners unless we are good stewards of the lands that we own or have conserved. On ODLC-owned parcels, we take primary responsibility for the management and stewardship, with the goals of engaging surrounding communities (e.g. youth groups) and enhancing public access and enjoyment. We will pilot more systematic and intentional outreach to landowners whose easements we hold about stewardship opportunities on their properties in such areas as climate, flood mitigation, clean water, stream restoration, invasive plant removal, and crop and timber management. Along the way will seek to identify sources of technical assistance and funding to help landowners carry out stewardship activities and seek new and expanded partnerships with like-minded institutions.  Near-Term Initiatives

In pursuit of these long-term goals and objectives, ODLC has identified several areas of work on which it will focus over the next 18 to 24 months:

Accreditation – ODLC firmly believes that accreditation by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission is critical to ensuring its integrity and effectiveness as a land trust, and to securing its reputation among peers, partners, and landowners. We therefore will continue to collect necessary information to respond to the Commission’s Tabled Information Request by the September 5, 2025 deadline and ideally secure accreditation soon thereafter.

Data Center Response Plan – With the proliferation of data centers creating a growing crisis, we will develop a Data Center Response Plan to track and address emergent threats to ODLC’s mission and conserved lands. Top threats include excessive water consumption resulting in depletion of water tables, land development and habitat loss/degradation, and the creation and expansion of powerline corridors that risk easement violations. The plan will help us assess and prioritize threats as they arise, guide how we respond, and inform investments in our capacity for easement defense (e.g., against eminent domain claims for power line corridors).

Knowledge sharing – Many parts of Virginia lack experienced appraisers that work with land trusts to serve the area. ODLC’s model for conservation easements has worked extremely well over the last 17 years. To further enhance the current model, ODLC will seek to develop new partnerships with professionals such as attorneys, appraisers, engineers, realtors, and surveyors. By expanding our connections and educating new people on the conservation easement process, ODLC will grow in its reach and expand conservation expertise in Virginia.

Succession planning – As an organization, ODLC’s strength derives from lifelong friendships and the bonds among its founders. But as we look to the future, we know that achieving ODLC’s mission requires doing whatever we can to ensure the organization thrives over the long haul. Key steps will include developing a succession plan for staff and the board, creating a board development strategy, refining board member job descriptions, and regularly reviewing board policies and guidelines.

Prime soils – ODLC will also devote its energies to addressing the concern and uncertainty surrounding Loudoun County’s new “prime soils” and “mountainside overlay” ordinances, which have led to a sudden decrease in conservation easements. We will start by creating a communications and outreach strategy to help landowners and conservation-minded developers understand and navigate the new ordinances, and position ODLC as a trusted liaison between the county and farmers and conservation landowners.