The Land Trust of Virginia, a nonprofit organization that provides land trust to protect open space and natural and historic resources in Virginia, recorded conservation easements on two more properties that has totaled 200 acres in Loudoun and Fauquier counties.

The 91-acre Ravitz-Basser property outside of Aldie, known locally as the Moore Farm or Fair Oaks Farm, contains several historic buildings and the Moore Family Cemetery. The property consists of active agricultural land, forestland, and almost 3,100 linear feet of perennial stream channels.The easement ensures the protection of the agricultural land, forest resources, stream channels and riparian buffers.

The Land Trust of Virginia also acquired a 109-acre parcel of land southeast of The Plains in Fauquier County. The property is within Route 55 and 628 and Interstate 66. Almost 99 percent of the property is wooded and is within the Broad Run and Little Georgetown Historic District. It is also within two National Park Service Civil War Battlefield Study Areas for the Battles of Throughfare Gap and Buckland Mills.

The property in Fauquier County qualified for the Land Trust’s Deborah Whittier Fitts Battlefield Stewardship Fund because it is located within two battlefield areas. The fund was established in 2009 to help landowners with the cost of easing properties within battlefield areas.

“We are delighted to accept these conservation easements,” Don Owen, executive director of the Land Trust of Virginia said in a statement. “Each property is unique, but these properties are particularly special. Both have multiple conservation values, with open space, natural, and historic resources. We also are pleased to be able to utilize the Deborah Whittier Fitts Battlefield Stewardship Fund for the first time, to help the landowners and honor Deborah Fitts and her commitment to preserving Civil War history.”

About The Land Trust of Virginia

The LTV is to help private citizens in Virginia protect open spaces and natural and historic resources by placing them in conservation easements. Over the past 10 years, the Land Trust of Virginia has preserved more than 11,000 acres and protected those acres from future development with a total of 110 easements.