4,188 Acres Along Va.’s Dragon Run Permanently Protected
May 2009 -- The Commonwealth of Virginia and The Nature Conservancy have purchased 4,188 acres of environmentally extraordinary land within the Dragon Run watershed, located on Virginia’s Middle Peninsula.
Dubbed the “second most ecologically important watershed in the Chesapeake Bay” by the Smithsonian Institution, Dragon Run includes:
- The northern-most tidal cypress swamp community on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay.
- Ninety bird species, such as bald eagles and prothonotary warblers, and 55 species of fish.
- Vital nurseries for perch, rockfish and alewives, which are important for Chesapeake commercial fishermen and sportsmen.
The Dragon Run watershed is one of the few in eastern Virginia that remains primarily undeveloped, rural forest land, according to The Nature Conservancy. Dragon Run feeds into the Piankatank River and, ultimately, the Chesapeake Bay.
Of the 4,188 acres purchased, 2,411 acres will be added to Dragon Run State Forest, an area used to demonstrate sustainable forestry and healthy wildlife habitat.
“The purchase of this property will add significantly to our protected state forest land,” Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine said. “It will also ensure that this ecologically important land will never be developed and will be enjoyed by Virginians for generations.”
The Dragon Run land purchase brings the total land conservation under Governor Kaine -- who chairs the Bay Program’s Chesapeake Executive Council -- to 335,000 acres, on pace to meet his 400,000-acre preservation goal during his term.