The Virginia Outdoors Foundation (VOF) is Virginia’s leader in land conservation, protecting about 675,000 acres in 107 counties and independent cities. VOF is a public organization, created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1966 under Virginia Code § 10.1-1800. Today, we receive both public and private support for our work.
Interesting stats:
- VOF’s 675,000 acres of conserved land is three times the size of Shenandoah National Park and more than half the size of Rhode Island.
- During the last decade, VOF has preserved open space in Virginia at a rate of about five acres every hour.
- VOF easements account for about 80% of all open-space easement acreage in the state of Virginia.
- VOF is responsible for managing almost 3,500 easement instruments, which account for about two-thirds of all open-space easement instruments in the state. Each instrument represents a legal contract that must be enforced under state and federal laws.
- VOF conserved lands account for 16% of all protected acreage in Virginia, which includes federal, state, local, and private conservation lands.
- The five counties with the most land protected by VOF are, in descending order, Fauquier, Albemarle, Rockbridge, Orange, and Rappahannock.
- VOF recorded its first easement on June 13, 1968, on a 102-acre property in Goochland County.
- More than 500,000 acres in VOF’s portfolio lie within the Chesapeake Bay watershed.