History

“From 1992 to 1994 I was in Grad School at WVU. A non-traditional student, as they’re called, as I graduated a decade prior, and had some real-world experience. Steve Hollenhorst was my advisor. I met Steve at The Nature Conservancy of West Virginia’s annual meeting at Silver Creek Resort the year prior. Steve was on their Board of Directors, as was Ken Carvell, a mentor of mine who had invited me to their meeting.

I was interested in Public Lands Management Policy and Wildlands Recreation, as well as land preservation. Steve had a very active and engaged program within the Division of Forestry at WVU. There were dynamic professors and multitudes of Grad Students. All in a state and a time with so many opportunities, and so much need for, policies and programs to protect lands, forests, and rivers.  The Graduate Seminars we used to have were like fountains of free thinking and dreaming about what could be. 

In 1993, we began organizing the Appalachian Rivers and Watershed Symposium, the first meeting of its kind in West Virginia. It took place in June 1994 with over 100 presenters, on dozens of topics, with over 300 attendees.  This was just one of many exciting projects and programs emanating from Steve’s Department. The conference was a big success, and spawned, or fueled, collaborative endeavors, and new initiatives across Appalachia. 

The US Park Service set up an office with us for its Rivers and Trails Assistance Program, the Friends of Cheat was established with the initiation of the River of Promise Program. The Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge was being established, Coopers Rock Foundation was active, Friends of Deckers Creek was born, the WV Rivers Coalition was in its infancy. Steve was actively engaging his students in The Nature Conservancy projects and preserve management across the state. Grad Students were winter camping at Dolly Sods, we attended the National Wilderness Conference in Santa Fe, NM where we met the keynote speaker, West Virginian, Ed Zahniser. Rail-trails were emerging across West Virginia. There was an explosion of popularity in the whitewater rafting and mountain biking industries. The WV Mountain Bike Association was recently established. All of this was putting tourism on the state’s economic hot seat. Corridor H was being realigned, Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge was being established, the State Legislature was considering logging legislation to keep mud out of the streams, Acid Rain, Acid Mine Drainage were hot topics, and the Land Trust movement was taking hold nationwide.  There was a frenzy of activity happening in the conservation world in West Virginia, and we seemed to be near the center of it all.

There were already 37 Land Trusts in Maryland, yet West Virginia didn’t have any, except The Nature Conservancy. But the state didn’t yet allow conservation easements, so TNC’s ability to protect land, beside outright ownership, was limited. Upon establishment of the WVLT, one of the first actions we took was to help pass a law in the State Legislature to enable Conservation Easements.

We had a friend who owned a nice piece of property outside of Morgantown. A long-time birder, and conservationist, Elizabeth Zimmermann wanted to protect her farm in perpetuity.  She called it “Forever Green.” The problem was that there was no mechanism for her to make this happen because the land didn’t have conservation values sufficient for The Nature Conservancy to bear the cost of owning it.  Although the need for a Land Trust was known, and there was already interest, much of the impetus for starting the West Virginia Land Trust was this, plus, Elizabeth committed a donation to help us get the organization started. 

The internet was in its infancy, the process of finding and disseminating information was much different. First, we had to incorporate. This process necessitates having all the paperwork in order. It’s tedious work with so many decisions to be made. We really wanted the organization’s name to reflect who we are and what we do. When we filed the papers for incorporation however, they were returned to us because there was already a “West Virginia Land Company” incorporated.  Because 3 of the 4 words in the name were the same, we needed to get permission from that Company to use our preferred name. To expedite the matter, we hurriedly changed our name to the “Appalachian Conservancy,” a name I never liked because it didn’t accurately describe us. As quickly as we could, we went through the process to allow for and change to, WVLT.

One of the most important tasks we undertook, one we took very seriously, was building the Board of Directors. We were very strategic, and deliberate, in our approach. We determined the expertise we would need, as well as the diversity we thought we should have. Some of our first Board members; John Wiley – a local attorney with expertise in real estate law, who’s family was in the real estate business, Chap Donovan, an accountant with a strong conservation ethic, Joyce McConnell, a new professor at the WVU Law School teaching real estate law, Jackie Hallinan, an attorney in Charleston with strong ties and connections in the conservation community, Ann Payne, a local artist and community activist, Linda Cooper with a long history of working to protect Canaan Valley, among others.

With the help of the Land Trust Alliance, we set off on a journey to learn about how Land Trusts work, and how we should organize ourselves.  We held Board retreats, and workshops to better understand the processes and responsibilities involved in acquiring, owning, monitoring, and enforcing conservation easements. We had to educate the tax and estate planners in West Virginia how these processes worked, because no one really knew yet, at that time. I remember travelling around the state attending many other conservation organizations’ meetings with a presentation about WVLT and Land Trusts. All the while, people were coming to us with land they wanted to protect, which we desperately wanted to help them do, yet we were busy setting up a membership structure, raising money, and establishing an identity. We could only move so fast. It was almost overwhelming at times. Yet, in retrospect, many of the decisions we made, and actions we took, back then have served the organization well, and have helped to enable the West Virginia Land Trust to have the many successes it has had over the decades, including protecting Elizabeth’s farm.

Yeah, that’s a great idea! How can we make that work? That was our prevailing attitude. Steve is a visionary, I am an actionary, we worked well together back then.”  

– Dave Saville, West Virginia Land Trust Founder