The document discusses the work of the Piedmont Environmental Council in Virginia to conserve the local environment through land conservation, encouraging good planning practices, and partnerships. It provides examples of how the Council has worked with other organizations to survey barriers to fish passage, replace culverts to restore habitat, and protect over 1 million acres of land through conservation easements. The author argues that effectively addressing environmental challenges requires partnership among various stakeholders at different levels.

1. AmazingThings HappenWhenYou
Love a Place
Chris Miller - The Piedmont Environmental Council
Earth Optimism Summit, April 2017
Photo by Natalie Sheffield

2. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
First things first...

3. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
What is a “Piedmont”?
Latin “pedemontium” —> “the foot of
the mountains”
French “Piedmont” —> “foothill”
Remnants of ancient mountain chain
that have eroded away.
Igneous and sedimentary bedrock
Elevation between 200-1,000 feet
above sea level

4. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
You are here
Our service area

5. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
What isVirginia’s
Piedmont known for?

6. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
Beautiful views
Photo by Patricia Temples

7. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
Shenandoah National Park
and Skyline Drive
Photo by James Marshall

8. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
The
Appalachian
Trail

9. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
Presidential homes like
Monticello Photo by Cindy DeVore

10. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
CivilWar Battlefields
Photo by Cindy Vasco

11. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
And a vibrant agricultural economy
Photo by Patty King

12. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
Our water
originates in the
mountains

13. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
provides habitat for fish and wildlife
Photo by Chris Anderson

14. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
And clean drinking water for people
(important water supplies forWashington DC,
NorthernVA, Fredericksburg, and Richmond
originate in the Piedmont)
Photo by James Marshall

15. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
The Piedmont Environmental Council’s
three roles:
1. Engage
2. Educate
3. Empower
…around a broad set of issues
…working with lots of partners

16. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
Today I’m going to zoom in
on two areas of our work,
land conservation and local
planning, that give me hope.

18. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC

19. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
In
Those easements add up

20. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC

21. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
In total, conservation easements in our nine
counties have protected approximately:
• 1,600 miles of streams;
• 9,500 acres of wetlands;
• 186,000 acres of prime farming soils;
• 186,000 acres of forests;
• 106,000 acres along Scenic Byways;
• 118,000 acres in the viewshed of the
AppalachianTrail;
• 125,000 acres in historic districts; and
• 28,500 acres of CivilWar battlefields.

22. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
Easements and public lands
complement good planning,
with designated growth areas.

24. Data Source: NASA 2016 Earth at Night

25. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
The impact that local plans
and local elected officials have
on the environment can be
seen in satellite images:

26. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC

27. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC

28. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC

29. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC

30. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
What does any of this have
to do with partnership?

31. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
Protecting our environment
and quality of life takes
work at the local, regional,
state, national and even
global level.

32. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
And we can’t all be
everywhere at once.We
can’t do it alone.

33. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
Take just one example from
our work at PEC

34. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
Photo by Chris Anderson

37. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC

38. Reconnecting Brook Trout Habitat in
the PiedmontBarriers to Fish Passage
Climate change: 2015. Wildlife in Hot Water: America’s Waterways and Climate Change. National Wildlife Federation,
Washington, D.C.Climate change: 2015. Wildlife in Hot Water: America’s Waterways and Climate Change. National Wildlife Federation,
Washington, D.C.

40. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
Getting the survey done took:
• The Piedmont Environmental Council
• Trout Unlimited
• The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
• VA Dept. Game & Inland Fisheries and
Shenandoah National Park
• Protocol developed in Massachusetts as part of
The River and Stream Continuity Project
• And permission from more than 80 individual
landowners

41. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
Getting the surveying done took:
--The Piedmont EnvironmentalCouncil
--Trout Unlimited
--The U.S. Fish &Wildlife Service
--Permission from more than 80 individual
landowners
--VA Dept. Game & Inland Fisheries and
Shenandoah National Park
--With surveying protocal developed at the
University ofVermont
Sprucepine Branch in
Rappahannock

42. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
Robinson River in
Madison

43. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
Being able to act on a
solution, takes time and
partners once again.

44. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
Getting the culverts replaced?That took:
• Trout Unlimited
• Trout Unlimited Rapidan Chapter
• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
• VA Department of Game & Inland Fisheries
• The Piedmont Environmental Council
• PEC’s Krebser Fund for Rappahannock Conservation
• Shenandoah Streamworks
• Nimick Forbesway Foundation
• Ethel Cox Marden Charitable Trust
• And permission from 5 different landowners
And 2.5 years…

45. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
The Robinson stream crossing
we first surveyed

46. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
The Robinson stream
crossing two weeks ago

47. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
With smiling faces, more
natural flows, and an
extra 4.35 additional miles
of quality habitat

48. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
Which brings be back
around to my final point.

49. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
People who care about place
are conservationists.

50. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
So if you broaden your
definition of conservation,
incredible partnership
opportunities arise.

51. Chris Miller  The Piedmont Environmental Council  cmiller@pecva.org  Twitter: @cmillerPEC
And you (we) will have many
reasons to be optimistic.