Bath County, Virginia - The Jackson River passes through a spectrum of land uses as it makes its way from the Virginia Highlands in the Allegheny Mountains to the James River in the Roanoke Valley. From its “pristine” mountain headwaters it flows into Lake Moomaw and then into Covington, Virginia as its waters are used for the production of paper products at the Mead- Westvaco mill that has supplied a means of living for folks in that community since the early 1900s.
Reaching back further in time, to the mid and late 1700s, Kings George II and George III issued land grants - called crown grants - which afforded landowners control of their property “from the earth’s surface to the heavens.” For this reason, the rights of these landowners were brought into the spotlight in the mid-1990s and were upheld by a Virginia Supreme Court decision that limited public fishing access along a 19-mile tail water section of the Jackson from Gathright Dam to Covington.
In 2007, Field Sport Concepts Ltd., affiliated with Trout Headwaters Inc., was commissioned to master plan over 600 acres of privately-held crown grant property. The goal was to identify less than 20 home sites interspersed throughout the property - all with access to the blue-ribbon trout waters of the Jackson River. Once the home sites were selected, proposed roads were staked using GPS by walking hundreds of routes in search of the least destructive alignments. Natural systems inventories were also taken to assure the proposed interventions were “laying as lightly on the land” as possible.
As anticipated lot sales draw closer this summer, a fortunate group of people will purchase their own pieces of nature, history and culture along the banks of the Jackson River - ultimately made possible by conservation efforts that are sensitive to all aspects of the property. Conservation is about the land and the constituents by which it is composed. It encompasses natural resources, ecological systems, history, culture and lifestyles. A frontiersman once said “the colonist shaped the wilderness and the wilderness shaped the colonist.”
“We are always in search of innovative ways to conserve land, history and culture in our projects,” says Field Sport founder and president, Bob McKee. “The beauty of conservation is that it is scaleable - its principles can be applied on a 10,000 acre ranch as well as a 1/2 acre urban lot. The key is to identify what is being conserved in a project and focus your time and energies on doing just that. Otherwise, it can be overwhelming and the final product may not be what was invisioned.”
This is evidenced by the company’s portfolio of projects, which range from a 2300-acre conservation development that only disturbs 20% of the total land area to a one-acre commercial urban infill lot, in which the design protected an urban stream from being box-culverted and treated stormwater runoff through Low Impact Design measures. “We are commited to sustainable ownership and we want to provide our clients with economically feasible solutions for both the short and long term.”
Field Sport Concepts Ltd is an affiliation of respected consultants in the disciplines of resource and land planning, engineering, landscape architecture, environmental sciences, field sport facilities design and real estate. The organization seeks to enhance and manage rural properties in a manner that is sympathetic to the natural environment and provides opportunity for the pursuit and appreciation of outdoor activities.
Reaching back further in time, to the mid and late 1700s, Kings George II and George III issued land grants - called crown grants - which afforded landowners control of their property “from the earth’s surface to the heavens.” For this reason, the rights of these landowners were brought into the spotlight in the mid-1990s and were upheld by a Virginia Supreme Court decision that limited public fishing access along a 19-mile tail water section of the Jackson from Gathright Dam to Covington.
In 2007, Field Sport Concepts Ltd., affiliated with Trout Headwaters Inc., was commissioned to master plan over 600 acres of privately-held crown grant property. The goal was to identify less than 20 home sites interspersed throughout the property - all with access to the blue-ribbon trout waters of the Jackson River. Once the home sites were selected, proposed roads were staked using GPS by walking hundreds of routes in search of the least destructive alignments. Natural systems inventories were also taken to assure the proposed interventions were “laying as lightly on the land” as possible.
As anticipated lot sales draw closer this summer, a fortunate group of people will purchase their own pieces of nature, history and culture along the banks of the Jackson River - ultimately made possible by conservation efforts that are sensitive to all aspects of the property. Conservation is about the land and the constituents by which it is composed. It encompasses natural resources, ecological systems, history, culture and lifestyles. A frontiersman once said “the colonist shaped the wilderness and the wilderness shaped the colonist.”
“We are always in search of innovative ways to conserve land, history and culture in our projects,” says Field Sport founder and president, Bob McKee. “The beauty of conservation is that it is scaleable - its principles can be applied on a 10,000 acre ranch as well as a 1/2 acre urban lot. The key is to identify what is being conserved in a project and focus your time and energies on doing just that. Otherwise, it can be overwhelming and the final product may not be what was invisioned.”
This is evidenced by the company’s portfolio of projects, which range from a 2300-acre conservation development that only disturbs 20% of the total land area to a one-acre commercial urban infill lot, in which the design protected an urban stream from being box-culverted and treated stormwater runoff through Low Impact Design measures. “We are commited to sustainable ownership and we want to provide our clients with economically feasible solutions for both the short and long term.”
Field Sport Concepts Ltd is an affiliation of respected consultants in the disciplines of resource and land planning, engineering, landscape architecture, environmental sciences, field sport facilities design and real estate. The organization seeks to enhance and manage rural properties in a manner that is sympathetic to the natural environment and provides opportunity for the pursuit and appreciation of outdoor activities.
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