Voluntary Rural & Outdoor Heritage Conservation Act

Rob Lannan, who is a member of the Board of Trustees for The Nature Conservancy in West Virginia, reports that Governor Manchin recently signed the Voluntary Rural & Outdoor Heritage Conservation Act. The Act establishes a new Outdoor Heritage Conservation Fund (to be initially capitalized by a minimal fee on the recording of deeds and certain other documents). The Fund is designed to leverage private, federal and local monies to permit the State to purchase lands for conservation purposes. The legislation also establishes a Board of Trustees composed of the Director of the Division of Natural Resources and the Director of the Division of Forestry (ex officio) and nine (9) voting members to be appointed by the Governor. The nine appointed members are to be representative of (1) the West Virginia Agricultural Land Protection Authority; (2) a registered forester; (3) 501(c)(C) land trusts; (4) professional experts in biology or ecology nominated by the West Virginia Academy of Sciences; (5) a member with demonstrated expertise in public health and public recreation; and (6) a representative of sportsman and sportswomen. The Fund is also authorized to receive monies from a variety of sources, including the issuance of revenue bonds.


Significantly, a broad spectrum of varying political interests, under the leadership of The Nature Conservancy, came together to support the legislation including land trusts, sportsmen and sportswomens’ groups, farm land protection boards, various wildlife groups, land owners, agricultural interests, and the business community. A copy of the legislation can be accessed at:
http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Text_HTML/2008_SESSIONS/RS/BILLS/SB622%20SUB2%20enr.htm.

Rob also reports that the West Virginia Environmental Institute, on whose Board he also sits, will be holding its 2008 Annual Conference on the Environment at the Marriott in Charleston, on Wednesday, May 7. The conference theme is “Sustainable Communities and the New Economy.” The keynote speaker will be Governor Parris N. Glendening, the former Governor of Maryland and now President of the Smart Growth Leadership Institute. More information about the Conference, including registration information, can be found at the Institute’s website, www.wvei.org/conference.html.