560 Acre McIvor Farm is Now Protected forever

Gladys – Leah and Rob Talbert recently partnered with the Central Virginia Land Conservancy to protect 560 acres of forest and farmland near Gladys in Campbell County.

This land is special to the Talberts. Conserving it for future generations is what friend and former landowner Joseph Thomas McIvor, better known as Joe Thomas, would have wanted.

“Joe was a close family friend”, reminisces Leah. “I grew up hunting on the property with my dad. Joe meant so much to my family and I feel very blessed to have been left with the responsibility of owning and managing this land in a way that Joe would be proud of.”

Joe enjoyed the outdoors, especially hunting, and managed the land for timber and recreation. He had a tremendous land ethic and deep ties to the community. To honor Joe’s legacy, Leah and Rob decided to place the land in a conservation easement.

Farming and forestry have been integral to the management of this property since it was acquired by the McIvor Family generations ago. A combination of pine plantations, mixed hardwood stands and farm fields are interspersed throughout the property, including bottomland hardwoods that encompass several creeks and tributaries. The land is also full of meaningful landmarks. The original house, built in 1798, is still on the property and steps will be taken to preserve it for the future. “The cellar was full of glass jars of canned goods. Hundreds of them”, remarks Leah. Also on the property is the McIvor Family Cemetery, where Joe Thomas and his relatives are buried. Old tobacco barns are dotted throughout the property, serving as reminders to Campbell County’s farming heritage.

“This will be where the Talberts plan to build their forever home”, says Jennifer Wills, program manager with the Central Virginia Land Conservancy. “Leah and Rob showed us two places on the land where they might build their home. Both are beautiful, with forests all around.”

Leah, a school librarian for Greene County Public Schools, has embraced the library as a place where students can read books and be creative. She also has a degree in wildlife science and understands the important role nature provides in helping us understand our world.

Rob, who is a native of Russell County, VA, is a regional forester with the Virginia Department of Forestry. He has worked in public service his entire career, helping forest landowners protect and manage their land. He even had the privilege of writing a forest management plan for Andy Griffith while employed by the North Carolina Forest Service. He understands the value of protecting land against potential development. “The number one threat to forestland in Virginia is development. Placing this land in a conservation easement is a way to honor Joe’s commitment to the land and his commitment to the citizens of Campbell County,” Rob says.

Rob and Leah met while enrolled at Virginia Tech, where Rob graduated with a degree in forestry and Leah in wildlife science. With their combined experience and expertise, they would like to bring students to the property for environmental education programs. “Nature provides us with the ultimate classroom,” says Leah. “Having a good understanding of the world in which we live and how we interact in it can really help us to make informed decisions as to how we manage our wonderful natural resources.”

Under the terms of the land conservancy’s agreement with the Talberts, the couple can build a limited number of homes on the property but are not allowed to convert the property into a high-density housing development. The Talberts agree to protect the streams on the property with wide, forested buffer areas, including several creeks, which are tributaries of the Staunton River. Preservation of this largely unimproved land will preserve the scenic local and regional landscape, while also allowing them to manage the property for the health, timber, and recreation benefits that forests provide.

The Central Virginia Land Conservancy has been a part of saving land across Central Virginia for nearly two decades. The conservancy protects land in Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Buckingham, Campbell, and Nelson counties and the city of Lynchburg. For more information on how you can help save our beautiful scenery, or to learn how you can conserve your own land, call (434) 942-4320, visit cvalc.org, or e-mail jwills@cvalc.org.