Clarke County Conservation Easement Authority’s Resolution Strongly Opposing the Proposed Valley Link Transmission Project in Clarke County
WHEREAS Valley Link, a joint venture of Dominion Energy, FirstEnergy Transmission, and Transource Energy, proposed the “Valley North Project”, a 260-mile, 765-kilovolt (kV) transmission line from Putnam County, West Virginia to Frederick County, Maryland; and
WHEREAS information provided by Valley Link notes that the transmission line would require new steel lattice structures, 150 to 170 feet in height, to be sited on new and permanently cleared 200-foot-wide rights-of-way; and
WHEREAS the project is intended to transmit bulk power to meet increasing demand in areas outside of Clarke County and will provide no direct benefit to the residents or businesses of Clarke County who would bear the burden of its presence; and
WHEREAS three of the four proposed routes from Frederick County, Virginia to Jefferson County, West Virginia would impact lands in open-space easement held by the Clarke County Conservation Authority and other easement holders in Clarke County; and
WHEREAS Clarke County established the Conservation Easement Purchase Program in 2002 to protect and preserve land with significant agricultural, natural, scenic, and historic resources; and
WHEREAS Clarke County and the Clarke County Conservation Easement Authority (‘Authority’) are public bodies authorized by the Open-Space Land Act (Va. Code § 10.1-1700 to 10.1-1705) to accept, hold, and administer open-space easements; and
WHEREAS the open-space easements are voluntary agreements negotiated between landowners and the Authority in which the landowner agrees to place specific restrictions on the use and development of their property in perpetuity; and
WHEREAS the purposes of the open-space easements held by the Authority include retaining and protecting open-space and natural resource values of the properties, and limiting division, residential construction, and commercial and industrial uses, ensuring that the Property will remain perpetually available for Agriculture, livestock production, forest or open-space use; and
WHEREAS Clarke County Code § 12 describes the purpose of the Authority to acquire and/or receive conservation easements, by purchase, gift, or other conveyance; to hold and enforce conservation easements conveyed to it; and to administer the Clarke County Conservation Easement Purchase Program pursuant to Chapter 72 of the Clarke County Code; and
WHEREAS the proposed routes impact land under open-space easement with one or more of the following characteristics:
- With prime farmland and farmland of statewide significance
- Within the County’s Agricultural & Forestal District
- Along state scenic byways
- Within two National Registered Rural Historic Districts
- Along the Opequon Creek and other perennial streams within the Chesapeake Bay watershed
- Within the County’s designated groundwater recharge area
- That have karst geology with karst features such as sinkholes
- That contains habitats of threatened or endangered species
WHEREAS the Authority finds that the project will seriously impair the conservation values of the properties held in open-space easement and is not essential for the orderly growth and development of Clarke County; and
WHEREAS the Authority believes that it is unlikely that substitute land of near or greater value can be found within Clarke County to replace the open-space easements impacted by the project; and
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED the Authority finds that the project does not conform to the preservation of property in open-space easement and would be inconsistent with the following policies described in the 2022 Comprehensive Plan:
- Protect and preserve the Agricultural, natural, and open-space character of unincorporated areas
- Encourage Agricultural operations and productivity and ensure the preservation and availability of Agricultural lands for the continued production of crops and livestock
- Preserve the natural beauty and protect the natural beauty and protect the ecology of forested areas to ensure the development in those areas is in conformance with their environmental limitations
- Protect natural resources, including soil, water, air, scenery, and fragile ecosystems; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Authority formally opposes the construction of the Valley North Project as currently proposed in Clarke County and commits Stewardship funds of up to $300,000 to assist with the legal defense of the Authority’s easement properties affected by the project. Approved and ordered to be entered upon the public record of the Clarke County Conservation Easement Authority this 10th day of July, 2026
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George Ohrstrom II, Chair
clarkelandconservation.org 