Norfolk, Virginia. March 20, 2023

Serendipitously coinciding with the spring equinox, today Norfolk based non-profit The Living River Trust announced its name change to Coastal Virginia Conservancy. The new descriptor reflects the organization’s expanded goal to protect more of Hampton Road’s precious land and water throughout Coastal Virginia. The organization seeks to forever keep environmentally sensitive land in its natural state, as achieved in the recently conserved Newton Neck Park, a new 88-acre open-to-the-public waterfront park in Chesapeake. Chair Mary Ann Saunders shared, “The organization is passionate about beautiful Coastal Virginia and honored to be able to work towards keeping our land and water natural, special, and protected.”

Coastal Virginia Conservancy will continue to protect water by cleaning up the river bottom through its award-winning mitigation program, forever erasing reversing past environmental damage like in the just-completed Paradise Creek project in Portsmouth. Joe Thomas, longtime Board member and Chair of the Mitigation Committee, stated, “Our large-scale clean-up projects remain critical to the health of our waters, by erasing past environmental damage for the benefit of future generations.”

Executive Director Liz Friel explained the organization’s expanded impact area was important to land conservation because there is not another locally based non-profit conservation organization in the area. Over the past two years, many property owners had contacted the organization to conserve land. She shared, “We had to turn away potential conservation easements because they were outside the Elizabeth River watershed where we worked.” Since the Board of Trustees recognized the local need for conservation was much larger than a single river, they voted to expand their footprint and become the new Coastal Virginia Conservancy. The Coastal Virginia Conservancy will encompass all of Hampton Roads with a special focus on the southside cities of Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach. Ms. Friel added, “Coastal Virginia Conservancy is excited to already be working with landowners in the expanded area.” The group plans conservation open houses for the community throughout the region starting later this year.

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