In my day vocation, I am employed, in part, to plan for a more sustainable future. As I continue to work with a host of colleagues in every walk of life charged to do the same, it sometimes feels it is an understatement to say this is a staggering task. This is not just because [...]
A couple of years ago, my son Logan and I completed the Daniel Pennock Democracy School. The 2-day program is offered by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) in Chambersburg, PA. The notion that nature somehow has rights has captured my imagination since my involvement with the Interfaith Roundtable on Sustainability in 1998, discussed [...]
The December/January issue of Adventure magazine has a great article, Don’t Fence Him In: From prisoner of Panama to power broker: Why Rick Ridgeway traded a life on the edge for a chance to reinvent the wilderness by Mark Sundeen (with photography by Robyn Twomey) about Rick Ridgeway, a guy Rolling Stone called the real [...]
Sustainability is now a mainstream word. People feel the need to put an adjective in front of it, i.e., economic sustainability, or environmental sustainability, I suppose in an attempt to focus its meaning. It is to me a word that connotes far deeper dimensions than many seem to consider—an ethic about how we are to [...]
We are looking for a part-time web designer to deploy the Phase III version of this site to add new functions and improve existing ones. Compensation is commensurate with experience. Contact Mike at 540-661-7379 if you are interested or send us an email.
Congratulations to Mike Cooper, Marj Praml, and William “Chip” Steinmetz on completion of their American Conservation Broker (ACB) certification last week! Mike Cooper is an agent with Jobin Realty in Winchester and is VA and West Virginia licensed. Mike seeks clients that are concerned about the area’s natural beauty. Marj is a REALTOR in Winchester [...]
Some say it’s greed. Some say it’s stupidity. Others blame it on weak regulators.
My view is the root of this dilemma has nothing to do with these.
Its cause is a faulty worldview. A premise rooted in 19th and 20th century thinking that our macroeconomy exists without limits.
This crisis exposes the rotten core of traditional U.S. [...]
Anyone can upload a property on the Potential Conservation Property Marketplace FOR FREE. A seller that believes that the environmental assets found on the property are an important amenity to a purchaser should consider listing in the marketplace.
Any conservation-minded seller that wants to network with conservation-minded buyers should also consider listing on the site.
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We are getting a lot of questions about discounted rates for the ACB certification and whether it is available on-line. At least till the end of the year, we are continuing to offer on-line certification @ $200.00 for two years with Association membership, a $300.00 discount. We will consider further discounts on an add needed [...]
The American Conservation Broker certification program will be offered in Winchester, Virginia on September 25 at reduced rates. A new format for the program has been created enabling wireless use of laptops during the instructional process.
Contact the Blue Ridge Association of REALTORs for more information.
Nestled on the eastern slopes of the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Greene County, Virginia, Farmcolony is a farm-subdivision created in 1976. The subdivision contains 150 acres of working farm, 95 acres of homesites, and 40 acres of mountain open space.Farmcolony has been loved and nurtured by its residents throughout its history. [...]
Michael Collins’ July 23, 2008 Interview with Bundoran Farm Project Manager David Hamilton is provided in its entirety below.
1. David, first, what are the specifics on Bundoran? How many acres, lots, how much wooded/pasture, etc.
First, it’s bigger than most people think. Bundoran Farm comprises 2,300 acres, which for reference is about a third of the size of Charlottesville. [...]
Bundoran Farm is 2300 acres of rolling piedmont farmland in the Hardware River watershed located just twenty minutes from Charlottesville and the University of Virginia and nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. In the first of a two-part story, we focus on the development itself–the design, the lots,the amenities, and legal structure. In the [...]
In August, Conserv will feature a story on the one of the earliest modern conservation subdivisions in the U.S.-Farmcolony, in Greene County, Virginia. In September, we will interview a new real estate agent in Idaho working on his American Conservation Broker certification.
Today, MSN ran a piece by Scott Burns, in which he runs back of the envelope calculations to determine that there is enough oil in the middle east to buy the U.S. This is a perfectly reasonable exercise and very relevant today. As a guide to the future, however, I don’t think it helps much.
He defines [...]
The July Success Story will feature an interview with David Hamilton, Principal, Community Design and Operations, for Qroe Farm Preservation Development, as he discusses Bundoran Far, a 2300 acre community of approxiately 100 homes in Albemarle County, Virginia, that also conserves productive agricultural and forestry uses on the site.
In my daytime practice as a professional planner, I see signs that profound shifts in land use are now taking place. Not knowing of any other name for what has begun, I’ll call it “The Great Contraction” as opposed to the syndrome of the last 50 years—”The Great Expansion”. The role of conservation in U.S. culture [...]
Click on the link below to see Part 2 video interview with Laura Winn Smith and Jim Duxsbury
Riverbluff Part 2
The new neighborhood of RiverBluff overlooks the Rivanna River just upstream from the Woolen Mills within the city limits of Charlottesville. As a conservation community, the 22-home development respects and responds to its dramatic natural setting. [...]
Click on the file below to view the Part 1 video with Laura Winn Smith.
Riverbluff Part 1
Conserv has selected Riverbluff, in Charlottesville Virginia, as the June, 2008 Success Story.
The developers of RiverBluff, PS2 Properties LLC, began with the goal to design a community that embraced environmental conservation and healthy living. Being so close to the [...]
As I realize all the folks I have forgotten to acknowledge that had something to do with the launch of this site…
At the top of the list of those I failed to mention is Ridge Schuyler, Piedmont Programs Manager with The Nature Conservancy in Charlottesville. Ridge is the Piedmont Program Director and during 2003-2005, he [...]
Laura Winn Smith, American Conservation Broker (06), represents RiverBluff, a conservation development in Historic Woolen Mills in Charlottesville, Virginia. Riverbluff is a community of 22 homes designed by Frank Folsom Smith and Richard Price, with The Folsom Group, and features native plant landscaping, low impact development stormwater design, and green housing construction.
Conserv is thrilled to be a sponsor for the 2nd Virginia Landtrust Conference, Conserving Our Commonwealth II. The conference runs from June 11-13 in Staunton. Michael Collins will speak on the final day of the conference about the potential for market-based conservation and the role of land trusts.
My younger brother Joe Collins, a great guy, husband, father, mechanic, commercial pilot, and hobby farmer on Maryland’s Eastern Shore called me tonight to talk about the Conserv website…
Joe: Mike, do you want to hear me tell you how great you are or the unadulterated truth?
Mike: Yes Joe, I need the truth, please.
Joe: Mike, I’m waiting for the [...]
For Ralph, the spirit
Joe, the love
And Lance, the goodwill.
My brother-in-law, my buddy’s son, and my friend, cared deeply about this world. May this project honor their energy.
- Michael Collins
Conserv Executive Director Michael C. Collins has authorized Category 4 web designers to launch the Version III site on Thursday, May 22. The launch is the culmination of nearly two years of planning by staff, Board Members, and supporters.
Conserv staff is working with American Conservation Brokers, including Roger Voisinet (Cville Properties) in Virginia to test the Version III site during early May of 2008.
Conserv’s mission is to create a more ecologically-friendly real estate marketplace. The word “more” is used intentionally to convey the idea that to a very limited degree, the marketplace already functions in an ecological manner. This is because humanity, in all its forms, is a part of nature, just as much as any other part [...]
Conserv hopes to provide a market-based platform for landowners to build green infrastructure throughout the world, working in partnership with government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The platform is a bottom-up process based on the notion that a new generation of conservation programs must find a way to function seamlessly in western-style economies. Conserv does not [...]
Conserv has been contacted by the Blue Ridge Area Association of REALTORS (BRAAR) to teach a class on Conservation Real Estate in September.
Last year, Conserv taught a spring class to about a dozen interested agents and brokers. This class, called Introduction to Conservation Real Estate, was a primer on environmental issues and how those can dovetail [...]
Conserv seeks sponsors for the marketplace. The Association will provide free advertising through August 31, 2008 to any interested conservation-related organization. Beginning September 1, Conserv will offer prototype sponsorships to Association-approved individuals, organizations, and businesses. Contact staff for more details.
Conserv CPA Carol A. Atchison has filed papers with the IRS for 501 c-6 status. The Association’s application is pending. Should the application be approved, any real estate professional may take Conserv membership dues and expenses as a business deduction.
Conserv now provides on-line American Conservation Broker certification for real estate agents and brokers. Version III of the curriculum requires students to successfully complete 12 educational modules through a self-paced program:
1. Overview and Introduction
2. Conservation Ethics
3. Interdependent Science
4. Stewardship Practices
5. American Conservation Broker Sales Procedures
6. Listing Agreements and Accountability Checklist
7. American Conservation Broker Conservation Property [...]
Conservation occurs through prototype real estate transaction in Virginia: Conserv Executive Director Michael Collins placed his 2-story Charlottesville Duplex on the market in the late summer of 2006 as a Conservation Property.
In the 1990s, John Hermsmeier build a home in the Mill Creek subdivision in Albemarle County, Virginia. He fought with his neighbors and the homeowners assn. for the right to create natural habitat. What happened when he sold his house and what is the status of the habitat now?