Natural Heritage Program 40th Anniversary Milestones

1986–1989

Goshen Pass, DCR's first Natural Area, acquired 1956

1986: August 7, Virginia Natural Heritage Program becomes the 43rd state natural heritage program launched by The Nature Conservancy. First director Mike Lipford.
1988: July 1, The Virginia Natural Heritage Program (Natural Heritage) incorporated into the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) as the Division of Natural Heritage.
1989: July 1, Virginia Natural Areas Preserves Act passed, creating the Natural Area Preserve System.
1989: DNH Ecologists collected data on the first vegetation plots at First Landing State Park. These data form the basis for development of The Natural Communities of Virginia classification.

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1990–1999

North Landing River, First Natural Area Preserve, 1990

1990: First Natural Area Preserve, North Landing River, established. Tom Smith becomes director.
1990: Zoologists rediscovered the federally endangered Dwarf Wedgemussel in Virginia. This species had been feared extirpated in the state.
1992: Virginia voters approved the Parks and Recreational Facilities Bond including $11.475 million for natural area acquisition.
1993: First project entered into the Environmental Review database.
1994: Karst Groundwater Protection Project established in Dublin. (1979 Cave Protection Act and creation of Cave Board) creating Karst Groundwater Protection Program in Natural Heritage, funded by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
1994: The Virginia Natural Heritage Program recognized by NatureServe as Outstanding Natural Heritage Program (also later in 2006 and 2016).
1995: The Natural Heritage Program the second state agency to launch a web site
1999: Zoologists, working with collaborators, documented 11 new sites for the federally endangered Mitchell’s satyr, a globally rare butterfly that was first found in the state during the previous year.
1999: DCR designated lead agency for statewide Conservation Lands Database with Natural Heritage taking the lead.
1990-1999: North Landing River, Bethel Beach, Big Spring, Johnsons Creek, Poor Mountain, Wreck Island, Bush Mill Stream, Pinnacle, Hughlett Point, Pickett’s Harbor, Northwest River, Grafton Ponds, Blackwater Ecological, Chub Sandhill, Antioch Pines, Buffalo Mountain, Cumberland Marsh, New Point Comfort, Cape Charles, The Cedars, Cowbane Prairie, Savage Neck Dunes, Pedlar Hills Glades, Grassy Hill, Folly Mills Creek Fen, Dameron Marsh, Dendron Swamp, Parkers Marsh Natural Area Preserves acquired.

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2000–2009

Boltonia montana, Valley Doll's-Daisy, new plant species described in 2006.

2000: The Nature Conservancy transferred the leadership of Natural Heritage programs to Association for Biodiversity Information, which becomes NatureServe in 2001.
2000: New Access database implemented for tracking project reviews.
2001: Natural Heritage database transitions from Biological and Conservation Data system (DOS-based) to Biotics (GIS-enabled with about 5,700 species' locations).
2002: Virginia voters approved the passage of the Parks and Natural Areas Bond that provided $13.2 million in funding for natural area preserve acquisition.
2004: The Natural Communities of Virginia: Classification of ecological community groups, second approximation released via the DCR website and is first publicly available release of Natural Heritage natural community classification. It has since been updated in 2021, now the third approximation.
2006: Natural Heritage Data Explorer developed.
2006: Senior Botanist co-authored the description of the globally rare Boltonia montana as a species new to science known only from the Ridge and Valley of Virginia and New Jersey.
2007: 50th Natural Area Preserve, Camp Branch Wetlands, established.
2007: First statewide Natural Landscape Assessment completed; ConservationVision launched.
2008: Stewardship planted 230 acres of Virginia-sourced longleaf pine at Chub Sandhill Natural Area Preserve.
2008: Karst Program hosted or co-hosted the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Appalachian Karst Symposiums in 2008, 2017, and 2024
2009: First public access guide to Virginia's Natural Area Preserves published (also in 2014 and 2023).
2000-2009: Hickory Hollow, Cleveland Barrens, Chotank Creek, Deep Run Ponds, Difficult Creek, Bull Run Mountains, False Cape, Goshen Pass, Grayson Glades, Parramore Island, Elklick Woodlands, Unthanks Cave, Redrock Mountain, Mount Joy Pond, Cherry Orchard Bog, Mutton Hunk Fen, Clover Hollow, Mark’s and Jack’s Islands, Chestnut Ridge, Magothy Bay, Naked Mountain, Chestnut Creek Wetlands, Camp Branch Wetlands, Ogdens Cave, The Channels, Crow’s Nest, Fletcher Ford, South Quay Sandhills, Cypress Bridge Swamp, Sweet Spring, Crawford’s Knob Natural Area Preserves acquired.

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2010–2019

ConserveVirginia launched, 2019.

2010: First listing of the natural communities of Virginia with state and global conservation ranks completed by Ecologists.
2011: First large-scale solar project reviewed by Virginia Natural Heritage.
2012: The Flora of Virginia published in November by the Flora Project, with DCR as its key partner; first update since Flora Virginica published in mid-1700's.
2012: Stewardship and Natural Heritage hosted the Natural Areas Association conference in Norfolk, VA.
2016: Jason Bulluck becomes director.
2019: Karst program hosted National Cave and Karst Management Symposium in Bristol, Virginia.
2019: ConserveVirginia launched as statewide conservation strategy.
2010-2016: Mill Creek Springs, Blackwater Sandhills, Dundas Granite Flatrock, Bald Knob Natural Area Preserves acquired.
2017-2019: 21 parcels totaling 1,443 acres added to existing natural area preserves.

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2020–2026

2020: First Pollinator Smart facility certified (Cople Elementary School).
2021-2023: Botanists documented 13 new populations of Raven’s Seedbox (Ludwigia ravenii; G1G2/S1) bringing the total number of extant populations in the state to sixteen.
2023: The Karst Program, with Dr. Jerry Lewis, published The Groundwater Isopods of Virginia, which included descriptions of 23 species new to science, underscoring Virginia's cave and groundwater habitats as biodiversity hotspots.
2024: Ecologists worked with the Flora of Virginia Project(FOVA) to equip the FOVA App with the Natural Communities of Virginia Classification of Ecological Groups and Community Types, allowing keyword search and access to hundreds of photos depicting the highest quality natural areas in Virginia.
2024: Zoologists rediscovered Appalachia hebardi, a globally rare grasshopper, in Virginia after an absence of records for more than 75 years.
2025: Ecologists sampled the 4,807th vegetation plot.
2025: Five Pollinator Smart facilities certified, and eight localities require pollinator best practices or certification for solar facilities.
2020-2025: Southside Savannah Natural Area Preserve dedicated, Eastern Divide, Brocks Gap Natural Area Preserves acquired.
2026: Zoologists databased the 97,000th moth specimen and 60,000th bee specimen processed by zoology lab staff and many dedicated volunteers.
1993-2026: Karst Program has worked with partner scientists to discover at least 50 new species of cave and karst spring endemic animals, most of which are known from only a handful of springs or caves.
2026: Natural Heritage celebrates its 40th anniversary with 10,913 mapped locations of 2,115 elements of biodiversity and 2,499 conservation sites. The Virginia Natural Area Preserve System now includes 69 Natural Area Preserves totaling over 66,000 acres dedicated to the protection of Virginia’s biodiversity.

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