The Land Trust of Virginia (LTV), a nationally accredited non-profit land trust that protects open space and natural and historic resources in Virginia, recently honored several citizens in Loudoun, Fauquier, and Culpeper Counties with conservation awards. The awards were presented at LTV's annual "Garden Party to Save Virginia's Countryside," that took place at the Arundel family's beautiful estate north of Warrenton.

The 2013 LTV Conservationist of the Year Awards for Leadership and Lifetime Achievement were given to two prominent citizens who have been at the forefront of conservation in Fauquier County for decades: Mrs. Hope Porter of Warrenton and Mrs. Mimi Abel Smith of The Plains.

Hope Porter is one of the foremost advocates, educators, supporters, and practitioners of land conservation in Virginia. Her accomplishments are well known. She was on the front lines of the battle to save North Wales from a massive residential development during the late 1960s, and has not let up since.

Hope and her family protected and preserved Hopefield, their historic farm in Fauquier County. She has been an active leader and participant in key conservation organizations like the Piedmont Environmental Council and Citizens for Fauquier County. She has educated many people of the benefits of land conservation and the consequences of unbridled development.

Hope was honored for her passion and dedication to land conservation, her steadfast advocacy for sensible land use, and for her incredible success in preserving our countryside and quality of life.

Mimi Abel Smith has been an inspirational leader in the land conservation, historic preservation and equestrian communities for many years. Her leadership and involvement in key conservation organizations has helped preserve thousands of acres of land in Fauquier and Loudoun Counties, as well as throughout Virginia.

With her family, she has preserved and protected hundreds of acres of beautiful land near Middleburg. She has also been a tireless advocate of careful land use, particularly in Fauquier County. Mimi is being honored for her strong support for land conservation and her successful efforts to insure that our critical lands are protected in perpetuity.

The LTV Conservationist of the Year Award is presented to a citizen, board member, advisory board member, donor, or volunteer who has made a significant contribution to the land-trust movement and land conservation in Virginia.

LTV Landowners of the Year went to Jeremy Lee and Susan Lee, Loudoun County

Jeremy Lee's grandparents, Yeager and Mary Gum, would be proud of the steps that their grandson and daughter took to save the fourth-generation Gum family farm from development. Jeremy and his mother, Susan Lee (with the support of her husband, Kenneth Lee) donated a permanent conservation easement on their 239-acre farm near Lucketts in Loudoun County, voluntarily relinquishing development rights for an approved 47-lot subdivision.

The Gum family farm is situated on Route 15, a Virginia and National scenic byway that is also the primary route through the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area. In addition, the farm contains a globally rare wetland community, more than a mile of perennial stream channels that flow into Limestone Branch (a tributary to the Potomac River), and hundreds of acres of important farmland soils.

The LTV Landowner of the Year Award is presented to the Virginia landowner who, by donating a conservation easement on their property to LTV, has made a significant contribution to protecting natural, cultural, and open space values.

The LTV Stewards of the Year award was presented to Doug and Toni Flory of Culpeper County.

Doug and Toni Flory donated a conservation easement on their 173-acre Culpeper County farm to LTV in 2009. Their stewardship of the property, including their work to restore wetland and stream corridors on the property and their commitment to good farm management and best management practices, is exemplary.

The LTV Steward of the Year Award is presented to a Virginia landowner who, by caring for their property, employing best management practices, and complying with the terms and conditions of the easement on their property, exemplifies the concept of an ideal steward of the land.