James Madison University - Index

James Madison University - Madison Magazine - Summer 2009 - Index

ROOTED IN THE LAND
HELPING TO SAVE IT
Alumni lead the Valley Conservation Council BY CHRIS EDWARDS
A
Any local preservation campaign draws strength
from people with deep roots in the region. JMU alumni
with growing ties to the Shenandoah Valley are leading
the charges of the Valley Conservation Council.
VCC executive director and Waynesboro native John
Eckman (’82) credits his passion for preservation to
“being a lifelong resident of the Shenandoah Valley.”
Jill Templeton (’08M) sees why Valley Conservation
Council’s work is of interest to JMU alumni. A Tennessee
native, Templeton and her husband relocated to the Shenandoah
Valley in 2005. “We both realize that the valley is
unique,” she says. “Many communities still have the option to grow
and develop in a way that respects their beauty and rich history.”
JMU geology professor Cullen Sherwood, who has taught hundreds
of students, including Eckman, about local soils, contributes
his expertise to VCC’s governing board. “I’ve always been interested
in land conservation,” he says. Sherwood grew up in Fairfax and
The Valley Conservation
Council hosted
the second-annual
Statewide Land Trust
Conference in Staunton
last June. Left to right:
John Eckman (‘82),
VCC executive director;
Jill Templeton (‘08),
VCC program manager;
L. Preston Bryant Jr.,
Secretary of Natural
Resources of Virginia;
Corbin Davis (’07), former
VCC strategic planning
intern; and Kim
Tinkham (’01), former
VCC office manager.
recalls farms in that area that have all disappeared in his lifetime.
VCC, a nonprofit land trust and environmental organization
founded in 1990, serves 11 counties and is supported primarily by
dues and donations from members and foundation and government
grants. Eckman has been director since 2004 and, he emphasizes,
a member since 1991.
John Eckman (’82), VCC’s executive director, looks over the Purcell Park Stream Restoration Project. This project has involved many
groups working with the City of Harrisonburg to restore the natural bends in Seibert Creek and Blacks Run. The project involved putting
natural bends and rock structures back into Blacks Run as it runs through Purcell Park just south of JMU’s campus. The riparian
buffer zone along the stream will be planted with native species and allowed to grow up over time. VCC’s role as a land trust is to
ensure that future owners of the land maintain the project by never disturbing the streamside areas.
36 MADISON MAGAZINE
PHOTOGRAPHS BY HOLLY MARCUS (’03)