Virginia acquired 2,211 acres at Buffalo Mountain in Floyd and Carroll counties through a new state conservation area, Governor Abigail Spanberger announced. The $9.5 million purchase, funded by a federal Forest Legacy Grant, brings the total publicly protected land at the mountain to 4,332 acres and will protect nearly 14 miles of native trout streams and a popular hiking summit.
The Conservation Fund, a national nonprofit, acquired the property from the Lawson Company, which has owned it for more than 100 years and emphasized its commitment to conservation and land stewardship in transferring it to the state. The purchase involved partnerships with Virginia's Department of Forestry and Department of Conservation and Recreation.
The conservation area, located a couple miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway and less than 50 miles from Blacksburg, features Southern Appalachian Rich Cove Forest and creeks supporting wild populations of eastern brook trout and brown trout. The streams originate in the New River headwaters, which provide drinking water to more than 675,000 people in Virginia and West Virginia.
This acquisition builds on an earlier conservation effort that expanded the existing Buffalo Mountain Natural Area Preserve by 975 acres, bringing its total to 2,121 acres. The preserve has attracted approximately 15,000 visitors annually, drawn to the rounded summit and views of the surrounding landscape.
The purchase was funded through the Forest Legacy Program, which is supported by the Land and Water Conservation Fund. That fund was permanently financed by the Great American Outdoors Act, signed into law in 2020, and reinvests a portion of offshore energy revenues—not taxpayer dollars—in conservation projects.