BERRYVILLE, VA (Jan. 16, 2019) White Post residents Joe and Denise Sipe will receive the 2019 Wingate Mackay-Smith Clarke County Land Conservation Award during a noon luncheon Thursday, Jan. 17, at the Millwood Country Club.

The Conservation Easement Authority established the Wingate Mackay-Smith Clarke County Land Conservation Award in 2015 to honor individuals, groups, and organizations for their significant contributions to preserve and protect open spaces in Clarke County. The annual award also draws attention to the need for land conservation and the role easements play in preserving the natural and historic resources in the county.

Mackay-Smith was the first recipient of the award as she was instrumental in establishing the Clarke County Conservation Easement Authority and negotiating the Authority’s first easement purchase — historic Greenway Court — the colonial-era home of Thomas Lord Fairfax.
The 2019 recipients, Joe and Denise Sipe bought a large piece of land in White Post in 1976 and began planting thousands of White Pine saplings. By 1983, the couple opened Sipe Christmas Tree Farm and sold their first harvest. Their sprawling homestead quickly became an annual destination for families looking for their perfect Christmas trees.

For decades, the Sipes have been clear about their intention to preserve their acres of open space. In 2007, they placed two parcels, totaling 187 acres, in conservation easement, forever protecting the land from development.

Always an ambassador for Clarke’s easement program, Joe Sipe says for years he’s been courted by developers who offer large sums of money for the land, but the Sipes don’t want it destroyed by development. With an active tree farm, the Sipes also prove landowners with property in easement give can use their land to make a living, dispelling the notion that land in easement sits idle.

Since its creation in 2002, the Conservation Easement Authority has helped landowners place a total of 26,338 acres in easement, retiring 262 dwelling unit rights (DURs). In 2018, the Authority added 635 acres to the count and retired 16 DURs. Today, 23 percent of Clarke County’s 113,920 acres is protected by conservation easements.

For more information about conservation easements, contact Natural Resource Planner Alison Teetor at 540-955-5134 or ateetor@clarkecounty.gov. Go to clarkelandconservation.org.