The Blue Ridge Land Conservancy will honor local conservation heroes Betty and Liza Field and Jim Woltz at its annual Conservation Celebration dinner on September 13 from 4-7 p.m. at On the Glen at Glenburn Farms in Roanoke County. These “regular folks” are responsible for preserving Mill Mountain in Roanoke, Big Survey in Wytheville County, and Natural Bridge in Rockville County.
The Fields will receive the 2015 A. Victor Thomas Environmental Stewardship Award, while Woltz will receive the Land Saver Award.
Locally sourced foods and beverages, live music, and a silent auction are highlights of the Celebration. This event annually draws 200 supporters of the work of Blue Ridge Land Conservancy, which includes preserving mountaintops, forests, family farms and waterways. The public is invited to attend. Tickets are available for this Conservation Celebration fundraiser and awards ceremony at www.blueridgelandconservancy.org.
Mother and daughter Betty and Liza Field are receiving the 2015 A. Victor Thomas Environmental Stewardship Award. This award is Blue Ridge Land Conservancy’s highest and recognizes those who have made significant contributions to the preservation of the natural heritage of western Virginia.
Always close to nature, Roanoke’s Betty Field worked tirelessly to prevent Mill Mountain from being developed. She has stood before the Roanoke City Council numerous times to defend the 568 acres as a park before it was forever protected by a conservation agreement co-held by the Blue Ridge Land Conservancy.
She walks the trails around the mountain many times a week, and is well-known figure in the area. Betty studied at Sullins College in Bristol, taught Kindergarten at Second Presbyterian Church, and led a Girl Scout troop for several years. She was also a long serving member of the Mill Mountain Advisory Committee.
Liza Field teaches writing and philosophy at Wytheville Community College and a local Governor’s School., and is a regular columnist for The Roanoke Times and The Roanoke Star. A University of Michigan graduate, Field is credited with spearheading the movement to save Big Surrey, a 7,500-acre mountainous area in Wytheville County which contain’s the town’s source of drinking water. The area is now protected forever as a state wildlife management area.
Liza’s stewardship of Big Survey brought many people together including the late Vic Thomas, a 30 year member of the House of Delegates and Roanoke native, who helped achieve passage of a bill enabling the state to purchase the Big Survey tract.
Jim Woltz of Roanoke is the 2015 recipient of the Land Saver Award. The Land Saver Award recognizes those individuals who have not only permanently protected their own land, but through their advocacy encouraged others to save land as well.
A longtime promoter of land conservation, Jim Woltz has worked throughout his career to protect special places in this part of the world. A pioneer in open space conservation, he and his wife, Jill, have worked to conserve more than 1,500 acres on Poor Mountain, along the New River Trail, a pristine trout stream below the famed Twin Falls in Floyd County, and in North Carolina.
Jim was also responsible for saving about 6,000 acres with conservation agreements in Grayson, Carroll, and Wythe Counties along the New River. His most recent success in conservation has been his work to preserve Natural Bridge in Rockbridge County. When the previous owner contacted Jim’s company, Woltz and Associates, to auction the property, Woltz saw an opportunity to protect one of Virginia’s most beautiful landmarks. He worked with private non-profit organizations as well as the Commonwealth of Virginia to secure the bridge’s future.
The Blue Ridge Land Conservancy was formed in 1996 as the Western Virginia Land Trust to preserve southwest Virginia’s unique scenic, historic, agricultural, recreational and natural features. The Conservancy now works in seven counties in the Roanoke region: Bedford, Botetourt, Craig, Floyd, Franklin, Montgomery, and Roanoke, and the cities of Roanoke and Salem. It protects over 16,500 acres of land and more than 38 miles of rivers and streams with 45 protective conservation agreements with rural landowners
