Charitable Investment Ensures Preservation Of Land and Wildlife
LEESBURG, VA (June 15, 2018) – Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy (LWC) and JK Moving Services, a global moving, storage, relocation, and logistics enterprise, announced that they are partnering to protect an 87 acre parcel of land in northern Loudoun County called Stumptown Woods that has more native species of plants and wildlife indigenous to Loudoun and Virginia than is typical. To protect the land, JK Moving has purchased the property for nearly $1 million and put the land into conservation easement. Once LWC is able to raise the funds, JK Moving will sell it to LWC at a lower “conserved” property value, and JK Moving and the Kuhn Family Foundation will donate the remaining balance.
“Stumptown Woods is a very special property that is worth saving as a natural space. We weren’t able to afford to buy the land, but with the help of JK Moving and the Kuhn family, we will save and preserve this rare wetland, leaving a legacy for future generations,” said Joe Coleman, president, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy. “Having a local corporate partner that understands the value of conservation is invaluable.”
“As a company headquartered here, we know how special Loudoun County is. Preserving and protecting our environment will ensure that our communities will be healthier places to live and work. That’s good for our business, employees, and customers,” explained Chuck Kuhn, president and CEO, JK Moving Services. “Our purchase of Stumptown Woods furthers our interest in making meaningful charitable investments and protecting open spaces.”
The Virginia Dept. of Conservation and Recreation determined that Stumptown Woods is a globally rare wetland “at high risk of extinction.” Vernal pools are located throughout the property and its seasonal ponds fit the concept of the Piedmont Upland Depression Swamp (Pin Oak – Swamp White Oak Type) in the Virginia Division of Natural Heritage classification of natural communities in Virginia.
The property is near Gum Farm which already has conservation easements on it. The land has a healthy complex of unique sink hole vernal pools and robust populations of animals that only use this specialized habitat such as wood frogs, spotted salamanders, fairy shrimp, and Jefferson salamanders, a “species of greatest conservation need” per Virginia Wildlife Action Plan. It is also a stronghold for marbled salamanders (only found in two other Loudoun locations) and spotted salamanders. An abundance of other flora and fauna thrive in this rich wet woods and surrounding fields, such as great horned owls, loggerhead shrike and northern pin oaks.
LWC plans to hold the property in its natural state and conduct occasional field trips and citizen science monitoring just as it does at both the Dulles Wetlands Mitigation Project and at Gum Farm. In addition, it plans to create a small set of walking trails to enable restricted and guided public access and to use this as the first of several Loudoun Wildlife sanctuaries of significant habitats preserved across the county.
The Stumptown investment complements JK’s recent launch of the JK Community Farm, its signature charitable initiative that will have a lasting and healthy impact on struggling families within the Loudoun community and beyond. Kuhn recently purchased land in Purcellville, Va. to house the farm and put the land in conservation easement. The farm is a philanthropic effort designed to alleviate hunger by growing and harvesting crops and livestock and donating them to nonprofits, including Loudoun Hunger Relief.
More about LWC
Since Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy’s start in 1995, the region has seen a great transformation. Change brings with it a greater responsibility to preserve and protect important elements of what makes this area so attractive – the habitat and the wildlife. LWC works to do so by educating through programs and field trips, restoring habitat, participating in citizen science projects to monitor the health of the environment, and advocating on behalf of the people and wildlife and habitat in the region.
More about JK Moving Services
In the basement of his parents’ home, Chuck Kuhn founded JK Moving Services 36 years ago on two fundamental values: care and respect. Today, JK is the largest owned and operated, independent moving company in North America and provides local, long-distance, and global relocation services to a variety of commercial, residential, and government clients. Headquartered in Sterling, Virginia, the company maintains a full-time, professionally trained staff of relocation and move management experts committed to providing the highest level of customer care.