“It is the best example I’ve seen in 15 years of public office of federal agencies, local elected officials and citizens working together toward a common goal!” With a voice of enthusiasm, Gerry Hyland, Fairfax County, Va. commissioner hails completion of the Meadowood Farm-Lorton Land Exchange as the epitome of collaboration between governments and its citizens.

On Dec. 18, 2001, Reps. Tom Davis (R-Va.) and Jim Moran (D.-Va.), federal, state, and county officials along with citizens of the Mason Neck region in Fairfax County celebrated the culmination of more than two years working together to preserve more than 800 acres of open-space land on the Mason Neck Peninsula.

Hyland seems almost amused as he recalls the idea for the land swap coming from a Mason Neck citizen who, with the county’s help, was able to get legislation introduced through Moran and Davis. “Getting to this point in such a relatively short period of time is unprecedented,” he said.

The land exchange was a complicated deal involving the General Services Administration, the BLM-Eastern States, the county, a developer and a private landowner. But it was a natural for the Mason Neck community, which is already home to nearly 6,000 acres of protected land, cooperatively managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, the Commonwealth of Virginia and now the BLM-Eastern States division. The area’s open space provides both recreation for Mason Neck residents and protection of wildlife habitat.

The Mason Neck project is one more example of how BLM has worked with local governments to preserve open space and habitat in the crowded Metropolitan Washington area. The BLM-Eastern States also joined with the state of Maryland, Charles County, Md. and the Conservation Fund to preserve nearly 1,300 acres in Charles County, south of Washington, D.C.

(If you would like more information, contact Cynthia Moses-Ned, NACo liaison to the Bureau of Land Management at (202) 942-4257.)