Title 10.1, Title 10.1. Conservation

A. The Virginia Natural Heritage Program is hereby established and shall be administered by the Department. B. For purposes of this Program the Department shall: 1. Produce an inventory of the Commonwealth's natural heritage resources, including their location and ecological stat…

A. The Director may, in the name of the Department, accept the dedication of natural areas on lands deemed by the Director to qualify as natural area preserves under the provisions of this article. Natural area preserves may be dedicated by voluntary act of the owner. The owner o…

A state system of natural area preserves is hereby established and shall be called the Virginia Natural Area Preserves System. The system shall consist of natural area preserves dedicated as provided in § 10.1-213. Once dedicated, a natural area preserve shall be managed in a man…

A. A fund consisting of general fund appropriations, gifts, bequests, devises, fees, lease proceeds, and funds accruing from, or attributable to, the use or management of state natural area preserves acquired or held by the Department known as the Natural Area Preservation Fund i…

A. The Department shall maintain a state registry of voluntarily protected natural areas to be called the Virginia Registry of Natural Areas. Registration of natural areas shall be accomplished through voluntary agreement between the owner of the natural area and the Director. St…

Gifts, devises or bequests, whether personal or real property, and the income derived therefrom, accepted by the Director, shall be deemed as gifts to the Commonwealth, which shall be exempt from all state and local taxes, and shall be regarded as the property of the Commonwealth…

As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning: "Camping and recreational facilities" means camp sites, cabins, lodges, halls, tent camps, trailer camps, public and park lands, as well as equipment, structures and roads which are appurtenant to and usefu…

In addition to other powers conferred by law, the Director may, subject to the provisions of this chapter: 1. Acquire, construct, enlarge, improve, operate and maintain camping and recreational facilities in any of the state parks under the control of the Department; 2. Issue rev…

The cost of camping and recreational facilities financed under this chapter shall be paid solely from the proceeds of revenue bonds issued under the provisions of this chapter, or from proceeds from any grant or contribution which may be made pursuant to the provisions of this ch…

A. The Director is authorized to provide for the issuance of revenue bonds of the Commonwealth for the purpose of paying all or any part of the cost of camping and recreational facilities. The principal and interest of the bonds shall be payable solely from the special fund provi…

A. The Treasury Board as agent for the Director may sell revenue bonds at private or public sale for such price and in the manner it determines to be in the best interests of the Commonwealth. B. The proceeds of the bonds shall be used solely for the payment of the cost of campin…

Revenue bonds issued under the provisions of this chapter shall not constitute a debt of the Commonwealth or a pledge of the faith and credit of the Commonwealth, but such bonds shall be payable solely from the funds provided from fees and charges. The bonds shall state on their …

Any issue of revenue bonds may be secured by a trust indenture by and between the Director, in the name of the Commonwealth, and a corporate trustee, which may be any trust company or bank having the powers of a trust company. The trust indenture may pledge fees and charges to be…

The Director shall establish and collect fees and charges for the use of camping and recreational facilities. These revenues shall be pledged to pay the principal of and the interest on revenue bonds issued under the provisions of this chapter. The fees and charges shall be estab…

The fees, charges and revenues derived from any camping and recreational facilities subject to revenue bonds issued under the provisions of this chapter, except charges required to pay the cost of maintaining, repairing and operating such facilities and to provide fund reserves, …

Any holder of revenue bonds or attached coupons issued under the provisions of this chapter and any trustee under the trust indenture may protect and enforce all rights granted under the laws of the Commonwealth or under the resolution or trust indenture, and may enforce all duti…

All moneys received pursuant to the authority of this chapter, whether as proceeds from the sale of revenue bonds, as grants or other contributions, or as tolls and revenues, shall be held and applied solely as provided in this chapter. The Director shall, in the resolution or th…

The Director is authorized to provide for the issuance of revenue refunding bonds of the Commonwealth, subject to the applicable provisions of this chapter, for the purpose of refunding any revenue bonds issued under the provisions of this chapter and then outstanding, including …

The bonds issued pursuant to this chapter shall be legal and authorized investments for banks, savings institutions, trust companies, building and loan associations, insurance companies, fiduciaries, trustees, guardians and for all public funds of the Commonwealth or other politi…

As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning: "Board" means the Board of Conservation and Recreation. "Department" means the Department of Conservation and Recreation. "Director" means the Director of the Department of Conservation and Recreation. "Riv…

A. The Director shall have the duty to: 1. Identify rivers or sections of rivers, including their shores and natural environs, which should be considered for designation because of their scenic, recreational and historic attributes and natural beauty. 2. Conduct studies of rivers…

The Department may review and make recommendations regarding all planning for the use and development of water and related land resources including the construction of impoundments, diversions, roadways, crossings, channels, locks, canals, or other uses that change the character …

Prior to submitting recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly, the Director shall upon request of any interested state agency or political subdivision, or upon his own motion, hold a public hearing on a proposal to designate a scenic river.

A recommendation to the Governor and General Assembly that a river or section thereof be designated a scenic river shall be submitted with: 1. The views and recommendations of the State Water Control Board and other affected agencies; and 2. A report showing the proposed area and…

A. The Department shall: 1. Administer the Virginia Scenic Rivers System to preserve and protect its natural beauty and to assure its use and enjoyment for its scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural or other assets and to encourage the continuance o…

In consultation with the Director, local governments shall have the authority, where a committee has not been established pursuant to subdivision A 4 of § 10.1-401, to appoint a local scenic river advisory committee to advise the local government and the Director in administering…

A. As used in this chapter, "dam or other structure" means any structure extending from bank to bank of a river that will interfere with the normal movement of waterborne traffic, interfere with the normal movement of fish or wildlife, raise the water level on the upstream side o…

A. Except as provided in § 10.1-407, all riparian land and water uses along or in the designated section of a river that are permitted by law shall not be restricted by this chapter. B. Designation as a scenic river shall not be used: 1. To designate the lands along the river and…

The Appomattox River, 100 feet from the base of the Brasfield Dam, excluding the Port Walthall Channel of the River, to the confluence with the James River, a distance of approximately 19.2 miles, is hereby designated as the Appomattox State Scenic River, a component of the Virgi…

The Catoctin Creek from bank to bank in Loudoun County from Waterford to its junction with the Potomac River, a distance of approximately 16 river miles, is hereby designated as the Catoctin Creek State Scenic River, a component of the Virginia Scenic Rivers System.

The main channel of the Chickahominy River from the Mechanicsville Turnpike (Route 360) eastward until the terminus of the Henrico County/Hanover County border, is hereby designated as the Chickahominy State Scenic River, a component of the Virginia Scenic Rivers System.

The Clinch River in Tazewell and Russell Counties from its confluence with Indian Creek in Cedar Bluff to the Russell-Scott county line, a distance of approximately 66.8 miles and including its tributary, Big Cedar Creek from river mile 5.8 near Lebanon to the confluence, is here…

Goose Creek, from bank to bank in Fauquier and Loudoun Counties from the confluence of the North and South Prongs of Goose Creek approximately 0.22 mile downstream of the crossing of the Appalachian Trail in Fauquier County to its junction with the Potomac River in Loudoun County…

The Guest River in Wise County, from a point 100 feet downstream from the Route 72 bridge to its confluence with the Clinch River, a distance of approximately 6.5 miles, is hereby designated as the Guest State Scenic River, a component of the Virginia Scenic Rivers System.

The Russell Fork River from the Splashdam railroad crossing to the Kentucky state line, a distance of nine miles in Dickenson County, is hereby designated as the Russell Fork State Scenic River, a component of the Virginia Scenic Rivers System.

The Banister River from the Route 29 bridge in Pittsylvania County to the confluence with the Dan River in Halifax County, a distance of approximately 63.3 miles, is hereby designated as the Banister State Scenic River, a component of the Virginia Scenic Rivers System.

The Cranesnest River from Route 637 to the Flanagan Reservoir Cranesnest Launch Ramp in Dickenson County, a distance of approximately 10.7 miles, is hereby designated as the Cranesnest State Scenic River, a component of the Virginia Scenic Rivers System.

The Pound River in Wise and Dickenson Counties, from the northern boundary of the Town of Pound near Old Mill Village Road northeastward to the Pound River Campground at Little Laurel Branch in Dickenson County, a distance of approximately 17 miles, is hereby designated as the Po…

Grays Creek in Surry County from Southwark Road (Route 618) to its confluence with the James River, a distance of approximately six miles, is hereby designated as the Grays Creek State Scenic River, a component of the Virginia Scenic Rivers System.

The Historic Falls of the James in the City of Richmond, from the western 1970 corporate limits of the city to Orleans Street extended, a distance of approximately eight miles, is hereby designated as the Historic Falls of the James State Scenic River, a component of the Virginia…

The James River in Botetourt and Rockbridge Counties, including the Towns of Buchanan and Glasgow, from its origination at the confluence of the Jackson and Cowpasture Rivers running approximately 59 miles southeastward to the Rockbridge-Amherst-Bedford County line and the James …

The Moormans River in Albemarle County, from the Charlottesville Reservoir to its junction with the Mechums River, is hereby designated as the Moormans State Scenic River, a component of the Virginia Scenic Rivers System.

The North Landing from the North Carolina line to the bridge at Route 165, the Pocaty River from its junction with the North Landing River to the Blackwater Road bridge, West Neck Creek from the junction with the North Landing River to Indian River Road bridge, and Blackwater Cre…

The Dan River from Berry Hill Road at Route 880 in Pittsylvania County to the downstream property boundary of Abreu/Grogan Park in Danville, a distance of approximately 15 miles, and the Dan River from the North Carolina-Virginia state line in Halifax County to the confluence wit…

The Nottoway River in Sussex County and Southampton County, from the Route 40 bridge at Stony Creek to the North Carolina line, a distance of approximately 72.5 miles, is hereby designated as the Nottoway State Scenic River, a component of the Virginia Scenic Rivers System.

The mainstem of the Rappahannock River in Rappahannock, Culpeper, Fauquier, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Caroline, King George, Westmoreland, Essex, and Richmond Counties and the City of Fredericksburg from its headwaters near Chester Gap to the Essex-Middlesex and Richmond-Lancaster …