Thirty-five years ago, Wendy Schumann saw a farm on Virginia 122 that she thought was the most beautiful place in the country, and she wanted to live there.

The Bedford County property was not even for sale at the time, but she made inquiries through a local real estate agent and six months later was able to purchase the 397 acres that had captured her attention.

Having grown up in a small town, Schumann was reminded of her childhood and welcomed the chance to escape from the noise and bustle of Virginia Beach, where she lived and worked at the time.

Now, Schumann has partnered with the Central Virginia Land Conservancy to put the land under a conservation easement to preserve it in perpetuity.

“I didn’t want to see the land chopped up and turned into subdivisions,” she said.

Schumann’s land rises several hundred feet from Big Island Highway up the eastern face of Suck Mountain, about halfway between Big Island and Bedford. The property has two houses. One was the original 1920s farmhouse and the other she built to live in full time when she moved here in 1998. Under the easement, no other houses can be built.

An avid organic gardener, Wendy always had been attracted to conservation. She took a stab at growing apples, blueberries, vegetables and herbs, but couldn’t get anyone interested in buying her produce. “I was 20 years ahead of my time,” she said.

So she decided to let the deer eat her apples and the turkeys eat her blueberries. Bear, fox, coyotes, skunks, opossums, rabbits and flying squirrels are among her other visitors. “A whip-poor-will woke me the other night,” she said.

Schumann’s farm has been a treasured gathering place for others as well. A retired paramedic, Schumann invited friends and colleagues from her time as a first responder to the property each fall. For 29 years, firefighters, EMTs and paramedics made the annual journey to the farm to camp, hike and relax away from their urban lives.

Now, however, age and growing health concerns mean Schumann is moving and is looking for a like-minded buyer. She hopes a new owner will protect the wildlife that inhabit the land and continue to keep it pesticide- and herbicide-free. That means she won’t sell to just anyone.

About 220 acres are in forest, while the rest are fields, which she has left to grow back naturally. Only about 20 acres are mowed, six around the house and 14 for hay for a neighboring farmer.

Schumann encourages others to think about preserving their land under a conservation easement. Virginia offers tax incentives to sweeten the deal. Most properties are 50 acres or more.

The Central Virginia and Blue Ridge Land Conservancies have been helping save land across Central Virginia for more than two decades. The conservancies currently protect 31,125 acres in 16 counties stretching from Montgomery to Appomattox.

For more information on how you can conserve your land, call (434) 942-4320, visit cvalc.org or email [email protected].

Shannon Brennan

Shannon Brennan can be reached at [email protected].

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