“The Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) was founded in 1972 to promote and protect the Virginia Piedmont’s rural economy, natural resources, history and beauty,” says the website of one of the oldest and most successful land preservation organizations in the United States, the Piedmont Environmental Council.
Their home turf is the northern Virginia counties of Fauquier and Loudon nestled in the heart of horse country, and they defend this territory without mercy against all who would mar a view shed that exists nowhere else in the eastern U.S.
One of the areas they protect above all others is the Crooked Run Valley Rural Historic District, a national historic district located near Paris, Virginia, in Fauquier County.
That is until recently, when the PEC stood by mutely while the Fauquier Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors approved the construction of a cell tower right in the midst of Crooked Run Valley Rural Historic District, an area prized and protected for its panoramic views, rich history, and agricultural soils.
The PEC has vehemently opposed cell tower construction in Fauquier County for years. For instance, over the last year they pulled out all the stops to block a much needed tower in the southern part of Fauquier near Casanova, even though over 200 citizens signed a petition in favor of the tower, and in spite of the fact that these citizens and Fauquier EMS need the tower for safety reasons as well.
So why is it they did nothing to stop the biggest travesty that has occurred on their turf in recent history, the construction of this tower in the heart of one of the most protected landscapes in America?
The reason is simple — money.
The tower is being built on property owned by PEC crony Mr. Phillip Swing Thomas, proprietor of Thomas and Talbot Realty in Middleburg, VA.
In 2000, PEC purchased over 1,200 acres of Ovoka Farm in Paris, VA from Mr. Thomas, “to ensure that this beautiful property — and the vista enjoyed by a young George Washington — remains rural for generations to come.”
In an interview with Blue Ridge Hunt Country Magazine in 2004, Mr. Thomas explained the deal; “I basically sold the farm for two-thirds of its market value to the Piedmont Environmental Council and gifted the remaining value. This approach worked for me.”
On the Thomas and Talbot website it says the value of this gift to PEC was “over $4 million in value,” and this gift earned him the Land Conservation Award for 2001 from the Piedmont Environmental Council.
PEC got a great deal on the land; Mr. Thomas likely got a sweet tax deduction and a prestigious award as well.
Piedmont Environmental Council put this land into conservation easements, and then resold all the property except for 50 acres which they used for the Piedmont Memorial Overlook. One has to wonder if Mr. Thomas was the realtor who resold these 1,200 acres for the PEC, and how much he may have made on those deals.
Now Mr. Thomas will benefit financially from royalties paid by the four major cellular providers, all of whom will be anxious to place antennas on this tower. Because PEC opposition to cell tower construction has so severely limited the ability of cellular providers to provide service in this area, available tower space commands premium prices, so these royalties could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Lucky for Mr. Thomas, PEC did not oppose this tower.
So in light of this obvious demonstration of cronyism, one has to ask; is the Piedmont Environmental Council really a conservation organization as they claim, or are they all about cronyism and control for the benefit and profit of their elite members?