The James River Park System Conservation Easement represents the first action by a city in Virginia to place approximately 280 acres of a major urban park system under a conservation easement. Protection is now in place for properties including the Historic Falls of the James State Scenic River, substantial undeveloped land adjacent to the river, significant habitat for wildlife including bald eagle nesting sites, historic resources include remnants of Foushee Mill, the first canal built in the United States including a stone arch from the 1790s, foundations of the Belle Isle Iron Mill built in the 1840s, traces of a 1902 hydroelectric plant on Belle Isle, the site of a Civil War prison on Belle Isle, the site of a Confederate shipyard, the site of the first railroad in Virginia that dates to the late 1700s, a ship lock created in the 1850s as the easternmost part of the Kanawha Canal, and the Three-Mile Locks that are the earliest part of the Kanawha Canal.
The James River Park system is a 550 acre park composed of several parcels stretching about eight miles along the river and Kanawha Canal from the western boundaries of the city down through the river rapids that mark the falls of the James, to the tidal reaches at the eastern boundary of the city. The city began acquiring the parcels that make up the park in the 1960s and 1970s. It is largely undeveloped, being retained as much as possible in its natural state.
An easement is a device by which the owner of property, in this case the city of Richmond, agrees voluntarily to give up some ownership rights, including the right to sell the property and the right to develop or permit to be developed commercial, industrial or residential properties in the park. The city gives to a second party, the easement holders, the right to enforce the terms of the agreement. The easement holders in this deed are the Richmond Recreation and Parks Foundation, the Capital Region Land Conservancy, and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.
From the guide to the Richmond (Va.) James River Park System Conservation Easement, 2009 June, (The Library of Virginia)
