The Virginia Eastern Shore Land Trust (VESLT) held its biennial Paint the Shore event this fall, and mixed it up by inviting student artists from Nandua Middle School to participate. A group of 13 artists spent the month of October painting en plein air on conservation lands under easement with VESLT, culminating in a November reception and art exhibit. See our photo gallery!

Arthur will be working with the Land Trust’s more than 70 landowners who have conservation easements on 14,000 acres. He visits these properties and provides landowners with information about new stewardship practices to manage shorelines, wetlands, wildlife habitat and other natural resources.

"The Eastern Shore is embedded in our hearts and in our souls. Fortunately, the heart and soul of our home remain remarkably intact and healthy, thanks to conservation," writes Lucius J. Kellam, III conservation easement donor and former board member in a recent op-ed for the Virginia Pilot. The op-ed also highlights a study by George Mason University's Center for Regional Analysis and Urban Analytics that found conservation has a positive economic impact on the Eastern Shore.