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Agricultural Program Recognizes Couple for Preserving Soil, Water and Wildlife

Posted on: Wednesday, 17 August 2005, 21:00 CDT

Aug. 18--A dozen years ago, George and Lynne Iverson gave up their home on Washington's Embassy Row for a centuries-old farm in King and Queen County.

Since then they have put untold time and effort into conserving the soil, water and wildlife on their 400 acres. Their work has been recognized by a U.S. Agriculture Department program, whose purpose is to reward good stewardship.

The 1812 manor house at Holly Hill Farm sits on one of the highest points in the county. It had been unoccupied for three years when the Iversons bought it.

The house needed a lot of work. Lynne Iverson, an interior decorator before her retirement, has since returned the two-story brick structure to its status as an antebellum showplace.

Adorning the walls of the house are photos of apes, big cats and other animals taken while George and Lynne vacationed in Africa, Asia and the Galapagos Islands. They show the couple's affinity for wildlife.

Lynne also turned her talents to the yard. A pond that she created in front of the house has helped fulfill one of the Iversons' goals for the farm -- wildlife conservation. Now, where only grass once grew, cattails, reeds and aquatic grasses grow in and around an appealing, wildlife-friendly pond.

George Iverson, who grew up on a farm in Maryland, worked as Hughes Aircraft's representative in the nation's capital and after two mergers ended his career there with Boeing.

He continued to work for a while in Washington after the couple purchased the farm, and it was Lynne who took responsibility for educating herself about conservation.

She spent her winters reading horticulture textbooks and sought advice from extension agents and others.

"This is a beautiful place and deserved to be treated better," Lynne said.

The Iversons' farming practices include the fencing of cattle out of ponds and streams; the creation of wildlife habitat borders along fence rows; and the planting of corn, soybean and wheat crops without plowing. They have placed the whole farm under a conservation easement with the Virginia Outdoors Foundation that prevents the property from being subdivided.

Lynne Iverson is especially proud of a pasture beside the Mattaponi River that was turned into a wetland meadow. They left the land alone and let nature populate the area with native plants.

The USDA's Conservation Security Program is in its second year nationwide and in its first year in Virginia, where this year it was available only to farmers in the Lower Rappahannock, Mattaponi and South Fork of the Shenandoah River watersheds.

The program, which requires applicants to undergo farm inspections and interviews, is intended to recognize farmers doing good conservation work and reward them with financial and technical assistance. More than 200 participating Virginia farmers will share $1.3 million this year. The program will be expanded to other parts of the state next year.

John Dille, a federal conservationist in Tappahannock, noted that wildlife was a particular concern of the program in Virginia, along with air, soil and water conservation. The Iversons, he said, were among the farmers doing the best work.

"George and I always had views of the world that we need to take care of it," Lynne said.

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Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch

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