Longwood, Virginia Institute of Marine Science partner to restore and preserve wetlands

From Left: Dr. John Wells, dean and director of VIMS; the Honorable W. Tayloe Murphy Jr., former Virginia secretary of natural resources and a member of the Hull Springs Farm Foundation; and Longwood President Patrick Finnegan in front of Hull Springs Farm’s 400-year-old signature Southern Red Oak tree.

Longwood’s Hull Springs Farm, a demonstration site for environmentally sustainable land management, and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) announced a partnership to restore, enhance and preserve 213 acres of wetlands, stream buffers and streams on a portion of the farm, located in Westmoreland County.

Under the partnership, which was announced Dec. 8, 2010, VIMS will continue to function as an adviser in establishing a self-sustaining, forested wetland that will also function as a wetland mitigation bank and provide educational and research opportunities for students and faculty at Longwood, other universities and VIMS, a leading marine research institute with expertise in wetland sciences.

Hull Springs Farm consists of 662 acres in the Mt. Holly area of Westmoreland on Virginia’s Northern Neck and was bequeathed to the Longwood Foundation in 1999 by Mary Farley Ames Lee ’38.

“Hull Springs Farm is already a leader in experimental living shoreline technologies to stabilize shoreline and create wildlife habitat,” Longwood President Patrick Finnegan said. “With this project, Longwood is furthering the commitment to improve water quality and wildlife habitat on the farm as well as in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.”