Two Virginia retirees are turning their farms into wildlife corridors. Transformed nearly 2,500 acres are now protected

What if a farm could do more than produce crops or support livestock? In Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, two retired farming families are showing how privately owned land can also become a bridge for wildlife. Their efforts, backed by Smithsonian research, are helping reconnect fragmented habitats while keeping the farms productive.

Two neighbours, one conservation goal

John Rice and John Sessler live on neighbouring farms in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Retirement has done little to slow their work on the land. Instead, both men, along with Sessler’s wife Debbie, have adopted different approaches to improving habitat for native plants and wildlife. Rice focuses heavily on controlling invasive vegetation and encouraging native plants already present in the soil. The Sesslers, meanwhile, planted native seed mixes that have produced fields filled with plants capable of supporting birds, pollinators and other wildlife.

Their properties sit in a landscape where protected areas are separated by roads, development and privately owned land. That fragmentation can leave wildlife populations isolated and make it harder for animals to move between feeding, breeding and shelter areas.


Smithsonian's Virginia Working Landscapes program conducts biodiversity surveys on properties like theirs to understand how farming practices affect wildlife. The program says its work brings together scientists, landowners and communities to find conservation approaches that can work on working farms.

One conservation easement sparked a bigger change

Rice's involvement goes beyond managing his own fields. About 25 years ago, he placed a conservation easement on his property after recognising its potential to connect areas around Massanutten Mountain. A conservation easement can restrict future development while allowing landowners to continue using their property under agreed conditions. The decision eventually encouraged neighbouring landowners to participate.

“Twenty-five years later, here we are, and we’ve got almost 2,500 acres of private land protected,” Rice told Smithsonian. The achievement is particularly significant in Virginia, where most land is privately owned. The Virginia Department of Forestry says conservation easements can protect working farms and forests while allowing them to remain productive.

Wildflowers, birds and controlled fire

The conservation work does not simply mean leaving farmland untouched. The Sesslers have planted native species, while Rice works to control invasive plants such as Japanese stiltgrass and wavyleaf basketgrass. Both properties also use prescribed burning as part of land management. Controlled fire can help prevent excessive buildup of vegetation and encourage new native growth when conducted under appropriate conditions.

Smithsonian botanist Natalie Izlar said the presence of particular native plants provides evidence about how the land is responding to management. “Finding stuff like that is optimistic and hopeful, and the land is communicating with them,” Izlar said. Wildlife surveys have recorded species including prairie warblers, ruby-throated hummingbirds, American goldfinches, butterflies and dragonflies on the farms.

Why wildlife corridors matter

The Virginia effort is part of a wider push to reconnect habitats that have been divided by roads, development and other infrastructure. Virginia's Wildlife Corridor Action Plan, developed by state agencies, identifies important habitat corridors and areas where wildlife movement is disrupted. The plan also addresses collisions between vehicles and wildlife. State officials report more than 60,000 known deer-vehicle collisions annually in Virginia since 2015, with estimated costs of about $533 million each year.

The state plan describes connected habitat as important for wildlife seeking food, breeding opportunities and seasonal shelter. It also identifies land protection and habitat restoration as tools for improving connectivity.

A model built around private land

The Virginia farms demonstrate that wildlife conservation does not always require converting agricultural land entirely into reserves. Instead, small decisions protecting land from future development, planting native species, controlling invasive plants and managing vegetation can contribute to a larger connected landscape.

Smithsonian's Virginia Working Landscapes has also documented how relatively simple changes to farming practices can benefit wildlife. Its research has found that delaying haying until July 1 can produce up to an 80% increase in reproductive success for grassland birds on participating land. For Rice and the Sesslers, however, the motivation appears less complicated. They spend their days watching birds, identifying plants, managing fields and thinking about what their properties might support years from now.

Conservation that crosses property lines

The most striking part of the Shenandoah Valley effort may be that it did not begin with a huge government-owned reserve. It began with individual landowners looking at a map, recognising a missing connection and persuading neighbours to participate. That gradual expansion has helped turn separate private properties into pieces of a much larger conservation landscape. And as scientists continue monitoring the land, the farms are becoming living laboratories for understanding how agriculture and biodiversity can coexist. In the end, the story of these Virginia retirees is not simply about two farms. It is about what can happen when fences mark property boundaries—but conservation efforts refuse to stop there.