The Leggetts were honored for their decades of
conservation in the Blue Ridge
On Saturday January 17, Friends of the Blue Ridge Mountains honored Robert and Dee Leggett with the annual Friend of the Mountain Award.
Over many years the Leggetts have made tremendous contributions to environmental and conservation causes, particularly to the preservation and celebration of the Blue Ridge Mountains. In 1999, they established the Robert and Dee Leggett Foundation to provide critical financial support for important causes including environment protection, arts and humanities, hunger relief, and higher education.
The Leggett Foundation largest investment to date has been the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship. The foundation purchased roughly 900 acres in Loudoun County between Short Hill Mountain and the Blue Ridge Mountains in a valley known locally as “Between the Hills”. The foundation invited and supported partners to study the land’s ecology, history and archaeology. Their findings led to a long-term conservation plan and permanent easements on the more than a dozen parcels that comprised the Blue Ridge Center. The foundation also invested in program development there, creating a place-based learning center where partners can offer programs and conduct research.
The couple’s original plan had been to acquire a little land in Virginia, to preserve and provide a local campground for Boy Scouts. Bob was a scoutmaster for 38 years. In 1998, they acquired almost 900 acres of deep woods, babbling brooks, wildflower meadows and historic farmsteads after learning the land that might be developed without their intervention. They chose the site, in part, because of the opportunity to protect part of the “viewshed” of the Appalachian Trail, which runs along the ridge adjacent to the park.
Over time the Leggetts worked with the State of Virginia on how best to provide sustained stewardship and public access there. On October 6, 2023, Governor Glen Younkin cut the ribbon opening the property as Sweet Run State Park, the first state park in Loudoun County.
For nature enthusiasts, the park’s trails provide encounters with more than 130 species of birds, 60 species of butterflies, and the occasional salamander, fox or bobcat. The Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy offers monthly bird walks as well as stargazing parties to take advantage of the park’s dark skies.
Under their leadership the Leggett Foundation continues to invest in projects helping organizations expand their capacity to provide services and realize significant institutional or societal change. Because of these transformative gifts, organizations make decisions based on their most imaginative and far-reaching vision. One such gift is the National Trails Fund, which helped American Hiking Society seed an endowed grants program that is now attracting gifts from outdoors people nationwide.
Friends of the Blue Ridge Mountains is pleased to have the opportunity to honor Robert and Dee Leggett and their many contributions to our society.