Between 2014 and 2018, 9,548 treed acres on developed land were lost (net) in Virginia. The Northern Neck counties of Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, and Westmoreland accounted for 707 acres, or 7% of the treed acres lost. In alpha order, the net losses by NNK county were:
- Lancaster County: -124
- Northumberland County: -114
- Richmond County: -250
- Westmoreland County: -219 (Source: Are we trading trees for concrete? Efforts to slow the loss of tree canopy and gain of impervious surfaces are taking root across the watershed)
The loss of treed acres is a big deal, especially in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The Chesapeake Bay Program writes,
The data finds that structures (e.g., buildings) contributed to 31.6% of the net increase in impervious surfaces, while roads only contributed to 4.2%. However, other types of impervious surfaces, such as driveways, parking lots, runways, rail lines, etc. saw the highest increase from 2013-2014 to 2017-2018 at 64.3%. This percentage also includes those areas that are currently in interim stages of development, including areas cleared for construction.
. . .
Impervious surfaces are generally any hard surfaces, such as paved roads, parking lots and roofs, that prevent the natural infiltration of water. When it rains, water should be soaked up by tree roots, wetlands or the soil. Instead, impervious surfaces allow water to simply run off, picking up trash, chemicals, sediment and nutrient pollutants along its way to the nearest water body.
Learn more about land use and land cover in the Tree Cover Status & Change in the county fact sheets, all in PDF: Lancaster County, Northumberland County, Richmond County, and Westmoreland County.