Group photo of the participants in the sign-dedication ceremony.
In 1987, Centreville’s Virginia Run community donated 66 acres to Fairfax County in support of the Chesapeake Bay cleanup. They eventually became Hickory Forest Park; and on April 23, some 38 years later, community leaders and residents gathered there to dedicate a sign honoring that contribution’s anniversary.
“The value of that land today is well over $15 million,” said John Litzenberger, a member of Virginia Run’s homeowners’ association. “We’re doing this to remind the greater Western Fairfax community of the importance of taking care of our local environment. Those acres are part of the Bull Run Stream watershed, which flows directly onto the Occoquan Reservoir – one of the main, drinking-water sources for Fairfax County residents.”
The park’s entrance is at the southern end of Smiths Trace in Virginia Run, where a sign now marks its existence. Litzenberger said the community wants people to know about it so they may enjoy “this passive-recreation gem here in Western Fairfax.” It also wants to deliver a more serious message.
“We noticed a number of folks were dumping contractor debris, yard clippings, etc. on the parkland we donated toward the Chesapeake Bay restoration program,” explained Litzenberger. “So this sign is our way of tactfully getting the word out in order to protect the beautiful park Virginia Run donated.”
At the outset of the ceremony, Virginia Run Community Association President Jay Johnson welcomed everyone and acknowledged some local dignitaries there. They included Supervisor Kathy Smith (D-Sully), former Sully Supervisor Michael Frey, Sully Planning Commissioner Evelyn Spain, plus Litzenberger and Jim Hart, both former Sully planning commissioners. Then various speakers discussed the land’s importance and history.
Litzenberger noted that, in 1982, the county’s Board of Supervisors downzoned 41,000 acres in western Fairfax County so intense development wouldn't adversely impact drinking water in the Occoquan Watershed. It meant that homes in that area couldn’t be built at a density higher than one house per 5 acres. Therefore, less runoff from yard fertilizer and impervious surfaces such as driveways would flow into the Occoquan.
“Mike Frey was then [former Supervisor] Elaine McConnell’s chief of staff in the Springfield District, but he was instrumental in making this happen,” said Litzenberger. “He was elected the very first Sully supervisor in 1991, taking office in 1992.”
And in his new role, Frey continued his involvement in Virginia Run’s land donation. “What it really started was the creation of far more than this piece of property,” he said. “It was the first public parkland that would ultimately become the Sully Woodlands, which is a couple thousand acres.
“During the course of my years on the Board, and which Kathy continued, the county put together a lot of property that had originally been planned and zoned for the same kind of density as Virginia Run. So the fact that this community is now surrounded by parkland – with some future, community-type uses to come – is really a result of, and a follow-up to, this land dedication. So thank you all for doing that – for starting an exciting process and creating the base for a fabulous county park.”
Smith said she was “just fortunate” to follow Frey on the Board of Supervisors because “he’d gotten done a lot of great work when he served, and I appreciate that. It’s really generous when a community donates property to the county, and it serves all of us well. We have green space we can walk around, it’s important for the environment and we want to keep chemicals out of the Occoquan.”
“Having a sign is important because even some people who live in this neighborhood don’t know about this park,” continued Smith. “We’re lucky to live in Fairfax County where we have over 50,000 acres of open space that people can go to. So thank you for donating this property and, also, for letting people know it’s here.”
Hart explained the land’s significance. The sign calls it a diabase forest, and Hart said a diabase is a kind of rock used in construction. “Over eons, as the stone weathers, it creates a unique type of soil,” he said. “It has an unusual pH [a measure of soil’s acidity or alkalinity], so it’s not good for farming and doesn’t perk well. But under certain circumstances, it can support a very diverse plant community.”
He said the 66 acres are behind the houses on the west side of Smith’s Trace, and Bull Run Post Office Road runs parallel to that street, on the other side of the trees. “This area is part of the largest stand of a globally rare forest in Virginia,” said Hart. “It’s an oak/hickory forest on diabase soil. And in conjunction with other parts of this forest, it’s a large, contiguous area that not only protects water quality, but creates room for habitat for certain creatures needing a large range for feeding.”
Regarding the downzoning, he said it was done after a study showed that, from the 1950s to the 1970s, water quality in the Occoquan had deteriorated. “The Board then determined that impervious surface was the biggest, single threat to water quality,” said Hart. “So in 1982, it lowered residential density to [decrease it].”
Furthermore, he added, “The Board also determined that nonresidential uses would be limited to corridors along arterial [major] roadways. Side roads, like Bull Run Post Office, would be protected from development like institutional buildings with big rooftops and parking lots. Instead, they’d remain essentially undisturbed forest – both for the wildlife and the water quality.
“Everything that goes down the storm drain and into the ditches ends up in the Occoquan Reservoir. Everything that goes underground goes into the aquifers. All the homes along Bull Run Post Office Road, plus Virginia Run’s irrigation system, are on wells. We’re all dependent on the same aquifer, so we still need to be vigilant and concerned about everything going into the water and protect areas like this park from impervious surface and development.”
Spain said she and her late husband lived in Virginia Run and “never knew about this forest. So thank you for the opportunity to be part of this ceremony and to share with the rest of the community what an asset we have here.”
Lastly, retired Marine Col. Richard Roan – who’ll lead a Scout troop in removing trash and debris from this forest – spoke about the site’s history. “This is actually hallowed ground,” he said. “In the First Battle of Bull Run, the Federal [Union] and Confederate forces were on opposite sides of this land. The Confederates were by Bull Run, and half the Federals were sent toward them – directly through Virginia Run and this forest – to envelop them.”
However, said Roan, “The Federals got to the battlefield too late, and the Confederates won a decisive victory. But, throughout a night in history, 30,000 Federal troops were marching right through here. There would have been skirmishes along the way, and some of our fellow Americans died in that forest. So this is a place of real history and memory.”