The effort to turn James Monroe’s Oak Hill estate into a state park has come to an end for now. The Virginia General Assembly rejected Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s budget amendment to establish the park, along with the vast majority of his other proposed amendments.
The Oak Hill amendment would have made the Founding Father’s 1,240-acre estate into an official state park. This came after legislation to create the park failed in the state senate.
The Conservation Fund said that it will review its options and continue to search for ways to preserve Oak Hill.
“The loud public demand for this land to become a park makes clear that our work here is not done. Oak Hill is an American treasure — and it must be preserved as such,” said Heather Richards, The Conservation Fund’s lead on this project.
The land belongs to the DeLashmutt family, who sought to sell it to the state after 70 years of ownership. Funding for the park already exists in the form of private funding, grants, and $22 million of pre-approved funds from Loudoun County.
A park would have included hiking, fishing, equestrian trails, and cultural education opportunities.
This amendment was part of the General Assembly’s sweeping rejection of nearly all of the governor’s budget amendments. Of Youngkin’s 205 amendments to the Virginia House budget bill, lawmakers approved only 33, The Associated Press reported.
Feature image courtesy The Conservation Fund
