August 14, 2026
To whom it may concern,
On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Waterford Foundation, we are writing to express our opposition to the currently proposed routes for the Valley North Project because of their potential for long-lasting adverse impacts on the historic and heritage resources, environmental resources, agricultural landscapes, and agritourism areas of rural Loudoun County.
The Waterford Foundation’s mission is rooted in the preservation and stewardship of historic places, landscapes, and the cultural heritage they embody. Rural Loudoun contains an extraordinary concentration of historic districts, buildings, archaeological resources, cemeteries, agricultural landscapes, conservation lands, and other resources that together define the distinctive historic character of the county and contribute to the quality of life of current and future residents.
The currently proposed routes raise significant concerns regarding impacts to resources including cemeteries, historic buildings and districts, Catoctin Creek, conservation areas, agricultural lands, and properties protected by conservation and preservation easements. Adverse effects to these resources could have lasting consequences not only for the individual resources themselves, but also for broader preservation and conservation efforts throughout Loudoun County.
The potential effects of major transmission infrastructure extend beyond direct physical disturbance. Route selection must also carefully consider impacts to historic settings and viewsheds, landscape integrity, agricultural uses, community character, archaeological resources, and the relationships among historic resources that make rural Loudoun’s cultural landscape meaningful.
Historic, archaeological, and environmental resources are non-renewable. Once they are lost or significantly altered, they cannot be recreated. For this reason, avoidance of significant historic, cultural, environmental, and agricultural resources should be incorporated early and meaningfully into route selection, rather than addressed only after preferred routes have been identified.
As Loudoun County and communities across the nation commemorate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, the importance of protecting the historic places and landscapes that connect us to our shared history is especially clear. Loudoun’s nationally, state, and locally recognized historic resources, historic districts, conservation lands, and protected landscapes represent generations of stewardship and a substantial public investment in preservation.
The Waterford Foundation therefore opposes the currently proposed Valley North Project routes that threaten these resources and strongly urges Valley Link Transmission to identify alternatives that avoid or substantially minimize impacts to significant historic, cultural, environmental, agricultural, and conservation resources.
We support a transparent planning process that fully considers preservation, conservation, community, and environmental impacts alongside the region’s infrastructure needs, and we urge Valley Link Transmission to work closely with Loudoun County, preservation and conservation organizations, affected communities, landowners, and appropriate state and federal agencies as alternative routes are evaluated.
The Waterford Foundation stands with organizations and communities throughout Loudoun County working to ensure that the county’s historic, cultural, agricultural, and environmental heritage is protected for present and future generations.
Sincerly,
Waterford Foundation Board of Directors