About the Landscape Legacy and Sustainability Program (LLS)
Fairfax County Park Authority’s Landscape Legacy and Sustainability Program (LLS) is composed of a team dedicated to the long-term management of preserved and restored natural areas on parkland. This program leverages ecological principles to conduct monitoring, planning, maintenance and other activities to shepherd the preservation of high-quality natural areas and our investment in them. Since the formation of LLS in 2023, the acres of parkland entering the program has been steadily growing and should continue to do so as restoration projects are completed and protection measures become more important in an increasingly urbanized region.
Monitoring
Monitoring is one integral component of LLS's long-term land management strategy. Routine monitoring is vital to adaptive management because it provides a reference for the effectiveness of maintenance activities. Areas under LLS management have different objectives, histories, environmental conditions and responses to change. Monitoring data collected on various objective indicators such as species composition, plant community structure, habitat and conservation value are analyzed and compared through time to maintenance activities. Monitoring both informs maintenance needs and provides the framework to go back and analyze the success of those actions. Land management strategies are not one-size-fits-all and best served by data-driven planning.
Maintenance
Maintenance is another key component of LLS because even within the highest quality natural areas, degradation of healthy vegetation is likely, especially in this highly urbanized region. Wear and tear on fencing and other vital equipment occurs under harsh Virginia weather. Considering many of our restorations are early-successional community types, frequent resetting of that vegetation is also a part of typical long-term management needs. As LLS maintenance activities accommodate a multitude of sites and objectives and require diverse tools. Maintenance activities include prescribed fire, invasive plant control, mowing, brush cutting, fence upkeep, competition removal and replanting.
