News Release • Virginia Cooperative Extension — June 2026

Landowner Legacy Planning Workshops

From the Generation NEXT Program

Michael lives away from his family’s fifth-generation property. His grandfather put ownership into a family-held corporate structure at about the same time as they planted pines in the old tobacco fields. The corporate structure set up ways for the cousins to make decisions together and buy out the cousins who didn’t want the responsibility of maintaining the property. It hasn’t always been easy, but they’ve held onto the land, unlike many of their neighbors. Now Michael’s leading the effort to put a conservation easement on the land and update the LLC operating agreement for the next generation.

Not every family is as well prepared to keep their land intact, rural, and in their family as Michael’s. Many people don’t have a written estate plan or even a testamentary will; others have a written plan but have not done the critical legacy-building work of sharing their plans, goals, and love of the land with their heirs. This leaves younger generations in a tough spot and puts farm and forestland at risk of being sold, subdivided, and developed.

Generation NEXT, a Program of the Virginia Department of Forestry and Virginia Cooperative Extension, exists to help landowners and their families engage in legacy planning for their rural land. Registration is now open for the Program’s first of three offerings in 2026. All workshops include presentations from legal, financial, and conservation experts and a copy of the award-winning workbook Legacy Planning: A Guide for Virginia Landowners.

Contact Karen Snape, Extension Associate, at 540-231-6494 or ksnape@vt.edu with any questions, including accessibility requests.

Virginia Cooperative Extension is a partnership of Virginia Tech, Virginia State University, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and local governments, and is an equal opportunity employer. For the full non-discrimination statement, please visit ext.vt.edu/accessibility. If you are a person with a disability and desire any assistive devices, services or other accommodations to participate in this activity, please contact Karen Snape at ksnape@vt.edu or (540) 231-6494 during business hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to discuss accommodations 5 days prior to the event. TDD number is (800) 828-1120.

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Contact: Karen Snape, Virginia Cooperative Extension — 540-231-6494 — ksnape@vt.edu

Source: Virginia Cooperative Extension, Forest Resources & Environmental Conservation — News Release, June 2026