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Valley Conservation Council: New ED hired to build on growing momentum in Valley

Crystal Graham
Peter Hujik
Peter Hujik, submitted

Valley Conservation Council has hired a new executive director who homes to build on the momentum around conservation in the region.

VCC announced Peter Hujik as its new executive director earlier this week. In the role, Hujik will lead the organization’s efforts to protect the significant natural and cultural landscapes of the greater Shenandoah Valley region and to preserve the lifeenriching benefits its lands and waters provide.

Hujik brings with him the regional conservation leadership experience and vision.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled to have Peter at the helm. He brings considerable experience and a wealth of knowledge to the role that will be critical in helping further our mission,” says VCC Board Chairman Steuart Thomas. “I believe our recent successes allowed us to attract someone as experienced as Peter to our team to continue to build upon the momentum we have established with our land protection work. We’re eager to see where he will take it.”

Hujik will put his passion for landscape-scale conservation, ecological restoration and community development to work for the 11 counties VCC serves.

“VCC has made tremendous strides in protecting and conserving land and waterways in the Shenandoah Valley, and it is poised to make even greater ones in the coming years,” says Hujik. “I am honored to have the privilege of helping the organization fulfill its mission of protecting this exceptional landscape. You can feel the momentum around conservation in the Valley, and I know it will only continue to grow.”

Prior to joining VCC, Hujik led farmland protection efforts on the other side of the Blue Ridge as a senior field representative for the Piedmont Environmental Council.

He has also led land protection efforts in the Susquehanna Basin with Otsego Land Trust in Upstate New York.  Hujik began his conservation career with The Nature Conservancy in the Lassen Foothills of northern California, where he restored streamside forests and managed native grasslands with prescribed fire.

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Crystal Graham

Crystal Graham

A 1999 graduate of Virginia Tech, Crystal Graham has worked for 25 years as a reporter and editor for several Virginia publications, written a book, and garnered more than a dozen Virginia Press Association awards for writing and graphic design. She was the co-host of "Viewpoints," a weekly TV news show, and co-host of "Virginia Tonight," a nightly TV news show, both broadcast on PBS. Her work on "Virginia Tonight" earned her a national Telly award for excellence in television. You can reach her at [email protected]

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