The Crater Planning District Commission (Crater PDC) region covers eleven local governments and a population of approximately 526,000.  Of these eleven local governments, seven are located in the coastal zone of Virginia, including Charles City, Chesterfield, Prince George, and Surry counties and the cities of Colonial Heights, Hopewell, and Petersburg.  The region contains a mix of urban, suburban, and rural landscapes situated about the fall line and the tidal reaches of the James and Appomattox rivers.  Virginia CZM has partnered with Crater PDC throughout the years, primarily in support of a local non-profit, the Friends of the Lower Appomattox River (FOLAR).

Crater PDC has used its Virginia CZM funding to work through the Friends of the Lower Appomattox River (FOLAR).  In 1997, the Appomattox River Corridor Plan was published, which outlined recommendations to promote recreation, conservation, economic development, and water quality protection along the Appomattox River.  Based on this plan, FOLAR was established in 1999 and funded through Crater PDC’s technical assistance grant from Virginia CZM. Technical assistance grant funds were used to: produce outreach materials to increase awareness of and support for FOLAR; host river clean-ups; work with Prince George County to develop the Appomattox River Park; and, to design an Appomattox River Interpretive Guide.  These funds also directly supported FOLAR with office space, project management, grant application assistance, map making, meeting facilitation, and website maintenance.  This level of dedicated support allowed FOLAR to grow its capacity and ultimately hire permanent staff in 2013. 

Since 2015, Crater PDC has been using technical assistance funding to help FOLAR develop and implement their Appomattox River Trail Master Plan and Appomattox River Trail Signage Master Plan.  These two plans laid the groundwork for a long-term effort to connect residents in all six localities, from Lake Chesdin’s Brasfield Dam to historic City Point in the City of Hopewell at the mouth of the Appomattox River.  Since 2017, prioritized sections of the Appomattox Trail have been secured through easements and constructed.  The trails also feature interpretive signage.  Crater PDC technical assistance funds support FOLAR’s annual State of the Trail meetings, where the community is provided updates.  Crater PDC is currently using technical assistance funds to help FOLAR tackle invasive plants along the trail, and to increase the impact of river clean-ups through improvements in community outreach and involvement, and data collection.

Crater PDC Projects Funded by Virginia CZM

The table below lists Crater PDC projects funded by Virginia CZM since fiscal year 1997. This list does not include annual Coastal Technical Assistance grants from Virginia CZM to Crater PDC. Virginia CZM funds are typically matched 50/50, but the table below only includes federal funds provided by Virginia CZM. Any Project Names that are linked in the table below will take you to the Project List for that fiscal year where you can open the Task Number at the bottom of the page to find more information on the corresponding project.