The mission of the Friends of Buckingham is to protect the natural environment and cultural heritage of Buckingham County.
Latest News
Problems with Industrial-scale Solar
Solar News
Watch the webinar from Friends of Buckingham, recorded April 25, 2025, to learn from a panel of experts about the Dark Side of Industrial-Scale Solar. Please share this widely.
Earth Month –
The Dark Side of Industrial-Scale Solar
Industrial-Scale Solar in Spotsylvania County, VA
(Photo by Hugh Kenny. The Piedmont Environmental Council)
Solar energy must not come at the expense of nature or communities. But that is what is happening in Buckingham and across Virginia as industrial solar projects replace our forests and working lands.
- Deforestation and bulldozing that forever changes the land.
- Wildlife destroyed and habitats lost.
- Waterways harmed.
- Erosion and sediment to wetlands and waterways.
- Largest land-use change ever.
- Enormous industrial projects inserted into rural communities.
- Forestry and forestry dependent jobs lost.
We must change course. We must save our forests and working lands by putting large-scale solar projects in the built-world. Places like parking lots, rooftops, brownfields, and already developed lands. Read more about the solar issues of our times.
Scott Flood, president of Friends of Buckingham, speaking at our 10th anniversary celebration.
More News
Abandoned gold mines in Virginia; re-mining and reclamation
There are 447 documented abandoned gold mines in Virginia, and an estimated 500 undocumented, and they are all loaded with mercury, some with cyanide, arsenic, and other toxic materials. Many have numerous gaping and dangerous open shafts. There are some...
New Report Release: Potential Impacts of Gold Mining in Virginia
Virginia was one of the first major gold-producing states in the U.S., but it has seen only limited and intermittent gold mining activity in the last 70 years. Recent increase in gold prices and other factors have brought renewed attention to mining gold at both new...
Newsletter #152: NASEM gold mining report W 11/2; SAC meeting Th 11/3; Buckingham board T 11/15
Click to read the full newsletter
The Farmville Herald continues steady coverage of the gold mining issues
Friends of Buckingham (FOB), in partnership with the Virginia Community Rights Network (VACRN) have lead a steady drive to keep a spotlight on the gold mining issue, by encouraging Buckingham residents to submit letters to the editor (LTE). Many of the LTEs have been...
Draft report warns gold mine could be “serious threat” to Buckingham
Brian Carlton, the new editor at the Farmville Herald, has been doing great coverage of the gold mining issue in Buckingham. This article covers the draft report that is being prepared by the State Agency Committee on the study of the impacts of industrial gold mining...
News
Join Us!
Membership is free. Support us by adding your name and make a contribution, as you wish. United we can be effective. We stopped the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. We supported the ban on cyanide in metalic mining. We can’t do with without you!
Celebrating 10 Years of Successes
The Friends of Buckingham
10-year anniversary celebration and annual meeting
November 16, 2024
Use this link to watch the slide show of our many accomplishments from the past year.
(The show has many photos and may load slowly.)
Stopping the Atlantic Coast Pipeline
After more than seven years fighting the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, we WON!
Read about our successful efforts to protect the natural wonders of Virginia.
Media Center
Chris Landry’s documentary, Not On This Land, focuses on bout the remarkable people who stopped the Atlantic Coast Pipeline from being built.
Ben Price presents to the Buckingham Board of Supervisors 11/15/22: Adopt both a rights-based ordinance to protect our freedom from toxic trespass and a land-use ordinance. Start at 16:50. Stay on for our awesome public comments.