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By LOU HATTER
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
When people talk about Phil Irwin, they use words like, “committed,” “dedicated” and “selfless.”
Those qualities are what led the Rappahannock News to name Mr. Irwin as its Citizen of the Year for 1988.
Since he bought his first home in Rappahannock County in 1961, Mr. Irwin has appreciated the rural qualities which make the county so special. He carried that appreciation with him when he bought his present home, Caledonia Farm, which abuts the Fodderstack Road between Washington and Flint Hill, in 1967.
With its magnificent vistas of The Peak and its surrounding hills, fields and orchards, Mr. Irwin said that he was determined to protect that scenic heritage for the future. It was that concern that led him, in 1973, to put the 52-acre farm under a scenic easement to the Virginia Outdoors Foundation. It was the first easement granted in Rappahannock County, and one of the first in the state.
“I have known him since 1975,” said Tyson Van Auken, director of the Virginia Outdoors Foundation. “I’ve been aware of his working for conservation causes. . .He is one of those citizen-soldiers in the conservation movement. He is unpaid, but rewarded when he sees his viewpoint prevail.”
Mr. Irwin’s involvement in environmental causes became more personal when the Virginia Electric and Power Company (now Virginia Power) proposed a high-voltage electric line to be run down the Fodderstack Valley. He was one of the founders and the first executive director of the Rappahannock League for Environmental Protection, which was organized in 1970 to oppose,the pqwef line.
And, when RLEP won its battle with Virginia Power, it became one of the most respected environmental organizations in the state — and one oHTw? rmstTsSeSSHtful.
“It was like David and Goliath,” recalled Daphne Hutchinson, longtime reporter and former editor of the Rappahannock News. “And Phil Irwin was largely responsible for RLEP’s success.”
When Mr. Irwin recounts the conservation initiatives brought to Rappahannock County by RLEP, the satisfaction of which Mr. Van Auken spoke is evident in his voice. “The comprehensive plan, land use taxation, and agriculture and forestal districts; these are all concepts introduced
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