Virginia's Open-Space Land Act, enacted in 1966 to promote land conservation, created the state's open-space easement program. Open-space easements provide permanent protection for land with agricultural, forestal, recreational, ecological, scenic, or historic value for future generations. In June 1968, James M. Ball Jr. granted the first open-space easement to the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, a state agency. Ball then conveyed his ownership of the 104-acre property, including land here on both sides of the road, to the University of Richmond to be used as an outdoor classroom and laboratory.