NVCT had the pleasure of sitting down with Mrs. Joyce Arndt, the current owner of the Tank Creek Preserve. Joyce has always been known as a “Tree Hugger”, she takes it as a true compliment. Joyce and her husband Ray moved to Stafford County in 1970. Ray owned an autobody shop, and Joyce worked the books. Joyce’s home is adorned with orchids and stained-glass art of animals. Her kitchen views the Potomac River, and she enjoys sitting at her table and watching the Osprey and other seabirds glide over the water. Every morning, Joyce wakes up and fills the birdfeeders around her home, feeds her dog, Kirby, and her miniature horses, Snapdragon and Zenia. Or, as her nieces call them, “fatty cakes and mudpies.” Joyce is not shy about her passion for nature, and her current passion project is ensuring Tank Creek is permanently preserved.
The Widewater Peninsula has always been popular with developers and industry, with past proposals for nuclear power plants and waste dumping sites. Joyce and her neighbors stood up to them all. Joyce and other residents of the area are no strangers to fighting for what’s right; at one point, Joyce and others had rallied against General Motors for creating faulty engines in their cars. She placed an ad in the paper inquiring if anyone else was experiencing h the same motor problems that she was, and soon, her phone was ringing off the hook. Joyce isn’t one to stand down when the road gets tough, and she has no plan of doing so when it comes to Tank Creek.
The forested property is located just down the road from where Joyce lives, and her family frequently enjoys it for birdwatching and nature walks. She also would work with her son to clean up the stream running through the property. Soon to be 88 years old, Joyce tragically lost her two sons years ago, and with no family members left to continue her conservation legacy, she became concerned about her beloved personal nature preserve. That’s when she began taking steps to safeguard the property for all time.
Joyce was first introduced to NVCT through Friends of Widewater Park, an organization she has long supported. She was soon able to meet NVCT Land Conservation Specialist Laura Hassell and lay out her dream for the future of Tank Creek. That dream included an opportunity for NVCT to purchase Joyce’s property at below-market value despite having been offered significantly more from developers. Even today, Joyce continues to stand up for what’s right and knows how important her land is. We are proud to have the chance to work with Joyce and appreciate her unique and special personality. With a little luck – and of course money – we hope to make Joyce’s dream a reality in the next several months.
Neither Joyce nor her Tank Creek Preserve have changed much since she bought the property 54 years ago. Its steep slopes would make farming, building or timbering difficult to begin with, and Joyce has always envisioned it becoming a public park. NVCT wants to fulfill that promise and eventually open Tank Creek Preserve to the public. We hope to add Tank Creek to our network of nature preserves, including several other Stafford sites. If we are fortunate enough to aquire this land, we will collaborate with the local community and Virginia Parks and Recreation to open the park to the public several times throughout the year for guided naturalist hikes. We are grateful to the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, which has committed to approximately $110,000 of the project cost, and the White House Farm Foundation, with support from the Plein Family Trust, which has pledged to match all Save Tank Creek donations from now through the end of the year up to a total of $20,000!
Join us and continue Joyce’s fight for the future of Tank Creek Preserve, forever protecting these lands and waters for generations to come.
Read more about Joyce’s Story here!
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