The Virginia Outdoors Foundation is a quasi-state agency formed by the Virginia General Assembly in 1966 "to promote the preservation of open space lands and to encourage private gifts of money, securities, land or other property to preserve the natural, scenic, historic, open-space and recreational areas of the Commonwealth." As of 2017, it owns 3,366 acres (13.62 km2) of public land and holds and manages conservation easements on approximately 801,077 acres (1,251.68 sq mi; 3,241.84 km2) of private land.