Just some more information - this was on the Department of Historical Resource website for the State of Virginia. According to this he has to have a court order to even take down the stones or fences. I have another e-mail going to Mr. Kern with DHR. Maybe he can give me a little more info: "I have an old abandoned cemetery on my property. What are my legal rights and obligations? Do I have to maintain the cemetery or let family members come on my land? Virginia law protects the cemetery itself from malicious damage, but does not require a property owner to maintain it or to allow anyone to come on your land to visit the cemetery. Both are your choice. A court order is required to remove the cemetery (graves, markers, fences, etc.) in order to use the land for any other purpose. The court order procedure requires a public legal notice and reasonable effort to notify descendants if known. The law also allows an adjacent property owner to sue you if a cemetery is so poorly maintained that it threatens the value of the neighboring property. The court can then require you to allow someone else to maintain the cemetery" Tracie