March 2015

This year, the Virginia Master Naturalist program will be hosting one-day training events that will be replacing the statewide conference this year.  We’ll be returning to a statewide conference again in 2016.  We are testing the idea of holding these regional events to develop better networks across chapters in close proximity to one another and to provide more field training tied to projects relevant to each region.  Please mark you calendars for the event below corresponding to your chapter’s location:

Central Region: Saturday, August 29 at Holiday Lake 4H Center, Appomattox, VA
The central region includes Alleghany Highlands, Rockbridge, Central Virginia, Central Blue Ridge, Central Piedmont, James River, Rivanna, and Headwaters chapters

Southeast Region: Sunday, August 30 at Airfield 4H Center, Wakefield, VA
The southeast region includes Riverine, Pocahontas, Historic Rivers, Historic Southside, Peninsula, Tidewater, Eastern Shore, and Northern Neck chapters

Southwest Region: Saturday, September 26 at Hungry Mother State Park, Marion, VA
The southwest region includes Holston Rivers, Beagle Ridge, New River Valley, Roanoke Valley, Blue Ridge Foothills and Lakes, and Southwest Piedmont chapters

Northern Region: Sunday, September 27 at Skyland Resort, Shenandoah National Park, Luray, VA
The northern region includes Old Rag, Shenandoah, Banshee Reeks, Fairfax, Arlington Regional, Merrimac Farm, and Central Rappahannock chapters

We will be reserving participation in these regional events to volunteers that are members in those regions.  However, if space is still available after a period of closed registration to the region’s volunteers, we will open up registration to volunteers in any chapter.  We look forward to seeing many of you this fall!  

The Virginia Master Naturalist program was officially launched in 2005.  That year, we set the basic guidelines and structure of the program, recruited our first set of 10 chapters, hired a statewide coordinator, and funded the statewide efforts of the program with support from our founding sponsoring agencies.  Since then, our sponsors, local partnering organizations, and especially our volunteers have helped us grow to a thriving program having significant positive impacts on Virginia’s natural resources.  All year we will be celebrating our 10th anniversary, and we are starting now by sharing our 10th anniversary infographic – a snapshot of much of what our volunteers have accomplished over the last decade!

A web-ready image is included below, along with a downloadable press-quality version for printing.  Please help us share these amazing statistics with your networks!