April 2015

     In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Virginia Master Naturalist program, we launched our first ever annual campaign to raise addition funds to support the program at the statewide level.  We are pleased to report that so far we have received $5,420 from 45 individuals across more than half our VMN chapters.  Thank you so much for your support!  We know our volunteers support the program every day through their volunteer service; your financial support is going above and beyond.  We look forward to essentially sharing those funds back with you through enhanced programming and support activities from the statewide staff.   
     Also included in the contributions was a generous donation from the Riverine Chapter.  In hopes of inspiring other chapters to do the same, they sent the following article, written by VMN volunteer Suzanne Hedderly.

A Circle of Giving
     The Virginia Master Naturalist program is celebrating its 10th year! A lot has been accomplished over the past decade through a wonderful corp of trained volunteers who go out into communities across the Commonwealth to share their knowledge with schools, clubs, and individuals, instilling respect and a sense of stewardship for Virginia’s natural resources. 
     The Virginia Master Naturalist program is supported by Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, Virginia Department of Forestry, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, and the Virginia Museum of Natural History. The program is based within the Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation at Virginia Tech. The state organization coordinates the 30 different Virginia Chapters that have provided over a half-million hours of volunteer service, citizen science projects, and outreach education.
     Unfortunately, budget cuts have affected funding for our guiding state organization. But just as a seed planted in nature grows into a beautiful plant, the seed of an idea sprouted—a proposal to make a donation to the Virginia Tech Foundation in support of the VMN program! The proposal offered to take a portion of the Riverine Chapter budget and make a donation to the State organization that has given so much to establish and provide for the Virginia Master Naturalist Program.
     The proposal was discussed at the Riverine Board meeting and passed!  As one Riverine member, Emily Gianfortoni stated, “I voted for the Riverine Chapter to make a contribution to the VMN State Coordinator Fund to ensure that the  State Program and the support it gives to our local chapters continues in the future.  One of our projects that has had the greatest impact, I believe, is our Outreach/Education booth at local fairs, community events and farmers markets. We have reached adults and children, answered questions about wildlife, talked about habitat improvement and pollinators, and exchanged ideas about  other environmental issues. People have been interested and receptive, and I believe we are changing minds about how to manage yards and landscapes one person at a time. The VMN Program has connected me with a wonderful group of fellow volunteers whom I otherwise never may have met.”
     The Master Naturalist Program touches thousands of people and raises awareness in countless areas promoting a healthy, thriving natural environment for all Virginians. Through giving back to the organization that has provided so much to all our VMN Chapters with support, training and guidance, we can form a Circle of Giving and insure the continued success of the VMN mission into the future.
     We hope that all chapters throughout the Commonwealth with consider a similar donation in support of the statewide program!

     The 2015 Virginia Master Naturalist annual campaign is still ongoing!  Please consider making a donation as an individual, a chapter, or even a local partnering organization at http://www.virginiamasternaturalist.org/give.html.  

By Susan Austin Roth

     Call them hogs, pigs, swine, razorbacks or Russian boars, by whatever name they go, the feral type of Sus scrofa poses an increasing threat to natural habitat and property in Virginia. This invasive species is a literal “reproductive machine that makes rabbits jealous,” according to DGIF’s (Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’) Aaron Proctor. So much so that Proctor has gone hog wild over wild hogs – he wants Master Naturalists to know how to spot feral hogs and learn to recognize their hoof prints and the damage they do, and then to report them if sighted. Time is of essence in controlling the species because a sow becomes fertile at five months of age and can produce approximately two litters of four to eight piglets a year. With few natural controls – coyotes and bobcats might prey on feral pigs, but only young ones less than six months of age and less than 60 lbs. – a new population can become a large one within a year. Adult feral hogs can mature at 200 to 300 lbs – that’s a lot of hog to go wild.

From Whence They Came

     These feral beasts did not get here without help. Domesticated from Eurasian wild boars more than 9,000 years ago, pigs were brought to these shores by the explorers and colonists as domestic animals. Some inevitably escaped their pens and went wild, and even now some escape from “free range” pig farms. However, wild pigs are not migratory. Their populations slowly expand, but they do not travel long distances. Their explosion in recent decades in the Southeast and now in Virginia is due to the sad fact that most of these animals were released intentionally into public parks and private land for sport hunting.  Biologists in Virginia have also noticed an increase in the number of loose hog populations whose freedom resulted from either poor fencing, poor oversight, or no fencing at all.  Such loose domestic hogs can turn into a feral population in just a few generations.  The last 20 years have seen wild pig ranges expand dramatically to include 45 states; Virginia is on the front lines of the northward spread of feral hogs in the East. The year 2010 saw a major increase of these feral beasts in Central Virginia – presumably due to loose domestics and introduction by game hunters. 
     When Tennessee decided in 1999 to allow a year-round season on hunting wild boar, the populations of feral pigs, contrary to all expectations, increased throughout the state. Instead of hunting being a means to control these pests, the open season encouraged hunters in a state with a solid wild-pig-hunting tradition to introduce hogs into areas where they had never before been seen.  
     Proctor says we cannot “manage” wild hogs, they must be “controlled”. And the best method of control is not hunting, but trapping. For control measures to make a dent in the population of an invasive species, 70% of the population must be eliminated each year – hunting and natural predation is not sufficient in the case of wild hogs. In 2014, a combination of federal and state funding resulted in approximately $330,000 in funding to combat feral hogs in Virginia, and expectations are that this funding will continue at least in the short term.

The Damage They Do

     Pigs are indiscriminate – they will eat almost anything and will live in almost any habitat – farmland, forest, field, or flood plain. Although poor of eyesight, they have a keen sense of smell and can detect odors five to seven miles away and as much as 25 feet underground!  Pigs go wild in the wilderness – they trample and uproot vegetation and root deeply in the soil, sometimes digging and wallowing to a depth of several feet. They eat corn and soybean crops, pine plantation seedlings, acorns, native wildflowers, saplings, ground-nesting birds, small mammals, worms, insects, larvae, even sea turtle eggs.  These wild beasts destroy natural and built habitat, pollute watercourses with their feces, compete for food with wildlife – you name it, they do it. They are essentially a nightmare machine for disturbing habitat.  They also harbor numerous diseases and parasites that can spread to domesticated pigs.
     An admittedly conservative estimate of the cost of wild hog damage to agriculture and the environment in the United States is $1.5 billion annually. Rarely does a wild pig attack a human, but if a hunting dog corners a pig and the pig high-tails it through a pack of hunters, a person can be seriously injured.  And as with bears, if a person inadvertently walks between a sow and her litter the sow is likely to react agressively to protect her young. Highly intelligent, wild hogs usually flee rather than fight. However, U.S. newspapers report from 5 to 7 human fatalities from wild hog encounters every year. 
     You can recognize these beasts in the wild by their signs: their cloven hoof prints, the troughs they dig with their snouts, the beds and nests they build, and even the rubs they leave on tree trunks and fence posts.

Defining Feral as a Nuisance

     In Virginia, feral hogs have been classified as a nuisance species for quite some time (just like coyotes), so they can be hunted year-round.  Although long-classified as a nuisance species, feral hogs lacked an official definition, making hunting them problematic because loose hogs might have owners.  In 2014, the VDGIF attempted to remedy this situation by defining a feral hog as “any swine that are wild or for which no proof of ownership can be made.”  This is a good step, but because Virginia law allows counties to set their own fence laws, some counties require a farmer to fence in their livestock to prevent escape, while other counties do not require farmers to fence livestock. Obviously, in counties where no fence is required, domestic or livestock swine can roam freely, reproduce, and proliferate without much human oversight.  Without a fence to keep it out, a property owner cannot declare a trespassing pig a wild nuisance and hunt or trap it. This poses a huge problem for VDGIF and USDA biologists trying to control the growing feral hog problem in Virginia.

Master Naturalists Please Observe and Report

     Master Naturalists can help by spreading the word to others about the destructive nature of feral hogs. The earlier the presence of wild pigs is detected and control measures begun, the better.  Please immediately report any loose domestic (livestock) hogs or feral hogs you observe to the Virginia Wildlife Conflict Helpline at 1-855-571-9003 so they can be trapped and removed.
     In addition, the public comment period for hunting and trapping regulations is now open until May 22.  Among the proposed regulations is one mandating (1) the reporting o
f any trapped or harvested feral hogs, (2) requires any trapped feral hogs do not leave the trap site alive, and (3) that trapping be conducted only with landowner’s written permission.  Citizens are invited to comment at https://www3.dgif.virginia.gov/web/comment-2015/display.asp.  

From Winchester to Mexico
     Marie Majarov (VMN volunteer, Shenandoah Chapter) and her husband Milan began tagging monarchs at their home in Winchester in 2006.  Since then, they have tagged monarchs every year as part of the Monarch Watch citizen science project.  This year, a tag from a monarch they tagged was recovered in Mexico!  Monarch female tagged #TGR 277 in  the Majarovs’ yard on September 9th was recovered at the El Rosario overwintering site in Mexico.    “This is our first recovery…the chances for recovery of any tag are really VERY VERY low. This monarch was one we raised from a 2nd instar caterpillar found on a friend’s milkweed.  To have one of our 11 tagged monarchs recovered from the population of 54 million that made it to the overwintering grounds in Mexico is INCREDIBLE!!! ” says Marie.

VMNs Contribute to New Trail in Chesterfield County
By Lesha Berkel (VMN volunteer – Pocahontas Chapter)

     Members of the Pocahontas Chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalists recently teamed with the Chesterfield County Department of Parks and Recreation to construct nearly 6,600 feet of new trail within the John J. Radcliffe Conservation Area. The trail traverses a variety of terrain including marshlands, swamp, and forested uplands while providing beautiful views of a sprawling wetland bordering the Appomattox River. Beavers, deer, and waterfowl are prevalent in the area. The Department of Parks and Recreation plans to add additional boardwalks and bridges over some of the streams and other low lying ground along the trail in the coming months.
     During a series of public input meetings held last year, Chesterfield County solicited input on future parks and other recreational facilities and the type of amenities the citizens of Chesterfield County wanted to see in their parks. Access to more trails was a consistent theme heard at all of the public meetings. The construction of this new section of trail at the Radcliffe Conservation Area is a first step in responding to that demand. The Department of Parks and Recreation plans to continue opening new sections of trail and adding additional recreation facilities to satisfy the desires expressed in the public input meetings.
     As part of this weeklong effort, 20 VMN volunteers contributed more than 96 hours to help blaze the new trail. Not only was there great enthusiasm for the project, but the work also was meaningful to VMNs who grew up in the area.
     “It is a beautiful trail with varying elevations, great streams, wonderful marsh views and much potential,” commented Bert Browning. “I remember being in this area before the Brasfield dam was built. My father was on the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors (Matoaca District) at the time of its design and construction, and I walked through the woods with him to the river where markers showed where the dam was to be placed. This was back in the 1960s when I was growing up in the Ettrick/Matoaca area.”
     The new trail project in this area is an excellent example of how Virginia Master Naturalists work to benefit environmental education and conservation projects in their communities. We are proud to be a partner, and look forward to continued opportunities to assist Chesterfield’s Department of Parks and Recreation as the work continues on this trail and as the department moves forward on plans to create or enhance more trails in the county.
     Located just below the Brasfield Dam and Appomattox River Water Authority, the John J. Radcliffe Conservation Area, which consists of 87 acres of woodlands and swampland along the Appomattox River, provides a unique recreational experience to the recreating public. The property includes the Appomattox River Canoe Launch which provides a parking area and boat slide for small non-powered craft.

VMN Program Receives Virginia Native Plant Society Grant

     The Virginia Master Naturalist program has received a grant from the Virginia Native Plant Society to get Master Naturalist volunteers involved in monitoring occurrences of rare plants in Virginia.  We are working in partnership with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation Natural Heritage division to provide training for this project at our regional conferences in August and September.  In addition to the rare plant surveys, we will also train and involve volunteers in monitoring other rare species occurrences, including birds and butterflies.  Look for more information on how to get involved in the coming weeks.  VDCR and VMN staff hope that this pilot project will lead to a long-term effort to engage VMN volunteers in these kinds of surveys.

This article was written by Virginia Master Naturalist volunteers for their chapter annual reports, and then compiled and edited by Susan Austin Roth (Arlington Regional Chapter.)
     
     Master Naturalists across the Commonwealth deserve a round of applause for their efforts during the past year. In 2014, volunteer hours totaled 108,392 service hours with 26,355 of those hours in education, 35,092 in citizen science, 25,047 in stewardship, and 21,898 in administration.  These service hours have an estimated value to Virginia of $2,654,520.  In 2014, they made 102,951 contacts through their education programs; improved more than 2,500 acres of public land through their stewardship efforts; and trained 480 new volunteers. More than 1,000 Master Naturalists volunteered enough hours to maintain their certification, and, all told, 1,450 offered volunteer services. Chapters throughout Virginia worked with more than 450 local partner organizations.  Since the program’s inception in 2005, volunteers have contributed a total of 526,583 hours of service valued at more than $12.3 million.
     Read on for some highlights from chapters large and small across the state!

Central Piedmont Chapter

   In 2012, members began planning with Cumberland County 4-H and Bear Creek Lake State Park staff to develop a Young Naturalist Day Camp for 9 to 13 year olds.  In 2013 and 2014, a combined total of 30 youngsters enrolled in the camps and received exposure and instruction relating to mammals, reptiles and amphibians, insects, owls and other birds, fishing and canoeing, dip-netting for critters, tracking, and keeping a naturalist field journal.  The success of the camp can be measured by camper feedback, which was overwhelmingly positive!

Headwaters Chapter

    When the Headwaters Master Naturalist Volunteer Service Projects Committee canvassed their membership, the overwhelming choice was to do a focus project for The Wildlife Center of Virginia, a veterinary hospital for native wild animals in Waynesboro. Over the course of the next year, twenty -three volunteers devoted 281 service hours to the center. Their efforts were multi-pronged. One project involved removing the invasive non-native plants from the front of the building and replacing it with a garden to provide food for the wild animal patients. Another project was to design and build outreach displays and signs about native wildlife-friendly landscaping for the general public. Another was to achieve certification of the grounds as a National Wildlife Federation Wildlife Habitat.
    They sought to engage as many members’ talents as possible in this complex project, by working in new teams and with master gardeners. Twenty-three members participated in workdays, and other members provided refreshments and materials.  Each team functioned independently, but workdays were shared, and the timeline included several planning sessions and a public ribbon-cutting.  It was possible to build, dig, paint, plant, haul gravel, create a pond, feed volunteers, get to know each other better, involve the press for outreach, and cooperate with other groups.   The Chapter achieved their goals and those of of The Wildlife Center and set a wonderful precedent for annual focus projects in the future. 
     Specifically, the stone bed, native plant and pond teams worked together to renovate the north front garden bed by adding a pond and rain-barrels and plantings of native perennials. They also renovated the path connecting the upper and lower driveways with demonstration nest boxes, rabbitats and new signs.  Storm-water and soil quality were addressed in several ways, and clover was sown on an eroding bank behind the wildlife center.  The nest box team built and installed the demonstration nest boxes and created on-line nest box plan instructions for the Wildlife Center’s website, while the sign team designed and created new full-color aluminum signs, repaired, constructed and stained the sign boards, and provided information and an online tour for the Wildlife Center’s website.  (See more at www.wildlifecenter.org. )

     The project took one year to implement, and it was completed in August, 2014, with a wonderful ribbon-cutting that included an advanced education course on wild animal foods and tours of The Wildlife Center veterinary hospital and grounds. The benefit to the Wildlife Center of Virginia is obvious, but the significance of creating working teams that cross communicate and co-ordinate within the chapter cannot be overestimated for the development of chapter cohesion and functionality.  In addition, creating friendships and networking opportunities across partnering groups offers future gold for the chapter and the VMN Program.  Name recognition is also pure treasure both for our young chapter and for the program.

New River Valley Chapter

     The NRV Chapter applied for and received a $4,000 grant from the VA Department of Environmental Quality for a Citizen Water Quality Monitoring Program.  The area covered by the NRV Chapter lies on the Eastern Continental Divide and encompasses the headwaters of three watersheds.  At the time, there were no water-quality monitoring programs for collecting data in these watersheds.  The initial stream sampling plan included a total of nine locations in the New River and Roanoke River watersheds.  These locations were sampled for physical and chemical parameters from August through December in 2014, and for bacte
ria from September through December.  In addition, five locations were sampled for benthic invertebrates in the fall of 2014.  Money from the grant allowed the chapter to purchase a pH/DO/temperature meter as well as pay for E. coli analyses for the September through December sampling events.  Another goal of the Citizen Water Quality Monitoring Program was to train additional volunteers to be Certified Save Our Streams monitors.  Training classes were held in October through November and resulted in the certification of five additional SOS volunteers. This project involved nine volunteers totaling 100 service hours.

Pocahontas Chapter

     Fifteen volunteers devoted 215 Citizen Science service hours to bat monitoring at Pocahontas State Park. This project was  carefully designed from the start, and the projected monitoring sites and volunteers hours were right on track when the data was tabulated for the first bat monitoring season in 2014. Each week from April to October, volunteers gathered for quick instructions on how to count bats at selected sites, then set off in pairs to survey the eight to ten sites identified as most active. The teams worked to hone their observation skills in this challenging environment, determined criteria that would help them arrive at more accurate counts by careful monitoring of flight behaviors and feeding patterns, and worked as a team to collect data. In addition, after surveying existing bat houses and researching the most successful designs for new houses, volunteers built and installed four rocket-box-style bat houses in 2014. They spent the winter months constructing additional houses and maintaining existing houses.

Shenandoah Chapter

     Ten chapter members spent 93 hours working in conjunction with the VA Department of Conservation and Recreation to plan and execute a BioBlitz at Sky Meadows State Park. This consisted of a 24-hour exploration to rapidly inventory the biodiversity of a 76-acre area of the park.  Forty-two Master Naturalists, many from other chapters, as well as some park visitors, produced approximately 425 hours of citizen science volunteer service and a large amount of data that is still being processed. Future BioBlitz events for Sky Meadows  are planned for 2015. This BioBlitz represents the initial activity in a greater project that involves the chapter accepting the responsibility for the stewardship of a 76-acre plot within the park.  The chapter intends to develop interpretive programs, remove invasive species, and use the area as a living laboratory  to teach park visitors and Master Naturalists about the local wildlife diversity.

Central Blue Ridge Chapter

     Six volunteers offered 115 service hours in education at the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville, which works closely with the Rockfish Valley Foundation Natural History Center at Spruce Creek . The museum’s display exhibit for 2014 concerned biodiversity and featured informative panels and samples on loan from the center. Blue Ridge Master Naturalists supplied support for the exhibit, which was extremely popular. Master Naturalists and other docents were available each day the center was open for visitors. The outreach included describing trail locations and history of the area, plus the explaining the geology of the Rockfish Valley. Displays, handouts, kiosks and talks educate the visitors. Books, booklets, ID cards for animals, plants, butterflies, etc. and other items are on sale. Free handouts for children and adults are also available. Computers and WIFI are available for research purposes.
     Thanks to grants and donations, the center expanded the Children’s Corner to include many interactive activities about the stresses on our natural environment. They began an outdoor children’s trail, which will have stations displaying animals, geology, and native species. Gardening with native plants inspired the creation of a native species meadow that they will continue to expand and the beginnings of a milkweed garden and a butterfly area. Stuffed mammals were donated to the center so that children could see up close the animals living in our area. A black bear is especially enjoyed.
     In 2014, there were over 1,300 visitors to the museum.  In 2015, the museum will be open an additional day, and the children’s nature trail project will be completed with links to museum exhibits.

Arlington Regional Chapter

     In 2014, ARMN expanded its focus on habitat restoration work to embrace a number of neighborhood parks, including HOG Park ( Haley-Oakridge- Gunston), Tuckahoe Park, Long Branch, Gulf Branch, W&OD Trail near Bon Air Park, Fort, and Powhatan Springs. 
     A dedicated ARMN member, or members, who used several ‘best practices” to attract volunteers and community support take responsibility for organizing restoration efforts. These include regularly scheduled monthly invasive removal events, advertising to ARMN members and the broader community through county websites, and offering occasional natural history educational events related to the site.  As a result of this diligent stewardship, most sites show significant visual and habitat improvement. Areas cleared of invasives have rebounded with the natural reemergence of native plants, or have been restored with plantings of locally grown native plants. 
     ARMN has also maintained its long-term support for Barcroft Park, which has been identified by Arlington County in its Natural Resources Management Plan as one of the most valuable ecological sites owned by the county because it features globally-rare and state-rare wetlands and locally rare native plants; these include a sensitive magnolia bog area, as well as State Champion, County Champion and other significant trees.   ARMN volunteers continue to work with the county to be eyes and ears in maintaining this high ecologically valuable resource and as a result of Master Naturalists’ involvement, Arlington County is currently providing professional treatment of invasives to this park as part of a multi- year program. In 2014, ARMN support in Barcroft also involved partnering with a local high school and their teachers in the Advanced Placement Environmental Science classes
to direct an education and work day with the students.  In 2013, they had begun work with these teachers and students on a potential meadow site by removing invasives and planting appropriate native species provided by Earth Sangha. In 2014, the volunteers sponsored another work day with the students, which included an educational walk with the Arlington County Natural Resources Manager. 
     Fifty-two Arlington Regional Master Naturalists devoted 1244 hours of stewardship to these projects in 2014.

Eastern Shore Chapter

     The chapter made extraordinary contributions to songbird habitat restoration at Pickett’s Harbor Natural Area Preserve by DCR-DNH in 2013 and 2014. 
     The Eastern Shore of Virginia is an important stopover area for neo-tropical and temperate songbirds during autumn migration to wintering grounds. The birds congregate in shrub and forest habitats on the southern Delmarva Peninsula to rest and forage before crossing the physical barrier presented by the Chesapeake Bay. To ensure a successful migration, songbirds must consume large quantities of fruits and insects to replenish energy stores needed for long-distance flight. This is especially critical to birds stopped on the southern Delmarva Peninsula, because most are inexperienced first-year birds attempting to navigate the migration route for the first time. Inexperience increases the likelihood of inferior habitat selection, leading to the possibility of over expenditure of fat stores needed to reach wintering sites. Increasing the acreage of appropriate migratory songbird stopover habitat on the southern Delmarva Peninsula is, therefore, critical to the stability of neo-tropical and temperate migratory songbird populations and was the primary focus of conservation partners on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
     Beginning in November 2013 and ending in April 2014, Master Naturalists and other volunteers helped to plant 62 acres of former agricultural fields with southern wax myrtle shrubs and oak saplings at the preserve. Planting was completed in two separate operations: during two days in November, 2013, for shrub planting and over the course of a four-week period in March and April, 2014. Work was completed in-house by DCR-DNH staff with planting labor provided by the hard-working, dedicated volunteers, who contributed a total of 442 hours of labor at no cost to the project. Just one year after conversion from bare farm fields, the restoration site is already being used by at least 27 species of migratory birds. Pioneer plant species that naturally colonize recently cropped fields in combination with widely-spaced planted shrubs and tree saplings quickly provides preferred bird habitat and develops rapidly into exceptionally high-value cover. These early results illustrate the effectiveness of this method to quickly enhance habitat value for songbirds and the cost savings that can be realized by developing and utilizing a strong, organized network of dedicated volunteers for conservation work. 

This article draws on details and photos reported in 
Field, D.P. and R.K. Myers. 2014. Pickett’s Harbor Natural Area Preserve Migratory Songbird Habitat Restoration. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond, Virginia. Final report for Task 11.05, FY 2011, Section 306A submitted to USDC National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Natural Heritage Technical Report # 14-09, November 2014. 12 pp.