July 2015

Each quarter in our Laurels post, we highlight accomplishments of our VMN volunteers, including awards received, noteworthy project impacts, and creative ideas.  Our chapters submit these items for inclusion.  If we missed a Laurel from your chapter, please contact Michelle Prysby, mprysby@vt.edu, so that we can include it next time!

Reducing Litter in the Community
VMN volunteer Claudia Lee (Historic Southside Chapter) planned a program to reduce litter by increasing recycling of fishing line.  Her program recently was awarded a $200 grant from the Suffolk Clean Community Commission to put in the recycling bins. 

A Parade of Fishes
The New River Valley Master Naturalists carried out a creative plan to raise awareness in their community about biodiversity in freshwater streams.  Over the course of six months, they designed and built a float for Blacksburg’s Fourth of July parade, titled “In a Stream Near You.”  The premier feature of the float was a 10-foot Bluehead Chub, a mound-building freshwater fish native to Virginia.  “Chubby” was joined by a variety of minnows, which also make use of the nest mounds that the chub builds.  The float was featured in the Roanoke Times, won an award for the best representation of the parade’s theme (This Land is Your Land), and surely built community awareness of these aquatic resources!  Take a look at their creative (and biologically accurate) float elements in the gallery below, with photos courtesy of New River Valley Master Naturalist volunteer Bill Sydor.

Signs of Progress
The Old Rag Chapter wrote with an update on their Town of Washington project, an inspiring restoration that has turned an empty lot filled with invasive and trash into a thriving habitat for pollinators, wetland species, and more.  Three years ago, a butterfly count at the site revealed only three butterflies.  This summer, VMN volunteer Jack Price reports, “”I thought it would be nice to let the group know that we must be doing something right at out Town of Washington nature trail project.  Today, during our workday, I found a monarch caterpillar feeding on the Butterflyweed at the project.   In a little over 3 years, the area has gone from being a trash dump full of invasive plants, to a habitat that hosts a variety of birds and butterflies, now including monarchs.” 

Capturing Award-Winning Wildlife Photos
Pat Temples (VMN volunteer, Old Rag Chapter) is once again a winner in multiple categories in the annual Virginia Wildlife Photography contest.  Her award-winning photographs are featured in the July/August 2015 issue of Virginia Wildlife.  

Honoring Margie Dexter
The Pocahontas Chapter has created a new memorial scholarship for their VMN basic training course.  The Margaret “Margie” Dexter VMN Training Scholarship was established by the Pocahontas Chapter Board of Directors and its membership with plans to award it annually to an individual whose personal or professional experience and interests exemplifies a spirit of dedication to the mission and values of the Virginia Master Naturalist program.  What a beautiful way to honor the memory of Margie (a long-time Pocahontas Master Naturalist) and her many contributions to the chapter!

An Allen & Allen Hometown Hero
VMN volunteer Walter Hussey (Rivanna Chapter) was recognized as one of just 50 Hometown Heroes from across the Commonwealth.  The Allen & Allen Hometown Heroes award recognizes Virginians who are responsible for generating positive change in the community or in the lives of others.  Walter has been the major leader and organizer of the restoration of more than 50 acres of parkland in Fluvanna’s Pleasant Grove park.  Not only has he led the creation of pollinator and quail habitats at the site, he has personally planted more than 850 trees.  Wow!

Joe Penfold Memorial Award for the Virginia Master Naturalist Program     
Marie Majarov (VMN volunteer, Shenandoah Chapter) is a member of the Mason-Dixon Outdoor Writers Association, a professional writers group that encompasses the mid-Atlantic states.  Every spring they hold an Excellence-in-Craft competition for works published during the previous year. One of their special awards, the Joe Penfold Memorial Award, is given to an outdoor organization for grassroots conservation efforts based on a member’s publication. Marie nominated the Virginia Master Naturalist program based on her article in Virginia Wildlife magazine…and the VMN won!

Joe Penfold, for whom the award is named, is a very important conservationist of the 20th century.  He is not well-known but ranking in importance with names like Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson. Take a moment to learn more about him!

On behalf of the Mason-Dixon Outdoor Writers Association, Marie presented VMN program leaders with a plaque in May at a volunteer training workshop near Front Royal, VA.  We are so honored to receive this award and so appreciative of the efforts of both Marie and her VMN chapter.

By Chris Burkett, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries

Why is it so Difficult to Restore Endangered Species?

In 1973, when President Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act (ESA) into law, the nation made a profound statement. We said that wildlife are a valuable American resource, and we don’t want to squander our natural heritage. For more than 40 years, the nation’s conservation community has been trying to live up to this ideal. However, as we’ve learned, endangered species conservation can be incredibly difficult, expensive, and have significant impacts on people, communities, and economies.

Part of the problem is that when you are dealing with an endangered species, by definition, there are very few individuals of a particular species with which to work. It can take a long time for a population to breed, raise young, and expand into new areas. At the same time, these populations must still deal with predation, disease, illegal activities, and genetic bottlenecks. Very often, these problems are compounded by a lack of suitable habitats. To address these issues, the ESA includes a number of funding options to help species recover. The ESA also includes regulatory tools to make sure that individual animals (and plants) aren’t killed illegally and that occupied habitats aren’t destroyed. It is these regulatory tools that often result in bitter conflicts between landowners, communities, businesses, and conservationists.

While the ESA has successfully conserved diverse species like bald eagles, American alligators, and grizzly bears, it’s implementation has also proven to be expensive, time consuming, and politically contentious.

Is There a Better Way to do Things?  

Beginning in the 1990s, after the political battles over northern spotted owls, snail darters, and gray wolves, many conservationists began asking if we are doing the right things regarding endangered species. The intent wasn’t to undermine the ESA but, rather, to find a more effective way to manage these species in ways that were not so expensive or injurious to people and communities. After years of discussion and debate, the consensus was that the best way to deal with endangered species is to keep species from becoming endangered in the first place. If you can keep healthy populations in healthy habitats then regulations might not be required and the conflicts can be avoided.

Working with Congress, the 56 state and territorial wildlife agencies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and thousands of conservation partners hit upon an idea; a Federal-State-Private partnership to keep species from becoming endangered. At the core of this effort is each state’s Wildlife Action Plan that identifies the species of greatest conservation need, the habitats they require, the threats impacting these species and habitats, and actions that can be taken to address those threats.

Collaborative Science is the product of a research grant entitled ‘Sustaining ecological communities through citizen science and online collaboration.’ This research is supported by the National Science Foundation and is intended to help engage individuals in using technology to conduct locally based, but regionally connected, natural resource stewardship projects. Collaborative Science uses a series of web-based modeling and social media tools to engage Virginia Master Naturalists in conducting authentic science. This includes making field observations, engaging in collaborative discussions, graphically representing data, and modeling ecological systems. The goal of these efforts is to allow volunteers to engage in natural resource management and conservation. 

Collaborators in this project include learning scientists, ecologists, and computer and information scientists from several higher education institutions, including Rutgers University’s Program in Science Learning, Virginia Tech’s Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Colorado State University’s Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, the University of Massachusetts, and Virginia Master Naturalist volunteers. 

The results from this project will help to build and assess a collaborative science learning system as a tool to teach citizens about authentic scientific inquiry and how these citizens can become citizen scientists by engaging in authentic and necessary scientific practices.

Below, we share examples of some of the Collaborative Science projects VMN volunteers are leading.

Sample Project – Booker T. Washington Native Plantings Experiment

Text by Rick Watson, Blue Ridge Foothills and Lakes Chapter

The Blue Ridge Foothills and Lakes Chapter recently launched a Collaborative Science project at Booker T. Washington National Monument (BTWMN).  Project volunteers will localize and eradicate invasive grasses, e.g., Johnson grass, from a 15 by 30 meter area within a primarily fescue grass field at BTWNM.  Efforts will involve spot herbicide treatments in mid/late summer, followed by restoration planting in that area with three different mix types of native grasses (e.g., Big/Little Bluestem, Switch grass, Indian grass) in the fall.  Spring and summer growth will then be assessed by volunteers in May and September of the following year.  The goal is to determine which native grass mix, if any, competes most effectively with, and thereby deters, the Johnson grass invasive, thus providing park personnel with key information on how they might restore the monument fields to ecological conditions typical of those in the late 1800s.

A mini-grant, courtesy of the National Science Foundation project, is covering herbicide, seed, and other materials costs.  Twelve volunteers participated in an online facilitated web-based building of a project model that successfully highlighted all the elements that could impact the project plan.  This model, along with key technical guidance from the BRFAL Chapter Advisor, was used to guide the detailed project plan design.   The site was assessed and a proposed study area approved by BTWNM management.  The test area was then marked off and staked and the first herbicide treatment conducted July 15th.  Results from the study will be documented in the Collaborative Science website, where others may learn and apply it.

Sample Project – Improving Water Quality at Bundoran Farm

Text by Mary Tillman, Rivanna Chapter

Rivanna Master Naturalists on Bundoran Farm wanted to improve the water quality in the Chesapeake Bay by improving water quality in their own back yard, the Middle Branch of the Hardware River.  

A year ago when we joined a training on collaborative science, we decided to apply what we learned to Bundoran Farm, a 2300 acre preservation development where the goals are to use best practices in protecting the environment, maintaining the viewshed, and preserving farmland. Cattle, horses and sheep graze on the extensive pastures which allows Bundoran to fulfill its mission to support agriculture. Unfortunately the cows also use the streams to cool themselves and to defecate. The run off from the pastures as well as livestock contamination of the streams has contributed to water pollution in both our watershed and ultimately in the bay. It stood to reason that if we could deny the animals direct access to the streams and provide them with an alternative water source we might be able to eliminate sources of pollution here on the farm as well as throughout the larger watershed. The collaborative training helped us do just that.

The training taught us how to develop and implement solutions to problems in a new way. Rather than creating an outline where one step follows another, we learned to think more dynamically, not censoring or ordering in a linear way, but freely generating all obstacles or challenges that we thought we might encounter. Instead of making lists we wrote these obstacles onto balloons or satellites that rotated around a core where we had written a brief statement of our project. In our case it was “fencing livestock out of streams.” We also connected obstacles that were related.

Bundoran Farm has many individuals and groups who needed to support the project if we wer
e going to be successful. They were the homeowners who would be affected by the fencing of their property, the farmers who used the land for their livestock, the employees who worked for the developer, the Farm Management Committee who would ultimately recommend either for or against the project to the Board of Directors, and the developer himself. Each of these groups received their own balloon in the planning process and had to be approached differently in order to get them on board. In addition to the groups with vested interests in the project, we had other obstacles to overcome.

The well being of the cattle was an important consideration. Once we fenced the livestock out of the streams we had to find other sources for water. We needed to dig at least one well, run pipes from the well to various fields, and provide water troughs with cement pads. We also were concerned about making sure that the animals had access to shade. Each of these ideas got a balloon.

Another concern was how we would demonstrate that our project really did improve water quality. We did this by teaching ourselves to test for E. coli bacteria. We used James Beckley’s presentations on You Tube as a learning tool, bought the materials we needed, and set up and implemented a schedule for testing.

Probably the most important consideration was funding for the project. We worked with the Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District whose aims were similar to ours, and we became one of their largest projects. Besides providing the fencing, piping, water troughs, gates and a well, they drew up a fencing plan that encouraged farmers to rotate their cattle on a more regular basis. Bundoran Farm benefitted from a TJSWCD grant that covered 100% of the costs.

When we completed our fencing project, we were left with 35 feet of pasture on each side of the streams that was no longer available to cattle. This riparian buffer, required by the project, helps to filter impurities out of the streams as they flow though the farm. The presence of the buffer has given us a unique opportunity to create an educational trail that follows the stream through a variety of habitats—open pasture, a fresh water marsh, woodland and a lake. Each habitat attracts different kinds of flora and fauna throughout the year.  What we want to do now is build a trail that makes use of the buffer to educate the residents of the farm, school groups and Master Naturalists. We hope to use the collaborative science model to help us realize this next goal.

Other on-going Collaborative Science projects include a study by the Historic Southside Chapter of the most effective methods for managing Japanese stiltgrass within a longleaf pine ecosystem and a multi-chapter investigation of varying methods of deterring house sparrows from nesting in bluebird boxes.  In particular, this group is investigating the efficacy of swapping sparrow eggs with fake plastic or wooden eggs in order to dupe the birds into wasting time and energy tending a nest that will never result in fledglings.  As all these projects are improving understanding of natural resources and contributing to conservation efforts, researchers also are learning about how the volunteers learn and use online tools throughout the Collaborative Science process.

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

Phase 1 – Early Registration (June 29 – July 5)
Open to Chapter Liaisons and Conference Volunteers 

Phase 2 – Restricted Registration (July 6 – July 26)
Registration open to chapter volunteers, with limited space per chapter

Phase 3 – Regional Registration (July 27 – August 9)
If space allows, registration will open to any VMN in the Central Region

Phase 4 – Statewide Registration (August 10 – August 16)
If space allows, registration will open to any VMN in the state 

Registration Closes for All on August 16

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

Phase 1 – Early Registration (June 29 – July 5)
Open to Chapter Liaisons and Conference Volunteers 

Phase 2 – Restricted Registration (July 6 – July 26)
Registration open to chapter volunteers, with limited space per chapter

Phase 3 – Regional Registration (July 27 – August 9)
If space allows, registration will open to any VMN in the Southeast Region

Phase 4 – Statewide Registration (August 10 – August 16)
If space allows, registration will open to any VMN in the state 

Registration Closes for All on August 16

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

Phase 1 – Early Registration (July 27 – August 2)
Open to Chapter Liaisons and Conference Volunteers 

Phase 2 – Restricted Registration (August 3 – August 23)
Registration open to chapter volunteers, with limited space per chapter

Phase 3 – Regional Registration (August 24 – September 6)
If space allows, registration will open to any VMN in the Southwest Region

Phase 4 – Statewide Registration (September 7 – September 13)
If space allows, registration will open to any VMN in the state 

Registration Closes for All on September 13

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

Phase 1 – Early Registration (July 27 – August 2)
Open to Chapter Liaisons and Conference Volunteers 

Phase 2 – Restricted Registration (August 3 – August 23)
Registration open to chapter volunteers, with limited space per chapter

Phase 3 – Regional Registration (August 24 – September 6)
If space allows, registration will open to any VMN in the Northern Region

Phase 4 – Statewide Registration (September 7 – September 13)
If space allows, registration will open to any VMN in the state 

Registration Closes for All on September 13