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Want to learn about the natural world and participate in volunteer projects to benefit natural resource conservation in Virginia?  Virginia Master Naturalist chapters in many locations are now recruiting new volunteers to participate in their fall basic training courses.  Classroom and field sessions led by expert naturalists, scientists, and natural resource managers will cover topics from trees to birds to stream ecology.  Completing the course is the first step to becoming a Certified Virginia Master Naturalist volunteer and gives you access to a wide range of local and statewide volunteer projects to help you spend time outdoors with a purpose!  Learn more about the program at http://www.virginiamasternaturalist.org, and contact your local chapter for additional information and applications.

Locations, deadlines, schedules, and contacts for Fall 2016 VMN Basic Training Courses:

• Arlington, Arlington Regional Chapter: Application deadline is August 20, class is evenings September 6-December 6, 7-10 pm, https://armn.org 
• Eastern Shore, Eastern Shore Chapter: Application deadline is August 22, class is daytime September-November, http://www.masternaturalistesva.com 
• Fairfax, Fairfax Chapter: Application deadline is August 1, class is evenings September 8-December 1, http://www.vmnfairfax.org 
• Fredericksburg, Central Rappahannock Chapter: Application deadline is August 8, class is daytime August 8-December 6, http://masternaturalistcrc.blogspot.com 
• Powhatan/Goochland, James River Chapter: Application deadline is August 1, class is evenings September 6-December 13,  https://jamesrivermasternaturalists.wordpress.com, email jamesrivermn@gmail.com for application
• Leesburg, Banshee Reeks Chapter: Application deadline is September 1, class is daytime September 17-April 2017, http://www.vmnbansheereeks.org 
• Newport News, Peninsula Chapter: Applications now being accepted, class is Wednesday evenings September-December, http://vmnpeninsula.weebly.com 
• Williamsburg, Historic Rivers Chapter: Applications are first-come, first-served, class evenings September 6-March 8, http://www.historicrivers.org 
• Wise, High Knob Chapter: Application deadline is July 25 (some late applications may be accepted), class evenings August 8-November 7, contact pmeeks@vt.edu for more information and an application.

The Virginia Master Naturalist program’s state office is now accepting nominations for three statewide awards: Volunteer of the Year, Project of the Year, and Advisor of the Year. These awards will be judged by the VMN statewide office team and at least one VMN Steering Committee member. We will announce and distribute the awards at our annual conference, Friday evening, August 26.

To submit a nomination, please send the information requested for that particular award to Michelle Prysby, mprysby@vt.edu. Nominations are due by July 25 at 5 pm. 

Volunteer of the Year
This award is intended to recognize a volunteer who has made outstanding contributions to natural resource education, citizen science, and/or stewardship. There is no minimum requirement for amount of hours or length of service for a volunteer to receive this award.
In your nominations, please include the following:

• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation of nominator
• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation of the nominee
• Description of why the nominee should receive the award, limited to 400 words. You may choose to include a description of the individual’s service, specific examples of positive impacts made, aspects that make the individual stand out from other volunteers, and quotes from other volunteers or local partners.
• You may include examples from the individual’s entire length of service, but please place your primary focus on the last 1-2 years.

 
Project of the Year
This award is intended to recognize a chapter or individual volunteer’s project that has made significant and noteworthy positive impacts for natural resource education, citizen science, and/or stewardship within the last 1-2 years. Nominated projects should be projects created and led by a VMN volunteer or chapter, but they may be in partnership with other entities.
In your nominations, please include the following:

• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation of the nominator
• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation for the primary VMN volunteer contact for the project
• Description of why the project should receive the award, limited to 400 words. Please include a description of the project goals, activities completed, and impacts and outcomes for natural resources in your community. Include the roles and contributions of VMN volunteers to the project. Identify any significant partners for the project.

 
Chapter Advisor of the Year
This award is intended to recognize a chapter advisor who has made significant and noteworthy contributions to a VMN chapter within the last 1-2 years.
In your nominations, please include the following:

• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation of the nominator
• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation of the chapter advisor
• Description of why the chapter advisor should receive the award, limited to 400 words. Please include specific examples of how the chapter advisor has helped the chapter run effectively, make positive impacts in the community, or otherwise achieve its goals.

Please help us recognize the outstanding work and people of your chapters!

Stewardship Virginia
This article was submitted via press release from the Office of the Governor and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Stewardship Virginia, a statewide campaign to encourage and recognize voluntary work that improves Virginia’s natural resources, continues this year with events across the state. The campaign features activities in both fall and spring, and the upcoming portion will run April 1 through May 31. 

“Stewardship Virginia gives us all an opportunity to make real contributions to our natural and historic resources. Virginia’s landscapes and waterways are important for their ecological value, scenic beauty, and recreational opportunities,” said Governor Terry McAuliffe. “Stewardship Virginia projects give volunteers the tools, guidance and structure to continue to enhance these valuable resources. I encourage all Virginians to join in.”

Citizens and groups may get help from the state’s natural resource agencies. Participants in Stewardship Virginia events will receive certificates of appreciation signed by Governor McAuliffe.  “During the campaign, events will be held throughout Virginia with many opportunities for volunteerism in our parks and natural areas,” said Clyde Cristman, Director of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). “This year, we’re emphasizing the need to restore habitat for pollinators, which have suffered in recent years.”

DCR coordinates the campaign with help from other natural resource agencies. The 2015 Stewardship Virginia campaign resulted in more than 250 events across Virginia. About 5,000 volunteers conducted 107 waterway cleanups and water-quality monitoring programs, 75 plantings and restoration projects, 40 cleanup and recycling efforts and 28 educational programs.
 
“With all the great opportunities available, anyone can find a Stewardship Virginia event that’s rewarding both personally and environmentally,” said Secretary of Natural Resources Molly Ward. “Volunteering is a great way to get outside and make a difference at the same time.”

Stewardship Virginia promotes waterway adoption, trail improvement, riparian buffer plantings, invasive species control, habitat improvement and landscaping for conservation. Many businesses and groups across the state have already registered campaign events and provided support to promote conservation.

Individuals, businesses and organizations may register Stewardship Virginia projects with DCR’s Office of Environmental Education. Doing so makes event details available for others to join in. For more information, including a registration packet, call 804-786-5056.

Visit Stewardship Virginia for details about volunteer projects and a registration form.

Workshop:  Creating & Tending Backyard Woods
 
Do you have some woods or a few acres you’d like to be a natural area?  While you may enjoy your woods for the privacy it offers or knowing that it gives a home to some wildlife, it can be much more!  You can influence what happens in your natural area by better understanding what you have, what you want and available tools to help you accomplish your goals.  For example, did you know that by selecting certain trees for firewood, you can improve wildlife habitat, scenic values and regenerate young trees, all at the same time?
 
A full day workshop is being offered to equip owners of 1-10 acres to learn how to manage existing natural areas and or create new natural areas.  The workshop will use the latest edition of the award winning manual, The Woods in Your Backyard: Learning to Create and Enhance Natural Areas Around Your Home.  This full-color 108-page workbook helps woodland owners identify goals for their land, and walks through the steps to success.  Whether you are interested in converting lawn to forest, creating wildlife habitat, or providing a useful outdoor space for your family, this program is for you.
 
The workshop will be held at the following locations and dates.

• Warrenton, VA, 
  May 6, 2016
  9AM to 2PM

• Winchester, VA
  May 13, 2016
  12PM to 5PM

• Charlottesville, VA
  May 20, 2016
  9AM to 2PM

• Harrisonburg, VA
  June 10, 2016
  ​12PM to 5PM

The cost of the training is $30 for individuals or $45 per couple, which includes lunch.  Attendance is limited and pre-registration is required.  To register, contact the Northern District Natural Resources Extension Program at 540-948-6881.  A brochure with more information can be downloaded from https://forestupdate.frec.vt.edu/resources/woodlots/index.html.  This program is sponsored by:  Virginia Cooperative Extension, The Virginia Department of Forestry, Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries and the Forests for the Bay Program.

Virginia Cooperative Extension programs and employment are open to all, regardless of age, color, disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. An equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.

Best Wishes to a VMN Steering Committee Member

We would like to congratulation Carol Zokaites on her retirement, which she will begin May 1! Carol has been a long-standing member of the VMN Steering Committee, as one of the representatives from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.  VMN members may know Carol best from her role coordinating Project Underground, an environmental education program and curriculum focused on karst and caves.  We thank Carol for her service to the program and wish her well in her new life phase!

Connecting with Kids
adapted from an article by Michael Swisher, Arlington Partnership for Children, Youth & Families and Bill Browning, ARMN Volunteer

Tobin (Toby) Smith was recently selected as a Connect with Kids Champion, an award created by the Arlington County Partnership for Children, Youth & Families as a way to recognize people who go above and beyond in building supportive relationships with young people.

Toby is an Arlington Regional Master Naturalist who works with Arlington 4-H and has connected with kids since 1988, using nature and fishing as the hook. Starting with a 4-H Gardening Club for children of refugees from Southeast Asia, Toby then formed a 4-H Fishing Club for ten children ages eight through ten. He worked with that group until they graduated from high school.
​
Fishing and gardening activities allowed Toby to teach leadership and environmental stewardship. But as the club members got older, he found that they were often teaching him about friendship and other life lessons. He stays in contact with many of them, who are now raising children of their own. And Toby continues to connect with kids––and connect them to nature––through the 4-H Junior Naturalists clubs.

​Peninsula Chapter Members Recognized

Before a dinner crowd of 400 guests, on April 13, 2016, Pam Courtney and Brad Halcums were recognized as Volunteers of the Year in the Family Category by VOLUNTEER Hampton Roads.  This group represents the public and private sectors in eastern Virginia and supports nonprofit activities.   Pam and Brad achieved this honor through their work at the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News which has been a steadfast partner with the Peninsula Chapter since 2008.

In Memoriam

We also use this Laurels column to recognize VMN volunteers who are no longer with us.  Thank you to Marion Jordan and Kasha Helget for sending these beautiful tributes to two volunteers who really made a difference in their community.  

The VMN-Arlington Regional Chapter lost one of its most dedicated members, Martha “Clare” Hayden, on October 13, 2015, following a brave fight with cancer. Clare came to this area from Wisconsin and worked as a translator for the Embassy of Spain, the International Monetary Fund, the Pan American Health Organization, and the World Bank.

Clare was a dedicated champion of nature who worked to restore native habitats. As a resident of Arlington Village, she cofounded their Environmental Resources Committee, which worked to restore the five-acre Oak-Hickory woods along a stream in the village. She also was on the board of the neighborhood association, served on the village’s Grounds Committee, and advanced the use of native plants in the townhouse community.

As a certified Arlington Regional Master Naturalist and Tree Steward, Clare was involved in many restoration projects and was active as a volunteer at Earth Sangha Native Plant Nursery in Springfield. Clare was especially interested in prot
ecting and maintaining the native tree canopy in Arlington County, and her many naturalist friends admired her forceful advocacy and frequent intervention to save endangered trees. Clare also devoted her time and talents to Arlington Independent Media and the DC Books to Prisons program.

The Arlington Regional Chapter  lost another dedicated member, Jerry Schrepple, on March 15, 2016.  Jerry had been an active volunteer since graduating with the Spring 2009 ARMN Basic Training class. Jerry contributed to so many habitat restoration projects, including invasive removal and plantings in local parks, seed collection, cleaning, and nursery work with Earth Sangha, and stream-water monitoring. He was known for his expertise in building bird houses and he happily shared that knowledge through hands-on workshops. Jerry championed the restoration of the site next to the bike path by Bon Air Park in Arlington. This “Take Back the Trail” project resulted in the transformation of a previously neglected site covered with invasives into a meadow that now features native plants which are visible to all who use that section of the bike path.