Home and Latest News

​The VMN state office and a team of volunteers from the Blue Ridge Foothills and Lakes Chapter have been working hard over the last several months to plan the 2016 VMN Statewide Volunteer Conference and Training.  It is still almost four months away, but we are finalizing all the sessions and presenters, pinning down details at the venue, and preparing the conference website.
 
Registration will open in June, so we want to give you a preview of the conference now to whet your appetite for the natural resources smorgasbord that we will have for you! 
 
Venue
The Skelton 4-H Educational Conference Center at Smith Mountain Lake is a wonderful venue for our needs.  Attendees will be able to choose from several styles of lodging rooms, all at affordable prices.  There are many classrooms for breakout sessions, including a computer lab with tablets that we’ll make use of for training on some citizen science-related technologies.  The grounds include trails and lake access that will be incorporated into some of the sessions. 
 
On-site sessions
We have thirty (!) on-site concurrent sessions from which VMN volunteers may choose.  Interested in plants?  Attend a session on replacing turf with natives or on identifying sedges.  Are herps your thing?  Track box turtles, become trained for the Frog Watch USA project, or learn how snakes kill and eat their prey.  Want to build skills for educating others?  Get ideas for interactive and easy outreach activities for festivals and events or learn the best way to communicate about climate change.  Instructors for these sessions include highly rated local presenters as well as state agency personnel and other presenters from across the state.
 
Off-site sessions
Many of the on-site sessions will make use of the outdoors since we have the 4-H Center campus available to us, but we will have field trips as well.  Among them are hikes to two different DCR Natural Area Preserves, a fungi foray at Claytor Nature Study Center, and a BioBlitz at Booker T. Washington National Monument.  We will also have pre-conference field trips at Booker T. Washington National Monument and at Smith Mountain Lake State Park.
 
Back By Popular Demand
Our program is old enough to now have some traditions, and we’ll be bringing back your favorites to the conference as well.  Expect the Friday night “Chapter Share Fair” where you can show off the great things your chapter is doing and gather ideas from others.  The VMN photo contest will return — rules are already posted at https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/custom.aspx?EventID=1831018&_i=sCWrb7lOOoE%3d.  (Note that there are limited entries per chapter; some chapters have an internal competition to choose their entries.)   We will also have program awards, so watch for information about nominations which will be sent out in the coming weeks.  This and registration details will be available through the Volunteer Management System once they are posted.
 
We hope to learn, celebrate, and swap ideas with you in August on the shores of Smith Mountain Lake! 

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.  

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.

Recognizing a Valuable Partnership
The VMN Eastern Shore Chapter was recognized in “Wildlife Chatter”, the newsletter of the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge (ESVNWR) for their longstanding partnership and many volunteer efforts on the refuge.  Quoted from the newsletter: “The Eastern Shore Chapter of Virginia Master Naturalists have been one of our strongest partners over the years. They volunteer in our Visitor Center, they lead guided tours on Fisherman Island, and they help us with environmental education and public outreach. This past April and again in October, they once again stepped up to help us complete a project, this time removing hundreds of plastic tree tubes and recording the different species and survival rates along the way. This project will help us increase the sources of high quality forage for migratory birds as they stop to rest and refuel on their long journey.”

​–Submitted by Frank Renshaw, VMN – Eastern Shore Chapter, with excerpts from “Wildlife Chatter” by the ESVNWR

A Friend to Bluebirds
Clark Walter (VMN – Rivanna Chapter) was awarded the 2015 Volunteer of the Year Award by the Virginia Bluebird Society.  Clark began building nest boxes in 2012 for his own bluebird trail when Ann Dunn recruited him and for members of his VMN training cohort. Clark started and continues to build nest boxes, pole and baffle predator guards for the cost of materials donating his time as his volunteer service for VMN.   Word has spread over the past four years to VMNs statewide with  VMNs coming from the farthest corners of the State to pick up bluebird nest boxes.  Word has spread beyond VMN and orders now come in from Virginia Bluebird Society members statewide as well as various  conservation facilities, academic institutions, neighborhood associations and bird clubs all over the state and even extending across state lines into Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.  This past Fall his annual call to build bluebird nest boxes for the cost of materials resulted in orders for 310 nest boxes and 258 poles/baffle predator guard set ups.   Material costs for this Fall’s orders were almost $8k.  What started as a very modest effort in 2012 for his own trail and a few of his VMN classmates has now produced over 1,000 nest boxes and turned into a small not-for-profit enterprise managing orders, production, space, materials, etc.  He has recorded approximately 250 VMN hours of volunteer time just building nest boxes in 2015.  This does not include the countless unreported hours for taking and tracking orders, assembling material lists, ordering and loading in materials, meeting with people when they pick up their orders, answering countless questions, giving presentations to groups, assisting people with installation and on and on.  Congratulations, Clark, and thank you for your service!
​
–-Submitted by Connie Friend, VMN – Rivanna Chapter