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In Memoriam

​We remember two excellent naturalists and volunteers who have passed away this fall and will be very much missed.

 Guy Buford helped start VMN’s Blue Ridge Foothills and Lakes Chapter in 2007 and was a beloved, active member of and instructor for the chapter for more than a decade. Among his many lifelong accomplishments was helping to build some segments of the Appalachian Trail in the 1950s. Guy was still contributing VMN volunteer service in his late 80s, monitoring water quality at Booker T. Washington National Monument and tracking precipitation for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network. Read more about Guy’s life in this obituary. 

Thank you to Rich Brager for sharing photos and stories about Guy!

Corporate Volunteering at Sensory Explorers’ Trail

–By Sue Bailey, VMN Shenandoah Chapter
Originally appeared in the Shenandoah Chapter’s newsletter, the Shenandoah Saw-whet
One of our chapter’s remarkable initiatives is the Sensory Explorers’ Trail (SET) at Sky Meadows State Park. 
 
“The trail provides visitors a way to engage their senses in the exploration of the natural world. In addition, it has special adaptations for the visually, hearing, and mobility impaired visitors. The trail offers .3 miles of discovery with eight stops along the way to guide visitors so that they can enjoy the sights, sounds, smells, and textures of the environment.”   

After volunteering on the SET, a couple of years ago, I wondered if this might be volunteer opportunity for a newly formed group at my employer, Micron Semiconductor. The Micron employee group is called Capable.  Its vision is to foster a workplace where seen and unseen disabilities are embraced. So, I approached Laure Wallace about the Capable team helping with the SET & VMN and she embraced it. In working with Laure, MK Ruffner & Ed Tobias, a plan was developed to have the Micron Capable team assist with the removal of invasive species along the trail in April 2022.  

The 2022 event was such a success that it was held again this past April. The word success does not capture the true essence of this event. Yes, a lot of invasive plants such as garlic mustard, Japanese stiltgrass, and barberry were removed. Yes, the event drew the largest number of volunteers for any Micron Capable team community volunteer event. These are great but, what is most incredible is that the VMN team also created a truly amazing learning event, sparked interest in native plants & the natural world, and fostered a strong desire to be a part of something bigger than us!  

 I can’t begin to explain the number of times that Micron volunteers have expressed their appreciation of the event, Sky Meadows State Park, and the VMN team for their knowledge, their time, and their excitement about the ecosystem. Team members continue to stop me in the hallway to ask questions about nature; to note that they are now researching & planting native plants; to share a cool sighting; to mention they saw a butterfly (which triggered their memory of MK showing them a pawpaw tree & teaching them that the tree is host for the zebra swallowtail butterfly); or, to recall a other memories such as the number of jack-in-the-pulpits or, filling the back of Laure’s car full of “weeds” (garlic mustard). This is inspiring to me, and I want to express my thanks again to Laure, MK, Ed, Bill Moore, Rob Williams, Erin Clark, and Sky Meadows State Park for all their
efforts and for making such a positive difference.   In my mind, this is what being a Virginia Master Naturalist is all about!   

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Fairfax Master Naturalist Recognized for Environmental Excellence

–Contributed by Jerry Nissley
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On September 13th, the Fairfax County Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination (OEEC) announced the recipients of the 2023 Environmental Excellence Awards. This year’s winners include a high school senior working on environmental stewardship, a small business reducing waste, a condo association safeguarding green spaces for its residents, and three county employees advancing sustainability practices. Joe Gorney, VMN volunteer in the Fairfax Chapter, was one of the three winners in the County Employee Category.

Joe’s award profile stated that he is a Planner with the Department of Planning and Development, Environment and Development Review Branch. He works collaboratively with other county agencies on a diverse range of environmental review topics, working to create a sustainable future for residents and employees. He was the staff lead for the Environmental Plan guidance update for the Reston planning study, designating Reston as “biophilic” community.

Joe is a Fairfax Chapter past President and currently teaches the “Personal Stewardship for the Land” module for FMN Basic Training Cohorts. He was part of a team that monitored 36 bluebird boxes at Twin Lakes for several years. He also helped establish the golf course as an Invasive Management Area (IMA) site and has now transitioned to IMA site leadership duties.

In 2023 he has already volunteered over 40 hours in several categories. In addition to the IMA site leadership role at Twin Lakes, he has been busy designing a couple of native plantings at the Fairfax County Government Center (GC). He said, “We’ve already removed invasives around the GC Memorial area, which is an ongoing management process, and planted the area with natives. We’re also investigating planting 48 native trees around the GC Ellipse, which may happen in mid-October. I’m also inventorying landscape invasives around the GC, which are to be removed and replaced with natives, and designing other native tree plantings to the east of the GC. In addition to invasive pulls at the GC Memorial area, I’ve helped organize and participate in invasive pulls at the Herrity Building.” Joe also found time to be active on Audubon Home Ambassador projects and support FMN board with occasional admin duties.

Please join FMN in congratulating Joe on his well earned 2023 Environmental Excellence Award.

Victoria Fortuna – Project Leader Extraordinaire

–Contributed by Charlene Uhl, VMN Old Rag Chapter
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Victoria Fortuna demonstrates her twin passion for birds and butterflies as coordinator for two of Old Rag’s projects. Each summer since 2011 she has been responsible for ORMN’s participation in the North America Butterfly Association (NABA) butterfly count and each winter she has guided our chapter’s volunteers in collecting data for the Audubon Christmas Bird Count.

If you have not yet coordinated or administered a major project like these two, you may not fully appreciate the time, thought, creativity, commitment and challenges involved.  The butterfly count requires recruitment of volunteers for the all-day event; scheduling experienced counters to train new participants; and establishing collection protocols for prompt reporting to NABA.  This last summer ORMN fielded 52 volunteers to identify butterflies.  Victoria devoted nearly 50 hours of volunteer time on this project to ensure a successful and accurate count. 

For the Audubon bird count, Victoria recruited leaders and volunteers; compiled data over multiple locations; and reported to Audubon on the 71 different species observed.  Over 80 hours of Victoria’s volunteer time is testament to her personal investment in the success of this project. 

As Victoria plans to hand off the NABA Butterfly Count responsibilities to another ORMN member, we want to recognize and celebrate all she has done for butterflies, birds, and our Virginia Master Naturalist chapter.

​Unexpected Salvage Find at Litter Pickup Activity

–Contributed by Connie Reitz, VMN Historic Rivers Chapter

Several Historic Rivers Chapter members participated in a litter pickup activity at College Creek Beach on the National Park Service Colonial Parkway on August 23rd. The activity started normally with members enjoying the sun, sand, and a gentle breeze as they worked. Then things changed.

A visitor at the beach shared information regarding a large dead fish farther ahead on the beach. This intrigued the master naturalists and caused them to temporarily become distracted from litter pickup. The carcass of a beautiful Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) was found. One HRC member knew research was being done on this federally endangered species and needed to be reported. A photo, longitude & latitude coordinates, and detailed directions were sent to Matthew Balazik of the VCU Rice Rivers Center. Sticks were used to secure the fish until it could be retrieved. Then it was time to continue litter pickup.

Later members of HRC discovered the following post on the James River Sturgeon Facebook page.  

“Well, today we salvaged our first James sturgeon that had a telemetry tag. We responded to a carcass and when it was pulled on shore the telemetry tag fell out on the beach. The fish was tagged 10 years ago tomorrow. It’s amazing because the tag battery is supposed to die after 10 years, which is tomorrow. I also remember this fish because someone took a fin ray sample long before we caught him in 2013 so he had a unique nub and still does today. He gave us a lot of great data over the past decade. A MASSIVE THANK YOU to the Historic Rivers Chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalist!! They found the fish while doing a beach cleanup (another great deed) and provided great directions so we could easily get the fish from a hard to reach area.”
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No medals were draped around necks and no certificates were handed out. However, HRC members helped another agency with research. Working together is a win for everyone.

Living With Bears Goes to the Fair

Virginia Master Naturalists continue to educate the public about Living with Black Bears in partnership with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. After receiving specialized training, the volunteers give talks and conduct outreach designed to inform community members about bear biology and about behaviors they can adopt that will reduce bear-human conflicts. These include behaviors such as securing trash cans, taking down bird feeders at certain times of year, and not leaving pet food outdoors.

As part of their outreach in this project, Riverine Master Naturalists have been staffing a Living with Black Bears booth at the Virginia State Fair for the last two years. In 2023, they made 7,415 educational contacts at the Fair, one of whom was the current Governor of Virginia! Volunteer Sheila Barnett had the opportunity to tell him about bears and about the Virginia Master Naturalist program. Overall, visitors to the fair are interested to learn about bears. “I was pleasantly surprised that when I asked people if they had ever seen a black bear, people seemed to enjoy talking about their black bear sightings. Nobody was afraid of black bears. They all seemed to think that bears are cool, and want to do the right thing to protect bears,” says Sheila.

Thank you to Becky Kyle, VMN Riverine Chapter, who has been organizing her chapter’s participation in this project!

​Each year, previously certified VMN volunteers who complete another 40 hours of approved volunteer service and 8 hours of approved continuing education earn a unique recertification pin for that year. In many years, we have held a contest to choose the artwork for the pin; we are fortunate to have many VMN volunteers with artistic talent! We decided the 2024 recertification pin would be one of two possible vines – poison ivy or Virginia-creeper, and we invited VMN volunteers to submit their artwork for one or the other of these species. We chose these two species because of their widespread and ubiquitous occurrence across Virginia, because of their high value to wildlife species, and because we have not yet had a pin featuring a vine! The winning artwork was selected based on input from the VMN program staff and plant experts from our sponsoring agencies and partners.

We received a tremendous number of excellent submissions, and here we share all the artwork we received, including the winning Virginia-creeper drawing by Rosalind (Ros) Reilly in the James River Chapter.

Virginia-creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) is common all throughout Virginia. Its tolerance range is considered to be extraordinary; it can be found in open areas to forested areas and wet to very dry areas. It can root in the crevices of rocky outcrops and tolerates deep flooding and salt. Its leaves provide cover for small animals and turn a beautiful red in the fall. Its berries, while not edible by humans, feed songbirds. Virginia-creeper is also the host plant for several species of sphinx moths.

Thank you to all the volunteers who participated! It is wonderful to share in your creativity and excitement for our natural world!

Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources: Wild Turkey Summer Brood Survey Results

–By Katie Martin, Deer-Bear-Turkey Biologist and Mike Dye, Forest Game Bird Project Leader, Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources

​Through the months of July and August, the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) staff and cooperators completed the annual turkey brood survey. The survey provides an index to productivity of wild turkey reproduction and can assist in making management decisions. The survey counts the number of turkeys observed by staff and cooperators as they go about their normal day to day business and is expressed as the number of turkeys observed per 1,000 miles driven and the number of poults (juvenile turkeys) observed per hen. The Department would like to thank the many volunteers of the Virginia National Wild Turkey Federation chapters, DWR Complementary Work Force and Hunter Education Instructors, numerous teachers, and the Virginia Master Naturalists for their survey participation in 2023! Volunteers account for more than one-third of the observers in the survey. Data is also collected by partners from VA state parks, VA Dept. of Forestry, and several military installations.

In 2023, the Department received 190 reports by observers driving over 221,000 miles during July and August. Sixty-six percent of observers reported seeing at least one turkey during the survey time period. The overall number of turkeys staff have observed in the summer has declined since 2015. In 2023, the total number of turkeys observed fell below the long-term average (17.7/1,000 miles) to 7.36 birds per 1,000 miles, an all-time low since survey inception in 2007. This ratio peaked in 2014 (29.4) and 2015 (30) and has been declining since (Fig. 2). The Tidewater Region had the highest ratio (24/1,000 mi.) and likely has the highest turkey population of any region in the state. The Southwest region had the next highest ratio with 8.7 birds per 1,000 miles, which is still lower than the 2022 ratio of 9.8 birds/1,000 miles for this region. The North Mountains (7.0), South Piedmont (4.6) and North Piedmont (3.1) were all significantly below the long-term survey average (17.7 turkeys per 1,000 miles). One bright spot is the increase (from 4.9 to 7 birds/1000 miles) for the North Mountain region.

The 2023 annual survey suggests reproduction for wild turkey declined to a statewide average of 1.8 poults/hen, falling below the long-term survey average of 2.4 poults/hen and nearly identical to the 2022 ratio (1.9). This is a nearly 30% decline though from the 2021 ratio (2.7) and becomes the second lowest P/H ratio on record, which was 1.6 observed in 2018 (Figs. 1 and 3). The Poult/Hen ratio is our best measure of reproduction as it considers the number of poults produced by all hens. Complete brood loss is not uncommon, and those situations need to be incorporated when evaluating reproduction.
Below average recruitment (P/H ratio) was reported across all regions in 2023 with the Tidewater having the highest (2.1) and the South Piedmont the lowest (1.4). Falling in the middle were the Southwest (2.0), Northern Mountains (1.8), and Northern Piedmont (1.9).

Wild turkey success in hatching and raising broods plays an important role in wild turkey populations and is especially important in fall harvests. Further, the ratio of young birds (poults) to the number of females (hens) is a critical index to reproduction (P/H). Lack of suitable nesting and brooding habitat continue to be likely factors in the decline of turkey reproduction across much of Virginia. For information on improving native habitats on your land visit: https://dwr.virginia.gov/wildlife/habitat/

​This information is intended to monitor turkey population trends and densities but does not infer high hunter success or satisfaction while hunting. See the attached 2023 Wild Turkey Summer Brood Survey Results PDF for more information and graphs of the data.

Virginia Department of Environmental Quality: MyDEQ Portal
–Contributed by Sharon Baxter, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality

DEQ is excited to announce an enhancement to the MyDEQ Portal. As you may know, the MyDEQ Portal is DEQ’s comprehensive, online reporting tool that is available to user 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This enhancement replaces the DEQ’s final orders webpage which documented the Agencies case decisions and how alleged violations were resolved. The enhancements main objectives are: 

• Increased transparency to serve as a crucial mechanism to foster public trust and confidence in DEQ enforcement actions. The public will now be able to see open enforcement actions, a contact person for additional questions, and view agency records. 
• Enhanced public engagement and meaningful involvement, not only in the public notice/comment process but, now at the beginning of an enforcement action with the issuance of a Notice of Violation. 
• Additional accountability goes hand in hand with transparency, as it ensures that permittees and other responsible parties are held responsible for their actions. It establishes clear expectations/consequences for those who deviate from the law. 

DEQ hopes that this MyDEQ Portal enhancement fosters positive relationships with the communities we serve. By actively engaging with the public, sharing information, and involving community members in decision-making processes, DEQ can continue to build trust and gain valuable insights, leading to more effective and community-oriented enforcement. 

​Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation Natural Heritage Program – Explore Virginia Caves Specialty License Plate
–Contributed by Anne Chazal and Emi Endo, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation

There’s a new Specialty License Plate proposed to help bring attention to the amazing caves we have in the Commonwealth. Be among the first to signup to receive this beautiful plate to show your support of our natural resources in Virginia. The plate will be a revenue-sharing plate where $15 of each plate sold will go to support the work of the Cave Board after 1,000 plates are sold.

We have designed the plate to support the Virginia Cave Board. The Virginia Cave Board works diligently in collaborating with multiple organizations and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation to promote the conservation and protection of caves, karst, cave life and environmental education.

We must collect 450 pre-paid applications before the General Assembly will approve the plate for distribution. For an application and more information, visit the Virginia Cave Board site.

Leaders of the Virginia Master Naturalist program have been partnering with leaders in Virginia State Parks for several years with a goal of increasing VMN volunteering in the parks, especially related to park interpretive programs. We hope to have VMN volunteers increase the capacity of the parks for offering talks, walks, paddles, special events, school programs, and other educational programming. We have made great progress so far; in 2022, VMN volunteers contributed 2,734 hours of education and outreach across 25 different parks. 

To help increase volunteers’ skills and confidence as natural resource interpreters, Virginia State Park staff have offered interpretation workshops at several VMN state conferences, as well as at other times of the year. In addition, there are opportunities for highly motivated and involved VMN volunteers to attend the Virginia State Parks Spring Interpretive Training workshop, where they learn about interpretation alongside park staff. VMN volunteer Jeff DeHoff (Pocahontas Chapter) attended the 2023 workshop, and we interviewed him about his experience.

How did you find out about the spring interpretive training workshop with State Parks, and what made you want to attend?

I started assisting Rebecca Whalen, Chief Ranger of Visitor Experience at Pocahontas State Park, with educational programs for youth field trips. I was working with small and large groups of varying ages from schools and youth development organizations. I let her know I wanted to improve my skills at delivering impactful information in a short program. Rebecca suggested the Interpretive Training Workshop and she asked Christen Miller, who directed the statewide workshop for DCR, if there was room for a non-staff volunteer.  Fortunately, I was given a warm welcome.

What are a few things you learned or new skills you developed at the workshop?

Foremost, I learned that “Interpretation” is a skill and a vocation. I had certainly experienced some great programs in state and national parks, but never realized that the presenters were specifically trained and not just good speakers. Before the workshop, I took the online training “Foundations of Interpretation” and a new world opened up. Through the excellent training sessions at the workshop, I learned more about forging emotional and intellectual connections between the interests of the audience and the meanings inherent in the resources we are talking about.

Have you used what you learned yet for any interpretive programs? If so, what sort of programs have you done?

Yes, I started using these new skills right away in several programs. One program that is fun to deliver to all age groups is the adaptations of animals. Using the beaver as an example, we can engage the youth to investigate why this mammal has the physical features that it does and why beavers are important to the ecosystem. Also, we have a popular program on Wilderness Survival that I am now able to deliver to a variety of groups and make the content age appropriate and keep the audience engaged using the skills of Interpretation. Depending on what the audience needs, I have learned how to do a 15-minute program or a full hour on the same topics.

I am working on my “walk around” interpretation skills. I want to improve my ability to approach a family or individual or small group in the park and engage them meaningfully in a 5 minute conversation about the importance of conserving our natural resources that they are experiencing.  It is a joy to share a personal passion.

What do you like about doing interpretation in the State Parks?

The thing I like most is interacting with youth and starting or fanning the flame of interest in our natural world. Not just the facts and predictions about change, but mostly the spirit and rhythm of this marvelous complex natural creation that existed long before humans dominated the landscape. Mother Earth can be experienced in many ways and we can learn to live with her and accept her support without selfishly destroying her. The young people will save this world from the current destructive directions supported by misguided thinking and unsustainable priorities. Interpretation of the natural and historic resources at Pocahontas State Park is a way to point to the door to a better future.

I look forward to additional training in Interpretation through online and in-person programs. Perhaps I can become certified to assist in training others. It is good to keep learning and keep sharing as we walk through our later years.

Anything else you want to share about your experience as a VMN volunteer or a Virginia State Parks volunteer?

• Retired Architect and Land Planner
• Certified VMN in 2020
• Assist Basic Training Team of Pocahontas Chapter VMN
• Serve on the Board of Friends of PSP as Director of Conservation
• Enjoy hiking, biking and camping at Virginia State Parks
• Working on visiting every state park in Virginia
• Lifelong volunteer

If you are a VMN volunteer who, like Jeff, is already committed to volunteering as an educator in a state park near you and who wants to increase your interpretive skills, please contact a ranger at the park to discuss possibilities for additional in-depth training.