Virginia Master Naturalists

Remembering Lee Hesler

7/31/2019

Image of Lee Hesler holding a king snake

Lee Hesler was a Certified VMN for 8+ years in the Pocahontas Chapter and was a leader both in that chapter and for the multi-chapter Vernal Pool Cooperative project. This photo, contributed by Karen Daniel, was taken at the Virginia State Fair in 2015, where Lee and his wife Jane, also a Certified VMN, volunteered at the DGIF exhibit.

Article contributed by Hannah Updike and other members of the VMN-Pocahontas Chapter

Lee Hesler, a beloved volunteer and leader of the Virginia Master Naturalist’s Pocahontas Chapter, passed away last week. Lee's legacy of leadership and many, many accomplishments will live on.

Lee initiated the Pocahontas Chapter’s Vernal Pools chapter project, and then expanded it into a statewide project. Vernal Pools Monitoring is now a statewide effort to identify and monitor vernal pools (isolated wetlands) on public lands. Vernal pools support a unique suite of organisms and are critical habitats for the breeding and early life stages of certain amphibians. The data collected will be used by multiple Virginia agencies, with a long-term goal of contributing to a regional and national database for research and conservation efforts on these habitats. The project won the VMN Volunteer Project of the Year award in 2016, and Lee was a Volunteer of the Year nominee that same year.

Lee and his wife, Jane, began the Bluebird Monitoring project at Pocahontas State Park. The park now has 50 nest boxes and about 200 chicks are fledged each year. Monitoring nest boxes greatly increases nesting success and gives volunteers an opportunity to see the complete life cycle. As is evident from the memories and stories shared by several VMNs, the Bluebird Monitoring project is a powerful and meaningful volunteer opportunity, and we are indebted to Lee and Jane for their work.

Lee also served on the Pocahontas Chapter board as a member of the Basic Training Committee. He will be greatly missed by the Pocahontas Chapter and all those who had the pleasure of knowing and working with him.

Below are a few stories and memories from members of the Pocahontas Chapter.

I met Lee in 2009 when we went through the Pocahontas VMN training class together but I really got to know him in 2011 when he and Jane started the bluebird monitoring program at Pocahontas State Park. I watched him grow the program from just over 20 boxes to twice that size. He did everything from training new volunteers and hand building new bluebird houses to weed whacking around the houses so the volunteers didn't get ticks. Lee was an unflagging advocate for the program and an inspiration to all the volunteers. He was a wonderful guide to all things bluebird and I will forever be grateful to him for introducing me to an activity that still brings me joy every season. I will miss him terribly and hope to continue his bluebird legacy for years to come. -- Cathy Summers

I first met Lee when he and his wife, Jane, served as instructors for the Pocahontas chapter Virginia Master Naturalist class I was part of in 2014. I so much appreciated his kind spirit, as well as his expertise. He was instrumental in helping me establish a new bluebird box trail in Chesterfield County’s Horner Park several years ago. Thanks to his assistance, the trail continues to produce scores of bluebird fledglings each year. -- Bert Browning

My greatest memory of Lee will always be his love for the creatures he dedicated his life to conserving. From Blue Birds to salamanders, and volunteering at events, Lee's enthusiasm was evident by the smile on his face. He will be missed by all who had the pleasure of working and volunteering with him. -- Karen Daniel

My husband and I first met Lee in 2015 when we were VMN trainees and he presented the citizen science instruction for Vernal Pool Monitoring at our VMN Vernal Pools field trip at the VCU Rice Rivers Center. In the same year he helped us learn how to do bluebird trail monitoring when we, as new VMN members, volunteered at Pocahontas State Park. Lee helped us become excited about citizen science projects, which was a very big reason that we wanted to become Master Naturalists. It was inspirational when we later learned that it was because of him that our chapter is involved in both of those projects. We also saw how committed Lee was to the program when he joined the Basic Training Committee and served to help our new trainees become Master Naturalists in 2017 and 2018. It was a pleasure to work with Lee and his wife, Jane, on the Basic Training Committee. Lee will be missed. -- Donna Reese

Lee and Jane Hesler have been inspiring students and teachers at A.M. Davis Elementary for many years. Thanks to the Heslers and the Virginia Bluebird Society, our entire school has had the opportunity to view nest-making, egg-laying and baby-feeding from the webcam in our garden. They installed our box and webcam in February or March, and also visited to teach about the bluebird life cycle and answer questions. When our cam was not working, we viewed the Heslers’ baby birds. They are such kind people and I enjoyed every minute with Lee and Jane. Many young people will carry Lee’s enthusiasm and knowledge and use it to make the natural world a better place! -- Dotty Rilee

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A Plan for Wildlife Viewing

7/31/2019

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group of individuals looking through binoculars on a roadside

For DGIF's Wildlife Viewing Plan, a wildlife viewer is someone who intentionally finds, observes, listens to, records, photographs, or interacts with wildlife or visits parks and natural areas because of wildlife. Photo by M. Prysby.

If you are a hunter, you may be aware that the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has management plans for deer, bear, wild turkey, and other game species. These plans are developed with stakeholder input and revised periodically.  They guide the management of these species and their habitats.

Until now, there has not been a management plan to support wildlife viewing.  While there are overall declines in hunting and fishing, national data suggests continued growth in wildlife viewing.   Wildlife viewing is an important part of DGIF’s strategic plan to increase participation in outdoor recreation.  In fact, Virginia is the first state to include wildlife viewing in their R3 (“recruitment, retention, and reactivation”) initiative.  For these reasons, DGIF is partnering with researchers at Virginia Tech to develop a management plan for wildlife viewing.

Development of the plan will include input from a Stakeholder Advisory Committee, data from surveys, and results of focus groups.  VMN Director Michelle Prysby is serving on the Stakeholder Advisory Committee alongside representatives from many other organizations with an interest in wildlife viewing (bird clubs, herp clubs, butterfly clubs, wildlife photography groups, and more.)  Our collective role is to guide the agency’s vision and goals for how to best engage and work with wildlife viewing groups, foster conservation activities, promote viewers’ enjoyment of wildlife, and meet the needs of viewers via projects and programs.  We are also tasked with sharing the progress of this planning process on a regular basis through opportunities like this newsletter article.

The goal is to create a plan that is technically sound, based on evidence from wildlife viewer input, and publicly acceptable.  The Stakeholder Advisory Committee hopes that the plan will help increase wildlife viewing opportunities, increase access to places for viewing wildlife, and improve communication with DGIF relating to wildlife viewing.

You may be wondering, “Am I a wildlife viewer?”  For the purposes of this plan, a wildlife viewer is someone who intentionally finds, observes, listens to, records, photographs, or interacts with wildlife or visits parks and natural areas because of wildlife.  That definition probably includes most of our Virginia Master Naturalist volunteers!

Some of you may be invited to participate in a survey of wildlife viewers this fall, and you’ll receive more information about that when it is available.  Meanwhile, we will keep you posted as the plan develops.

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Project Learning Tree Will Come to You

7/26/2019

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two people doing a craft with twigs on a table

A Project Learning Tree workshop is always full of hands-on activities! Photo by Page Hutchinson, VDOF.

two individuals doing a craft in a classroom

The Project Learning Tree curriculum uses hands-on activities to engage K-8 youth in learning about the environment. Image by Page Hutchinson, VDOF.

Article by Page Hutchinson, Project Learning Tree Coordinator with the Virginia Department of Forestry and VMN-Rivanna Chapter Advisor

Many of you are familiar with Project Learning Tree, more commonly called PLT, but do you know that the State Coordinator will come to your chapter to lead PLT training specifically for your chapter? This training will count toward CE and give you many wonderful activities that you can use or adapt to use in your education and outreach.

I think you will appreciate the mission of PLT since it’s a close parallel to the VMN program: Project Learning Tree advances environmental literacy and promotes stewardship through excellence in environmental education, professional development, and curriculum resources that use trees and forests as windows on the world.Project Learning Tree is committed to creating a future where the next generation values the natural world and has the knowledge and skills necessary to make informed decisions and take responsible actions to sustain forests and the broader environment.

PLT training consists of a 5-6 hour workshop arranged on the day of your choice. I will lead you through some of the PLT activities found in the K-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide so you have a feel of how the activities flow and how to lead them for others be it students or the general public. After each activity we debrief and talk about how to make the activity and discussion relevant to different populations or scenarios. Each person participating will receive their own Guide to take with them which has 96 hands-on, interactive activities.

Some examples of activities are “Birds and Worms”, “Every Tree for Itself”, “How Big Is Your Tree?”, “The Forest of S.T. Shrew” and “Field, Forest and Stream”. Sound intriguing?

The cost for this training is $10/person. That’s it! And this cost includes receiving the Guide. We normally take a 30-45 min. lunch break with everyone simply bringing their lunch unless the chapter wants to provide lunch.

If your chapter is interested in PLT training contact me, Page Hutchinson, page.hutchinson@dof.virginia.gov. We’ll decide on day that suits you and I’ll take it from there.

three people holding up artwork they have completed

You can adapt Project Learning Tree activities for use in many settings beyond classrooms, including summer camps and booths at Earth Day and other events. Photo by Page Hutchinson, VDOF.

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From Our Sponsors: Restore the Wild with the Virginia DGIF

7/25/2019

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Introducing Restore the Wild, a new membership initiative with the Virginia DGIF.

By Jessica Ruthenberg, DGIF Watchable Wildlife Biologist and Chapter Co-Advisor for VMN-Tidewater Chapter

DGIF employee points out native plants along a trail

DGIF Habitat Education Coordinator leads a pollinator workshop at Lake Shenandoah's restored meadow habitat. Photo by Meghan Marchetti.

As Virginia’s lead agency for wildlife protection and conservation, the Virginia DGIF has been conserving wildlife habitat in the Commonwealth for decades. We own more land than any other state agency in Virginia and we support restoration work on National Forests and private lands.

In addition to our habitat work on public lands, we also provide education, outreach, and technical expertise to help Virginians create and improve habitat in their own communities and private properties. As Virginia Master Naturalists, you are likely familiar with our Habitat Education Coordinator, Carol Heiser, and her work on DGIF’s Habitat Partners© Education Program, which provides volunteer training for community leaders who want to establish native plant demonstration gardens. Additionally, for private landowners, DGIF has a team of private lands wildlife biologists (PLWBs), hired jointly with Virginia’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), that specialize in on-site landowner habitat evaluations followed by management planning where appropriate. Working with native plant species is a cornerstone of their technical expertise.

Restore the Wild is a membership program to help keep Virginia's Wild Places wild.

We are particularly thrilled to share our newest habitat initiative–a membership program, called Restore the Wild. Restore the Wild Memberships are for anyone who would like to support DGIF’s efforts to restore and create healthy wildlife habitats across the Commonwealth. DGIF offers three levels of membership: hummingbird, bluebird, and golden eagle. All members will receive one year of access to our state Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs)and Lakes, plus additional benefits and gifts depending on the level of membership purchased.

person in fire protection gear using a drip torch to set a controlled fire

DGIF Big Woods WMA Supervisor Matt Kline working a controlled burn at Big Woods. Photo by Meghan Marchetti, DGIF.

Proceeds from the memberships will help support the DGIF’s on-going habitat restoration projects, including:

Establishment and maintenance of meadows containing native wildflowers and grasses at the DGIF’s Goshen WMA, Lake Shenandoah, and Crooked Creek WMA. These meadows will support grassland birds and pollinators.
Restore open pine woodlands through prescribed burns and planting longleaf pines at Big Woods WMAto benefit the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker, as well as grassland songbirds, Northern Bobwhite, and Wild Turkey.
Improve open shrubland habitats along a ridgeline on DGIF’s Highland WMA by connecting two existing openings, facilitating shrub growth, and cutting back forest edges. This project will benefit the Golden-winged Warbler, an imperiled songbird, and other bird species.
Working with partners to restore nearly ¾ miles of stream channel on the North Fork Roanoke and its adjacent shoreline. Multiple aquatic wildlife will benefit from this project; including the endangered Roanoke Logperch, a small freshwater fish, and the imperiled Eastern Hellbender, a large aquatic salamander.

The DGIF invites you to join us and help keep Virginia’s wild places wild!

Thank you for all that you do to support habitat in the Commonwealth! We look forward to seeing everyone at the VMN annual conference this fall!

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2019 Statewide Conference Registrations Continue

7/24/2019

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Registration update: As of Monday, July 30, we still have space for at least 25 more attendees. By our count, 14 of 36 total sessions are filled. There are sessions in every time block on Saturday and Sunday that still have open slots, including 4 field trips. If you have not yet registered, there is still space for you, especially if you are willing to try a session that wasn't your first choice.

Regarding lodging, the very small number of hotel-style rooms on site are filled, but there are plenty of dorm-style rooms left and there are also a small number of rooms left in our off-site hotel room block.

You don't know who you might meet at a VMN Statewide Conference! In 2018, Pocket the corn snake was a special guest. Photo by VMN staff.

We are excited to once again bring together Virginia Master Naturalists from across the state for a weekend of learning. The Virginia Master Naturalist Statewide Conference and Volunteer Training is an opportunity for VMN volunteers to share ideas and learn from each other, to participate in high-quality continuing education sessions, and to learn about a region of Virginia that may be different from their home communities. It's a time and place to recognize and reward volunteers and chapters for all their efforts.

Each year, one of our local VMN chapters serves as the host chapter for the conference, helping to choose programming that showcases their local natural areas, presenters, and style. The programming includes both on-site sessions and off-site field trips to visit natural resource highlights of the area. We emphasize hands-on learning and skill-building, trying to choose sessions that relate to the education, citizen science, and stewardship volunteer work that VMN volunteers do.

In 2019, our VMN-Headwaters Chapter welcomes VMN volunteers from across Virginia to the Shenandoah Valley. We will be based at the Massanetta Springs Camp & Conference Center, five miles from downtown Harrisonburg. From there, it is a short trip to terrific field trip sites, including Shenandoah National Park, George Washington National Forest, several DCR Natural Area Preserves, the Edith J. Carrier Arboretum, and more.

This year's conference has more than 35 sessions, including field trips to Shenandoah National Park, George Washington National Forest, a DCR Natural Area Preserve, the Edith J. Carrier Arboretum, the Virginia Department of Forestry's August Forestry Center, the Shenandoah Valley Agricultural Research and Experiment Station, and the Wildlife Center of Virginia. On-site sessions include topics such as owls, aquatic habitats, black bears, American woodcock, pollinator habitats, bats, and more. There will even be a session on Chronic Wasting Disease with dissection of a white-tailed deer for those who are not too squeamish!

Due to the nature and limited space of our VMN conference, only certified VMNs, VMN members, VMN trainees, and partners from our state agency sponsors (including chapter advisors) may attend. We anticipate more than 200 attendees this year. We would love to have representation from all of our local chapters, so register now!

group of people walking single file on a forest trail

As in past years, the 2019 VMN Conference will include many field trips to explore local natural areas and see conservation projects in action. Photo by Rosemarie Nielsen, VMN-Merrimac Farm Chapter.

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A Community-Based Natural Resources Volunteer﻿ Program

Remembering Lee Hesler

A Plan for Wildlife Viewing

Project Learning Tree Will Come to You

From Our Sponsors: Restore the Wild with the Virginia DGIF

2019 Statewide Conference Registrations Continue

A Community-Based Natural Resources Volunteer Program