By Meagan Thomas, Watchable Wildlife Biologist, Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources

If you are one of over two hundred Adopt-a-Trail (AAT) Volunteers, we at the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources want to reach out and extend a very sincere THANK YOU! This past year has been a doozy for all of us as DWR launched a major overhaul to the AAT project. We are so appreciative of all of our amazing volunteers for their patience throughout this transition and their dedication to help ensure that the Virginia Bird and Wildlife Trail remains a top guide to the wildlife viewing opportunities in Virginia.

Check out some of the amazing observations that volunteers have made during their visits to Bird and Wildlife Trail Sites in 2022. And if you want to learn more about the Adopt-a-Trail project and how you can participate, check out our project page on the VMN website.

Each quarter, we invite our state agency sponsors to contribute news from their agencies. See below for the latest from DEQ, DWR, and VIMS!

Tackling the Problem of Plastics in our Ocean
Submitted by Virginia Witmer, Virginia CZM Program, DEQ

Virginia Marine Debris Reduction Plan
The Virginia Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Program and its partner Clean Virginia Waterways of Longwood University (CVW), released the 2021-2025 Virginia Marine Debris Reduction Plan with strategic, definitive actions to reduce debris in Virginia’s coastal waterways and the Atlantic Ocean. Harmful sources of plastic pollution are all too common along Virginia’s shorelines and become marine debris that ultimately flows into the ocean—including bottles, balloons, plastic bags, cigarette butts, and food containers.  

The plan, funded through grants from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), sets out major goals to reduce consumer debris, derelict fishing gear, microplastics and abandoned/derelict vessels. The plan was initially published by Virginia CZM in 2014, and was the first such plan on the east coast.

The Virginia plan focuses on changing the behaviors that often cause litter.  Virginia CZM and its partners, including local governments, will explore options for additional litter prevention behavior change campaigns.  In addition to prevention, the plan outlines the need for more research, monitoring, removal of debris and litter, increased infrastructure and proper disposal options, as well as new policies and laws.

New Survey Shows Virginia Voters Concerned About Plastic Pollution 
Virginia voters are concerned about plastic getting into our rivers, bays and ocean, and they support action to decrease littered plastic bags, bottles, cups, food containers and other plastic items according to a new statewide survey released in September 2022 by the Virginia CZM Program, CVW and OpinionWorks. 

The survey explored the perceptions and attitudes of Virginia’s voters about several problems, and measured voters’ support for policies that have been adopted in other states.  As a follow-up, OpinionWorks invited a cross-section of voters into deeper, one-on-one interviews to better understand their attitudes and reasoning around these issues.  Data from this survey will assist in crafting successful behavior change campaigns as well as public policies.  

The Virginia Marine Debris Reduction Plan and 2022 Public Perception Survey: Plastic Pollution can be downloaded from the Virginia CZM Program website.

Virginia Marine Debris Summit
The 2022 Virginia Marine Debris Summit was held in September at the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center.  This year’s summit organized by CVW and the Virginia CZM Program focused on consumer debris. The event began with a free, public lecture detailing Virginia efforts to curb plastic pollution in the ocean, and featured a keynote from Nancy Wallace, Director of NOAA’s Marine Debris Program.  Summit presentations will be posted on the Virginia CZM Program’s marine debris webpage.

Virginia Social Marketing Work to Reduce Balloon Litter Expands throughout Mid-Atlantic 
One of the actions identified in the first Virginia Marine Debris Reduction Plan in 2014 was  a social marketing campaign to discourage people from releasing balloons.    While all marine debris has some potential to harm wildlife, balloons have been identified as among the five deadliest types of debris due to the risk they pose to marine wildlife through ingestion and entanglement.
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In 2015, the Virginia CZM Program received a grant from the NOAA Marine Debris Program to pursue this work, and partnered with CVW and OpinionWorks to conduct extensive, state-wide, research to better understand who plans balloon release events – and, most importantly, why. This research informed design of the Joyful Send-off campaign in Virginia, which targeted  balloon releases held during weddings, and focused on alternatives to release. 

Before expanding the Virginia campaign throughout the Mid-Atlantic, and with additional funding from the NOAA Marine Debris Program to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean, the team  conducted additional research across the region to validate our earlier findings. The Mid-Atlantic Prevent Balloon Litter Campaign focuses on a one-to-many, social normative strategy emphasizing the use of balloon release alternatives during celebratory, memorial and other events. Messaging stresses the ceremonial aspect of alternatives that create a lasting tribute and joyful, uplifting moments.  A pilot campaign was launched in fall 2021 with the National Aquarium, New York Aquarium and Virginia Aquarium. The full campaign (including a Teacher Kit on the website, which offers many downloadable materials) continues through early spring 2023. See more on PreventBalloonLitter.org. 
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The Virginia CZM Program, established in 1986, is a network of state agencies and local governments led by DEQ that administer the enforceable laws and regulations that protect our air and water quality and coastal habitats.  Read more about the coastal resiliency, restoration and conservation efforts of the Virginia CZM Program being funded through the CZMA.  Visit https://www.deq.virginia.gov/coasts.

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 turkey) 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, and the Virginia Master Naturalists for their survey participation in 2022!

The 2022 annual survey suggests reproduction for wild turkey declined to a statewide average of 1.9
poults/hen, falling below the long term survey average of 2.5 poults/hen. The overall number of turkeys
staff have observed in the summer has declined since 2015. In 2022, the total number of turkeys
observed fell below the long-term average (18.4/1,000 miles) to 10.1 birds per 1,000 miles. 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).

See the attached Wild Turkey Summer Brood Survey Results PDF for more information and graphs of the data.

​Special Guest Presentation: One Ocean. One Canoe. One People
Contributed by Dr. Kirk Havens, Director, Center for Coastal Resources Management, Virginia Institute of Marine Science

Wednesday, November 16, 7-8:30 pm
In person at Watermen's Hall
VIMS, Gloucester Point

Prepare to be inspired and captivated by native Hawaiian navigator Nainoa Thompson during this very special presentation at VIMS. Thompson has dedicated his life to exploring the deep meaning of voyaging, inspired by mentors who introduced him to the mysteries of the inshore ocean, the stars his ancestors used to navigate great distances, the natural signs that provide guidance, and the universal values of voyaging: vision, self-discipline, preparation, courage, risk-taking, and the spirit of aloha.
 
On long voyages, under a dome of stars and surrounded by the vast ocean, Thompson came to appreciate the Hawaiian concept of "mālama" - care taking - from a planetary perspective. He will share that perspective while inspiring and educating us all to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world with a melding of science and indigenous wisdom.
 
Thompson is president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society and VIMS' first Scholar in Ocean Residency. He is known around the world as a leader in the traditional Polynesian art of non-instrumented navigation and for his canoe voyages throughout the global ocean guided only by stars, waves, winds, and marine life. He has received numerous awards, including the Unsung Hero of Compassion, the NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, the BLUE Ocean Film Festival Legacy Award, the National Geographic Society's Hubbard Medal, and the Explorers Club Medal.
 
Seating for this program is limited, so early registration is strongly encouraged. A brief reception will be held afterward with Thompson and Lehua Kamalu, the first woman to serve as lead captain and lead navigator of the Hokule'a, a double-hulled voyaging canoe, on a traditional ocean crossing. Register here for the in-person event. You may also register here to participate in this event online.

Teaming Up with the NAACP for Black Birders Week
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Black Birders Week is a grassroots event that started in 2020 and has since spread nationally with the aim of supporting Black individuals participating in naturalist activities and calling attention to Black birders in particular, as they have faced unique challenges when engaging in their hobby. The event first started in the wake of the incident experienced by Christian Cooper in Central Park.  Black Birders Week 2022 included daily themes on social media, various online talks and panels, and many in-person bird walks and other events. 

Both the VMN program and the Virginia Society of Ornithology (VSO) encouraged their members to hold events for Black Birders Week this year. The Middle Peninsula Master Naturalist Chapter ran with that idea and teamed up the Gloucester NAACP Branch and the Middle Peninsula Bird Club to put on a birdwatching event at Beaverdam Park on Saturday, June 4, 2022. Three NAACP branches were represented amongst the participants: Gloucester, Mathews, and Middlesex. The groups saw 26 species of birds, with the highlights being an Orchard Oriole and a Prothonotary Warber. 

The Historic Southside Chapter collaborated with the Isle of Wight County NAACP to accomplish a mutually beneficial project in Windsor Castle Park

Members of the VMN-Historic Southside Chapter had, for some years, recognized that retaining the rain water from the kayak shed roof in Windsor Castle Park (WCP) would be a good way to expose park visitors to the many environmental benefits storm water retention systems provide. While recognizing that retaining runoff from impervious surfaces is good in itself and may offer numerous educational outreach opportunities, the initial estimated cost of $800 outweighed our chapter’s will to adopt this project.

In 2021, the Isle of Wight (IOW) County NAACP assumed ownership of a community vegetable garden in WCP that happened to be located about 150 feet from the kayak shed. While the initial 2021 yield from the newly named “Prolific Place” was less than expected, lack of any nearby water source was identified as a real problem for producing consistently good vegetable yields.

VMN volunteer Henry McBurney proposed to our chapter’s board that we explore collaborating with the IOW NAACP to add the water retention system to the kayak shed in WCP. In addition to providing our chapter with educational opportunities, it would provide a water source for the IOW NAACP Prolific Place garden.  With chapter board approval for splitting the estimated cost of $800 with the IOW NAACP, Chapter President Cindy Edwards and member Henry McBurney met with Ariane Williams of the IOW NAACP in December of 2021 to explore the possibilities of a collaborative effort. Our chapters outreach efforts ultimately produced a formal collaborative proposal to the Smithfield town council. Two excerpts from the proposal follow.

Project Description:
The “Storm Water Retention Project” is a collaborative project between the Virginia Master Naturalist Historic Southside Chapter and the IOW NAACP. The project entails installing rain guttering on both sides of the kayak shed. The guttering will funnel rain water to a set of five 50-gallon barrels contributed by the James River Association. The set of five barrels would be installed on a newly constructed 60" high platform under the roof overhang at the rear of the shed. The free-standing platform would be supported by two new concrete footers installed for this purpose. The support structure would be attached to the kayak shed for lateral support only. Piping connecting all five barrels would be led underground to the community garden terminating in a hose bib.

Project Benefits:
The benefits to the park and community are both utilitarian and educational. Upon completion, the project will provide a source of water that will be used by the IOW NAACP in maintaining the community vegetable garden in WCP. The installed stormwater retention system affords the VMN the opportunity to initiate educational outreach materials and interpretative signs, explaining the many benefits of interrupting the flow of storm (rain) water. The benefits of these actions, even on a small scale, have a positive effect on our local waterways Cypress Creek, the Pagan and James Rivers and ultimately our national treasure, the Chesapeake Bay.

On February 22, 2002, Ariana Williams from the IOW NAACP and Henry McBurney from the VMN made a joint oral presentation of this proposal to the Smithfield town council and answered numerous questions. Council member Wayne Hall queried them about if there was funding in place to cover the estimated $1,200 cost in the proposal. (The estimate included as part of the proposal was revised upward from the original $800 to $1,200 due to inflation and running underground piping the 150 feet to the Prolific Place garden.) Upon hearing their reply that there was only $800 set aside to date, council member Wayne Hall, promptly pledged $400 from his personal account. Council member Hall wanted to ensure there was sufficient funding in place before the project started. The Smithfield town council subsequently promptly approved this project application without any reservations. 

The project was completed prior to June of this year coming just in time to provide a water source for the Prolific Place garden this year and came in a little under the advertised budget.

Without collaborating with the IOW NAACP on this project it is doubtful that it would ever have happened. But by keeping the educational benefits of this project in mind and recognizing the potential benefits of collaborating with another civic minded organization this project did come to fruition. 

There remains work to do by our chapter in the area of educational outreach materials, developing interpretative signage and updating the Nature in Windsor Castle Park website. The IOW NAACP is proceeding with community outreach initiatives including developing a POSTER ART project involving high school students in Isle of Wight County. This POSTER ART project will highlight the community and ecological benefits of this project employing the visual arts.
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One thing is certain, that from this collaboration new avenues of reaching out within our communities have developed and are evolving. Who knows what other collaborations and community initiatives may spring from this beginning?       
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​Each quarter, we invite VMN chapters to share stories of volunteers' awards and accomplishments.  Our Laurels posts are not only a way to provide recognition to those volunteers, but also an opportunity to inspire other volunteers.  If you are inspired by one of the projects or accomplishments mentioned here and want more information, please contact the VMN state office and we'll put you in touch!

Bringing New Life to a Pollinator Garden

--Adapted from post by Devin Reese on the Arlington Regional Master Naturalist blog with additional contributions from Kasha Helget

Virginia Master Naturalist volunteer Valerie LaTortue is a magnet for other volunteers. She is also an active Extension Master Gardener, and she has used her skills from both programs to organize a volunteer crew to work in the Pollinator Garden at the Jerome Buddie Ford Nature Center in Alexandria. The volunteer crew meets most Saturdays and has removed invasive plants from the garden, added erosion-prevention features, and improved garden access. On a recent Saturday, the task was building a short, curved retaining wall to make a barrier against erosion as well as demarcate a small area for visitors and students to stand while viewing the garden. The volunteer crew included Master Naturalist and Master Gardener volunteers, Valerie's son, a first-time volunteer tagging along with his Master Naturalist girlfriend, and others--more volunteers than shovels! Explains Valerie, “Today, we are working on a teaching area and rainwater garden. When it rains hard, water pours off the roof, and the flow moves everything downhill.” Valerie expresses her excitement about the project, “Usually the children are up on the deck tripping over each other. When the Nature Center teaches its pollinator class now, they can be inside the garden, not outside and just pointing.”

VMN volunteer Kasha Helget says, "It is such a feel good project. This garden was unfortunately neglected due to understaffing at the Buddie Ford Nature Center. But Valerie took it over and it may become the signature native plant garden for Alexandria. Valerie is incredibly humble and hardworking, but has great vision for the project and what it can mean for the attached park (Dora Kelley Nature Park)."

Read more about this project and the volunteers involved in these blog posts from the Arlington Regional Master Naturalist Chapter:
Stemming Erosion and Shoring Up a Learning Space in the Jerome Buddie Ford Nature Center Pollinator Garden
Revitalizing the Pollinator Garden at the Buddie Ford Nature Center

VIMS Award for Outstanding Outreach
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Karen Duhring, our VMN liaison from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) Center for Coastal Resources Management and the Chapter Advisor of the Middle Peninsula Chapter, received the VIMS Outstanding Professionals and Professional Faculty Outreach Award. This award recognizes achievement relating to fulfilling the VIMS outreach mission. Karen has been a major contributor to the development of VMN training curriculum on the topic of Coastal and Estuarine Ecology and Management, and she regularly teaches both classroom and field sessions on coastal resources for VMN chapters. She is a strong advocate for the VMN program and has been a critical liaison between the VMN program, VIMS, and other state agency sponsors. We are so thankful to have her on our team and are pleased to see her agency recognizing her with this award!

​A New Crop of VMNs in the New River Valley

--Contributed by Dianna Bridges, Sharon Simón, and Dora Butler
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The VMN-New River Valley Chapter recently graduated 19 new students in June 2022 following a four month training program that combined both on-line Zoom classes and in-person classes and field sessions. Members of the New River Valley Chapter have volunteered since 2007 in many local projects including invasive plant removal in Stadium Woods on the Virginia Tech campus, and monitoring bluebird boxes at several Blacksburg schools and the Corporate Research Center.  Members have monitored trails at Falls Ridge and Smithfield Plantation, maintained pollinator gardens at Pandapas Pond, SEEDS and Warm Hearth and participated in citizen science projects such as stream monitoring for the Virginia Save Our Streams initiative, wildlife mapping and recording activity in local Vernal Pools.

Dianna Bridges has been the Training Coordinator for the past ten years.  She is pictured with the 2022 class at the graduation ceremony where the class presented her with a framed watercolor painting of Sinking Creek.

Two of the students, Dora Butler and Sharon Simon also became certified as Izaak Walton League’s Save Our Streams (SOS) monitors at the same time this spring.

Sharon writes, "As a new student in the VMN Class of 2022, I was intrigued about stream assessment after hearing one of the prior graduates enthusiastically speak during the first “in-person” class in January about the Izaak Walton League’s Save Our Streams citizen science programs.  As a part of the VMN curriculum, we were required to attend a stream assessment field trip with certified volunteers.  This field experience really make me realize that I wanted to be involved with the program.  Upon returning home that night, I examined the requirements for certification on the IWLA website which includes stream assessment procedural videos for rocky bottom and muddy bottom samplings, a tutorial on macroinvertebrates, and a link to the macroinvertebate ID test which has to be passed with a score of 90%. Once completed, you must submit an application to attend an assessment field trip with a certified VA SOS instructor.  Dora and I worked with Kira Carney, the SOS Coordinator, Mid Atlantic and decided to form our own team!

We have identified two sites to test in the fall and both sites have been approved by the VA SOS coordinator.  Kira has been very helpful in getting our stream monitoring permit and we are in the process of gathering equipment and gaining permission from property owners.  The IWLA website is very user friendly and does not require a huge time investment.  Becoming certified while attending class is helpful because our team is entirely composed of classmates who are enthusiastic about citizen science.  Another way to become involved in an activity that requires very little time is the Salt Watch program.  The test kits are free and sent by mail at anyone’s request through the IWLA SOS website.  Curiosity about your surroundings is what drives one to explore and dig deeper for answers!  The VMN program has opened up so many opportunities!" 

Dora adds, "​The VMN Basic Training provided a broad base of knowledge about our environment that can be used in service as citizen scientists, stewards and advocates for our natural resources.  We also received information on ways to access continuing education and volunteer opportunities with organizations working to identify and address risks to our wildlife, forests and water supply. In the early weeks of the class I learned about the Save Our Streams assessment certification program from a classmate. The SOS on-line certification process aligned perfectly with the VMN training. A VMN field trip, led by SOS certified volunteers, provided the hands-on experience I needed to successfully complete the macro ID and assessment procedure exams required for SOS certification. The hours I spent on the SOS training and certification even counted toward continuing education hours required for VMN certification."

Congratulations to Sharon, Dora, and all the New River Valley graduates, and thank you to Dianna for her coordination of the training!

Fifteen Minutes in the Forest with a VMN Volunteer

The Virginia Forest Landowner Education Program offers a regularly occurring, fun, and educational online program, Fifteen Minutes in the Forest, that uses pre-recorded video to share high-quality information about forests and forest management. In the spring, VMN volunteer Judy McCord was a guest star on the program, sharing information about vernal pool habitats and the pools she monitors at Claytor Lake State Park. View the video below, and check out the whole Fifteen Minutes in the Forest series on YouTube!

VMN Member Prevails in Charlottesville Region 2022 Nature Challenge Bioblitz
--Contributed by Susan McSwain, VMN-Central Blue Ridge Chapter
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In 2016, San Francisco and Los Angeles got into a duel with each other to see which city could record the highest number of wildlife species in a weekend-long bioblitz. Since then, the City Nature Challenge (CNC) has grown into an international event overseen by the California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. It is now a four-day global bioblitz held every year at the end of April.  

In 2022, some 50,000 species were recorded by 67,000 participants from 445 cities in 47 countries. CapeTown, South Africa was the winner with both the highest number of species recorded (close to 5,000!) and the highest number of observations submitted.

Here in Virginia, Charlottesville was a participant in the 2022 CNC, which was sponsored by The Nature Conservancy. The Charlottesville CNC included the surrounding counties of Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Nelson, and Albemarle. Bruce Slater, a Master Naturalist in the Central Blue Ridge chapter, outdid all of the other participants in this CNC. Bruce was interviewed about his achievement by fellow CBR member, Susan McSwain. 

Susan:   
Bruce, where do you live, and what made you decide to join the Nature Challenge?

Bruce:
My wife and I moved to Nellysford in Nelson County almost 4 years ago.  The Nature Challenge was a great motivation to set aside time to get outside and look for species.
 
Susan:
What kind of places did you visit to do your recording, and how many hours do you think you spent making your observations?

Bruce:
I started in our 3.7-acre lot in Stoney Creek and surprised myself at how many species I found around here.  There were many that I expected and quite a few new-to-me findings!  After that, I availed myself of many miles of trails in Stoney Creek, Rockfish Valley Foundation trails, and trails in Wintergreen on the mountain.  I must have spent 10-12 hours wandering around taking pictures.
 
Susan:
How many species did you record?  Were you surprised when you learned that you were the person with the highest number of species?  How did you find out?

Bruce:
I made 194 observations over the 4-day challenge and of that 168 were unique species.  I frequently could not remember if I had recorded a specific species, so I just took a picture of another individual when I came across it.  However, I don't think I recorded any species more than three times.  The sponsoring organization did not post the participants and how many species were recorded.  Everyone used iNaturalist to record observations and iNaturalist did accumulate and display the running totals on the site.  I did a hard push the first day and when I checked in to be sure they were all getting recorded I was surprised to see my smiling face with the most observations and the most species!  

Susan:
What do you think the value of the Nature Challenge is to people who participate?

Bruce:
I think this is a great way to popularize involvement with nature, getting people outside, exercising, and thinking about our flora and fauna.  I look forward to "defending" my title next year, although The Nature Conservancy does not promote it as a true contest with winners, so I am being facetious about "defending." I will be doing it again next year!

Old Rag Honors Jack Price – Outstanding Master Naturalist and Founding Chapter Member
--Contributed by Charlene Uhl, VMN-Old Rag Chapter

At our 2022 Annual Meeting the members of the Old Rag chapter honored Jack Price, a founding member of the Old Rag Master Naturalist chapter and its first President. Jack was a member of ORMN’s first class in 2007 and became a charter member of the chapter when it was incorporated in 2008. Jack served as the chapter’s first president. Over his years of service, Jack also served in the capacity of Continuing Education Chair and long-time member of the ORMN Board.
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Jack has taught numerous classes for MNs, including how to create wildlife habitat, botany and tree ID classes. He was a regular instructor for our Basic Training Classes and frequently led field trips throughout the Central Piedmont area. He invited members and others to his land which abutted Shenandoah National Park. There they could observe old growth trees, vernal pools, a multitude of birds as well as many other species and other natural environments. 

Jack’s contributions were not limited to the local chapter level. He was invited to serve as a local chapter representative on the VMN Steering Committee when it expanded from just state agency reps to include local chapter representatives. Only four chapter rep positions were created. Jack remained on this Steering Committee until his recent move to Georgia.
His one great love is Shenandoah National Park, where he worked on invasive plant removal, manned the visitor center/bookstore at Byrd Visitors Center, and led educational programs and hikes to wildflower meadows. He also served on the SNP Association and was its president from 2010-2013. His extraordinary number of volunteer hours – almost 7,300 hours as of June 2022 – are testament to his dedication to the Park as well as his many other Master Naturalist activities while he was a member of the Old Rag chapter. 

The recipient of the Culpeper Soil and Water Conservation District’s 2012 Educator of the Year, Jack continued to play a role in the lives of many Master Naturalists in our chapter.  Two long-time ORMN members shared their admiration for Jack’s mentoring and efforts to engage others in the love and protection of the land and nature in Virginia:

Gail Swift:
“Jack was a mentor to so many of us as we started our journey in the world of master naturalists. His love of nature comes through the minute he starts speaking. He is a wonderful presenter - I heard him everywhere from the Front Royal public library to the Culpeper garden club to presentations at the Byrd Center. Yes, I am a stalker of Jack Price presentations. He transformed his own home to a nature preserve and led ORMN field trips there. He and [his wife] Sally have a goal to visit every National Park in the USA.”

Don Hearl
“I worked with him on several projects, including the habitat restoration project at the Town of Washington. Jack was a do'er … I recall early on in the project, when we were clearing debris and invasives from the site, we had to dig up and remove a huge wild cherry that had died.  After we excavated the tree using a backhoe, Jack suggested that we plant it as a centerpiece for the main garden.  He said it would be a great habitat tree for woodpeckers.  I have to say that was the first time I ever helped plant a dead tree, but later, when woodpeckers appeared, Jack's cherry tree became a focal point for the project.  That project was selected as the Virginia Master Naturalist Project of the Year, thanks largely to Jack Price."

Jack and his wife have moved to Georgia to be close to family – but he will always have a place in our hearts for his many contributions to the Old Rag chapter.

Northern Neck Chapter Stewardship Challenge
--Contributed by Nancy Joel, VMN-Northern Neck Chapter
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With the American Hiking Association’s National Trails Day and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Clean The Bay Day both being celebrated on June 4 this year, it created a perfect opportunity for stewardship activities to be undertaken by members of the Northern Neck Chapter. With over 1,200 miles of tidal creeks and streams feeding through the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers into the lower reaches of the Chesapeake Bay, 22 Department of Wildlife Resources Bird and Wildlife trails in the region, three natural area preserves, two state parks, a state forest, and numerous environmentally important public lands, our members had their choice of a host of opportunities where they could record volunteer hours of stewardship. 

In order to muster members to the task, after some discussion, the chapter board came up with the idea of creating a chapter challenge to promote this stewardship opportunity. Initial planning followed all the recognized format with stated objectives, specific organization, and an action plan for completion, but it quickly became apparent that we were overthinking the process, and that it would not take a lot of preplanning for it to be successful. What attracted us most to undertaking the challenge was that our efforts would directly benefit our sponsoring state agencies: Department of Wildlife Resources which oversees the Bird and Wildlife Trails; Department of Forestry which oversees state forests, in our case Chilton Woods, a 397 acre forest in Lancaster County; and Department of Conservation and Recreation which oversees our state parks, Belle Isle and Westmoreland, as well as our Natural Area Preserves, Dameron Marsh, Hickory Hollow, Hughlett Point and Bush Mill Stream.

Wishing to encourage participation, we increased the flexibility of opportunity from just the actual day, June 4, to the week preceding that date and the week following, and ultimately we designated the whole month of June as available to complete the challenge. We also embraced personal preferences by suggesting the stewardship opportunity could be completed by “walking, biking, or kayaking/canoeing”. The original plan did have a challenge goal of 200 volunteer hours, but this was not publicly stated. As our first attempt at a challenge we just wanted to see how the chapter membership responded to the opportunity to participate.

So what did we do? Some members offered to be “site leaders” for our larger natural areas, to help coordinate what, when and how specific stewardship tasks could be undertaken. Some members took responsibility for liaison with the staff of our state parks to ensure our volunteer efforts reflected the parks immediate stewardship needs. Not all our stewardship tasks required brandishing a chain saw. Some required beach and river clean up, as well as signage cleaning, and generally reporting on the condition of trails and byways. Members of the chapter oversee all 22 Department of Wildlife Resources Bird and Wildlife trails in the Northern Neck Loop, and this challenge met their reporting requirement, which includes adding new information to the trail’s online presence about any new flora and fauna present at their site. All this information is collated by our chapter coordinator and sent to the Department of Wildlife Resources. As all the areas available for us to steward have public access, it is an ongoing task to keep them free from trash and debris, and report any conditions that might pose a hazard to seasonal visitors.

One of the planning points we pondered was how to judge whether the challenge was a success and worth repeating in the future. We asked members to report their efforts, and more importantly, make sure they entered their volunteer hours into Better Impact. This latter reminder made the exercise of evaluating success very easy. Working with our membership chair we were able to gather quickly all stewardship volunteer hours relating to trail work and clean up for the month of June, and even though some members may be yet to enter their hours, I can report that we are close to achieving the original challenge target of 200 stewardship volunteer hours. An additional benefit from the challenge was that over half of our recently graduated Basic Training Class members took part in the opportunity and recorded volunteer hours toward their first full certification.
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The original invitation to participate is really all it took to get members engaged in the challenge. “Visit your special place” and “just grab the sunscreen and water bottles and go have fun for a good cause” prompted 26 members and counting, to volunteer time to stewardship. Members went out individually, in pairs and in groups, established members took new members to experience places they had not visited before. What started as an idea, met our stated mission as Master Naturalists, of “volunteers providing services dedicated to the beneficial management of natural resources and natural areas within their communities” and will in all probability, become an established event on our chapter’s annual calendar.

​As one of our members said of the challenge experience, “There is nothing I enjoy more than being out in the woods, learning, experiencing, sharing ……”              

VMN High Knob Chapter Mason Bee Project
--Contributed by Chris Allgyer, VMN-High Knob Chapter
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This spring, several High Knob Master Naturalists worked with Dr. Kate LeCroy on a new study of mason bees. Dr. LeCroy, who led the VMN Mason Bee Project several years ago, is now a postdoctoral research associate at Cornell University in the Entomology department.  Her current research is a study of the fungi associated with mason bees, especially the native bees of species Osmia georgica which were found in Wise County during the 2019 project. The lab at Cornell has developed methods for doing careful research with baby mason bees, where they can supplement their diets as larvae to study impacts on their growth and survival.

Dr. LeCroy came to Wise County in late March to meet with the High Knob volunteers and review the procedures for installing and monitoring the bee hotels. A total of 7 mason bee hotels were installed in the towns of Big Stone Gap, Wise, Pound, and the City of Norton. The hotels needed to be monitored daily so that when nesting activity occurred, the individual sealed nesting tubes could be carefully removed, packaged, and shipped by next day-overnight service to Dr. LeCroy in Ithaca, NY.  The nesting tubes were then opened, and the eggs or larvae were separated into groups for the study. The first sealed nests were collected in early April and nesting activity continued for about 7 weeks. Dr. LeCroy plans to share the results of the study later this fall.
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Participants in the project: Gena Kiser, Beth Walker, Paxton Allgyer, Chris Allgyer, and Phil Meeks.

Click on the pictures in the gallery below to see the captions to learn more about the project.

Laurels to Carolyn Mc Gavock for Organizing Certified Butterfly Counts for the Eastern Shore of Virginia Master Naturalist (ESVMN) Chapter
--Article by Geraldine Baldwin

Since 2018, Carolyn has been working diligently to enable ESVMN Chapter members to join others in providing rigorous data to investigators monitoring butterfly populations. The data provided is an aid for scientific investigators assessing how butterflies may be responding to climatic or other changes to our environments.

Initially, in order to build a cadre of ESVMN members skilled in Butterfly identification, Carolyn encouraged members to participate in the Butterfly Tip Count sponsored by the Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory (CVWO). Additionally, Carolyn organized a day of Butterfly counts at each of the Natural Area Preserves on the Shore—i.e., Cape Charles, Savage Neck, Mutton Hunk and Magothy Bay NAPs. In accord with information on the FAQs of the web site of the North American Butterfly Association which conducts counts in the United States, Canada and Mexico, Carolyn divided members into groups including at least one expert in butterfly identification, several spotters and a recorder. The groups used their own Butterfly field guides. Additionally, Carolyn provided lists of possible butterflies obtained from the Delmarva Tip Butterfly count established by the Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory over the last 25 years. These counts were carried out in 2018, 2019. In 2020, following pandemic social distancing guidelines, ESVMN members practiced butterfly identification on their own in their yards or other public spaces.

Carolyn envisaged the ESVMN chapter’s contribution would be a new circle count extending the Delmarva Tip count northward on the Shore. Her new circle “North Northampton County” was established following the instructions and guideline of the North American Butterfly Association and is the regulation 15 miles wide. It is centered at Bayside Rd and Sylvan Scene Rd. It abuts the northern most point of the Delmarva Tip circle and encompasses environmentally important conservation areas of Savage Neck NAP and the Brownsville Nature Conservancy Property.

On August 15, 2021 Carolyn lead the first official count on the North Northampton County Butterfly circle. ESVMN members in 4 groups of identifiers, spotters and recorders spread out over the circle in various pre-set locations and counted 34 species of butterflies and skippers for a total of 639 butterflies. 19 volunteers spent over 100 man hours and walked a total of 10 miles to collect the data for this count.

Carolyn’s long term goals include more circles—marching up the Eastern Shore and including Accomack County as well as Northampton County. This year Butterflies will be counted on August 7, 2022 in the Northampton County Circle beginning at 10 AM.
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All the data obtained from the North Northampton County Circle was forwarded to the North American Butterfly Association (an all -volunteer organization). The Association’s compilation is an important source of rigorous scientific information in monitoring butterflies of the US, Canada and Mexico. As we all know Butterflies are not only important helpful pollinators for lots of native plants, but also their eggs and larvae are an essential part of the food chain for birds and other animals. Their myriad colors and delicate flitting around add so much beauty for all who encounter them. Monitoring populations of these delicate creatures is especially crucial as they may well be an example of the “canary in the coal mine” as climate and other changes are made in our environments.

​Old Rag Chapter Creates a High School Academic Scholarship Program
--Contributed by Charlene Uhl, VMN-Old Rag Chapter
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The Old Rag chapter recently created a scholarship program for seniors who are attending high school in the chapter’s six-county catchment area. The chapter voted to invite students to apply for a college scholarship that can be used for any expenses associated with college attendance. The scholarship will target students who will be pursuing a degree in natural sciences. Funds were allocated for the award in the FY2022 budget.

Our first scholarship winner was Hannah J. Kauffman from Fauquier High School, who received her award from ORMN Vice President Tom Drier, at the Fauquier High School Awards Night on April 23, 2022. She was honored with a check for a $1,000 at ORMN’s Annual Meeting on June 18, 2022. Hannah thanked the Old Rag members and shared her acceptance to the University of Maine, where she intends to pursue a Bachelors in Marine Biology. She is pictured with Bill Clark, Chairman of the Scholarship Committee and Barry Buschow, President of the Old Rag chapter.

The Old Rag Board of Directors is in the process of creating a standing committee, to be chaired by the Vice President, to oversee the scholarship award in the future. The scholarship fund currently has a total of $3,465, of which $1,465 donated in 2021-2022 by individual members.

The VMN State Program office recognizes volunteers who complete 250, 500, 1,000, 2,500, 5,000, and 10,000 hours of service.  These are cumulative volunteer hours starting when a volunteer joins the program.  Many of our chapters recognize additional interim milestones and achievements.  

Below, we have listed the volunteers (alphabetically, by chapter) who have achieved these milestones between January and June 2022.  The list is based on information in our Better Impact volunteer management system.   

These volunteers have done extraordinary levels of service! We want to particularly acknowledge the achievements of Marion Jordan, Susan McSwain, Nancy Barnhart, Adrienne Frank, and Larry Lewis, all new members of the VMN Golden Circle based on their contributions of more than 5,000 hours of service each.  In addition, Bob Toner has hit 10,000 hours--quite an achievement!

Thank you to Tiffany Brown, VMN Program Assistant, for compiling these lists!