December 7, 2021 - By Janet Muncy, integrated media manager The Virginia Department of Forestry mourns the loss of a member of the DOF family, Joseph (Joe) W. Schaefer, assets and infrastructure manager, who passed away October 23, 2021. A retired U.S. Air Force veteran of 21 years, Joe had a vast military background that took him around the world before he settled here in Virginia and began his career with DOF in February... Read More
November 15, 2021 - By Scott Bachman, DOF Senior Area Forester Several weeks ago, the Virginia Department of Forestry (DOF) Eastern Region had the opportunity to show off our work for the agency’s most recently hired employees, during their orientation tour. A group of our region’s staff – Heather Dowling, Jeremey Falkenau, Bryant Bays, Lisa Burke, Brenda Clarke and I – collaborated to come up with several days of activities that we hoped would... Read More
February 4, 2021 - The Virginia Department of Forestry is mourning the loss of Page Hutchinson, Virginia’s Project Learning Tree Coordinator and member of the DOF family, after she passed away unexpectedly this week. Page was a leader in the environmental education community. Beyond the work she did to build Virginia’s PLT program, Page worked with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the Virginia Master Naturalists, and the Virginia Association for Environmental Educators. In... Read More
May 5, 2020 - from Hector Rivera, DOF’s Director of Human Resources For many, the beginning of May is a period of both anticipation and celebration – whether we’re counting down to summer break, celebrating high school or college graduation, or honoring the beautiful mothers in our lives. And for more than three decades, the first week of May has also marked a time to officially recognize the dedicated professionals engaged in public service... Read More
March 13, 2020 - On March 9, a wildfire was reported in southern Albemarle County — DOF and local partner agency Albemarle Fire Rescue responded to the scene. By March 11, suppression efforts had contained 75% of the fire but more than 320 acres had burned. The crews continued suppression operations into the early evening and performed mop-up and spot checks in the following days. As of March 12, the fire was 100% contained.... Read More
May 23, 2018 - The 2018 National Smokey Bear Awards were recently announced and Fred Turck (wildfire prevention program manager), along with other prevention specialists from the Mid-Atlantic Forest Fire Compact, were awarded the highest honor, the Gold Smokey. This award program is sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service, the National Association of State Foresters and the Ad Council. Since 1957 this prestigious award program has recognized organizations and individuals for outstanding service of at least... Read More
