Post Type: Stories

Stories

Goshen Wildfire Shines a Spotlight on Cooperation

May 4, 2021 - April 30 is the last day of Virginia’s spring fire season, and it typically goes out like a lamb. Not this year. VDOF personnel were on high alert all day last Friday, after the National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning, meaning low humidity and high winds would create conditions ripe for wildfires. In fact, on Friday and Saturday, VDOF personnel responded to eighteen fires which burned more than... Read More

Stories

An Exciting Mass Timber Project in Charlottesville

March 15, 2021 - During a sunny March morning, a team from the Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) and the Virginia Department of Agricultural Consumer Services (VDACS) toured an exciting mass timber construction project in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia. The building will eventually house the headquarters office of Apex Clean Energy – a locally-based wind and solar energy company – as well as headquarters for Hourigan Development and Riverbend Development. Architects at William McDonough + Partners... Read More

Stories

Historical Landscape of James Monroe’s Highland

February 26, 2021 - Property managers at James Monroe’s Highland recently conducted preservation work on the estate’s tree canopy using cost-share funding from the Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF). With more than 100 ash trees on the property, Highland has not been insulated from the effects of the emerald ash borer (EAB)– an invasive pest that damages and eventually kills native ash species. To maintain the overall health of their tree canopy, they’ve removed... Read More

Stories

Native Ecosystem Restoration Expanded in Southeastern Virginia

February 16, 2021 - The Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) and the Meadowview Biological Research Station (MBRS) recently acquired land that expands an existing conservation easement on the Joseph Pines Preserve in Sussex County.  The 196-acre purchase by MBRS increases the preserve property to nearly 428 acres. The easement, donated to VDOF by MBRS, includes the entire preserve. “This partnership exemplifies the positive impact of multiple agencies and nonprofit organizations working together with a shared... Read More

Stories

Restoring Canopy at Camp Kum-Ba-Yah

February 15, 2021 - The Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) helped Camp Kum-Ba-Yah give some much-needed care to their campground’s forest. The wooded property in Lynchburg, Virginia is owned and operated by the Lynchburg Covenant Fellowship. Camp Kum-Ba-Yah was founded in 1950 by Reverend Bev Cosby. Along with the camp, the property houses the Church of the Covenant, The Lodge of the Fishermen, Common Grounds Café, and Chrysalis Interfaith Retreat Center. Ash trees on... Read More

Stories

In Memory of Page Hutchinson

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 VDOF 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

Stories

A Christmas Present for Stony Creek

January 8, 2021 - The walking track in Sussex County’s Stony Creek Park is a well-used community resource. Citizens use it for exercise, and for years, the Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) has used it for firefighter pack tests. Walking the open track in the summer heat gave Zach Dowling, Senior Area Forester for VDOF’s Waverly work area, an idea. Last summer, Zach mentioned to town council member Mike Moody that shade trees would... Read More

Stories

Holiday Special Delivery

December 3, 2020 - By Ellen Powell, VDOF Conservation Education Coordinator Early Tuesday morning, a team of foresters gathered at Claybrooke Farm near Mineral to collect a special gift – the 2020 State Capitol Christmas tree. The approximately 25-foot Norway spruce donated by the Carroll family will be displayed outside on the Capitol portico. This year’s tree lighting ceremony was closed to the public due to COVID concerns, but you can view the tree... Read More

Stories

Abigail the Green Ash in Alexandria

July 30, 2020 - On July 22, VDOF’s urban & community forestry (U&CF) manager Lara Johnson traveled to Alexandria, Virginia to visit a well-known green ash tree. This ash, located in a courtyard between two apartment buildings, is likely hundreds of years old and is one of largest ash trees in the nation. Abigail (so named by property managers Mike and Olivia) is the current Virginia State Champion and was once the National Big... Read More

Stories

On the Wings of a Tiny Wasp

July 24, 2020 - The fate of Virginia’s stately ash trees might rest on the wings of a tiny wasp. For more than a decade, ash trees (Fraxinus genus) have been under threat from an invasive insect pest, the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) – EAB, for short. The larvae of this beetle feed on the phloem of ash trees, disrupting nutrient transfer. Native ash trees didn’t evolve with EAB, and its natural enemies aren’t here to... Read More

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