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Northern Virginia Conservation Trust
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Flowering Mountain Laurel
Nearby Nature in Fairfax County
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Virginia Land Conservation and Greenways Conference
NVCT staff were excited to learn and network at the annual
Virginia Land
Conservation and Greenways Conference in Roanoke from April 23-25. We joined our partner Virginia land trusts, governmental agencies, outdoors organizations and more to share knowledge and brainstorm about ways we can improve and enhance Virginia's outdoor resources. Andrea Reese, NVCT's Senior Land Conservation Specialist, led a presentation with
Jane Myers of Capital Region Land Conservancy, on
Conserving Agricultural Land in Developed and Developing Areas
, which was well attended and inspired a great discussion.
The conference's keynote speaker was Governor Ralph Northam, who was joined by Secretary of Natural Resources Matt Strickler and Secretary of Agriculture Bettina Ring. They affirmed that land conservation is going to be a major component of this administration's conservation legacy. The Governor's plan is to increase the state's conservation budget from 0.06% to 2% while identifying and permanently conserving the top 10% of the most ecologically valuable lands in Virginia over the next 10 years. NVCT looks forward to helping this initiative succeed.
Left: Photo courtesy of
Governor Northam's Week In Review email received April 28, 2018.
Right:Governor Northam and NVCT Executive Director, Alan Rowsome, before Northam's speech
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Our Recent Outreach Work
NVCT staff were tabling at Alexandria Earth Day on 4/28 as well as the VA Department of Conservation and Recreation's annual Eagle Fest at Mason Neck State Park on 5/12. We had a lovely time engaging with families, other environmental organizations, and state officials at these wonderful events. Everyone seemed to like our little photo booth as well as the opportunity to share why nature is important to them. We enjoyed the chance to spread the word about the work we are doing to conserve open spaces and Save Nearby Nature in Northern Virginia.
State Delegate
Kathy Tran (VA-42) with her daughter Charlotte (left) and other community members (right) in NVCT's photo booth at Mason Neck State Park's Eagle Festival
We love to get out to events in your communities, but don't always know of everything that's going on! I
f you know of any events, meetings, or trainings that you think NVCT should be present at, please reach out to Emily Bowman at [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you!
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A big THANK YOU to our volunteers as well as NVCT's Rentz Hilyer
We are proud to share that NVCT's own Rentz Hilyer has been recognized with a Beautification and Environmental Improvement Award by Friends of Little Hunting Creek for his initiative and dedication to cleaning up and enhancing the public trail there. We are so pleased to continue our relationship with this conservation-minded community and want to thank all of the volunteers who so kindly helped with these cleanups! Your work has added a lot of value to this land and to this community. Thank You! We hope to see you all out there again soon!
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NVCT welcomes our new staff member
In case you missed it, NVCT is excited to welcome Alyssa Hemler to our team as our new Administrative Coordinator!
 Alyssa graduated from Oberlin College with a bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies. Before coming to NVCT she worked in the Adventure and Outdoors division of Howard County Recreation and Parks in Maryland. With HCRP, Alyssa planned and led camps and programs in rock climbing, kayaking, hiking, archery, camping, and biking. She grew up in Columbia, Maryland and now lives in Fairfax County. |
Join Our Alexandria Kayak/Canoe Cleanup on June 2nd 9:30 AM - 1 PM
Please join us on June 2nd from 9:30AM - 1PM for our annual Kayak/Canoe Cleanup of the tidal estuary of Cameron Run at Hunting Creek in Alexandria. NVCT will have a limited number of boats available for volunteer use, but if you have your own, please bring it to support the cause! This is a beautiful landscape and precious wildlife habitat, so it is a great opportunity to help nearby nature while enjoying a morning on the water. Parking will be located behind the Porto Vecchio condo building where we will put in.
If you would like to participate, please email [email protected] with the subject line 'RSVP Kayak/Canoe' and let us know whether you will be bringing a kayak(s) or canoe(s)!
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Annual Monitoring Visits are a great opportunity to reconnect
In between the storms, NVCT land stewardship staff has been out visiting our conserved properties, often times hosted by landowners that are enthusiastic to share their latest blooms and wildlife encounters. We greatly enjoy this part of our jobs that allow us to connect to the people who have conserved our precious green spaces. We encourage our landowner partners to arrange at least a few minutes to chat with our stewardship staff when they visit each year. We feel that this relationship building and information sharing is incredibly beneficial as we move into the future together - in the name of conservation. Our practice is to offer a specific time and date to landowners so that we can be as efficient as possible in planning our trips. If the proposed time slot does not work for you, we hope we can find a reschedule date so we can spend time together on the land.
One of our lovely landowners in Fairfax County, sharing her time with NVCT's cheery staff.
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Show your support on Social Media!
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Your financial support helps us protect landscapes in Northern Virginia. Please consider a gift to NVCT today!
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Please contact us with any questions about the Trust
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