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Meet the new Urban Forester- Jesse Wise
WV Division of Forestry
Hi, everyone! My name is Jesse Wise, and I'm honored to have recently joined the WV Division of Forestry as an Urban Forester. I am a proud alumnus of Garrett College's Natural Resources and Wildlife Technology Program as well as West Virginia University's Forest Resources Management Program. Over the past 8 years, I've had the privilege to serve West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland in various contractual environmental positions...Click to Read Full Article |
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18th Annual MAC Environmental Conference: Sept. 20-22!
WVCA 
Mark your calendars for the 18th MAC Environmental Conference, Workshop and Tradeshow in Charleston, WV, Sept. 20-22! Sessions and workshops will include topics on stream and soil health, Marcellus shale, MS4 Regulations, among others. The keynote speaker will be Colonel Robert (Bob) Peterson, District Commander with the Huntington District Corp of Engineers. Accommodations are available at the Embassy Suites in Charleston at a discounted rate for attendees if reservations are made by August 29. For session schedules and registration information Click Here. |
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Greetings!
In the spring issue we told you about the Phase II Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP), a draft of which is due to EPA by December 15, 2011. Since that time, we have been seeking local input for this document, which will be based on the Phase I WIP.
- Stakeholder groups representing various source sectors from Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan Counties have been meeting in Martinsburg for this purpose since May, and will come together for a Summit at the end of August.
- Watershed group representatives from all eight Potomac Basin counties are invited to a meeting about the Phase II WIP on the evening of August 24th at the South Branch Inn in Romney.
- Local governments in the Potomac Highlands counties (Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Mineral and Pendleton) will receive an update at the September Region 8 Planning and Development Council meeting.
- WV Dept. of Agriculture and WVU Extension are planning outreach meetings on the Phase II WIP for Potomac Valley agricultural producers this fall.
- If you are interested in learning more about the Chesapeake Bay TMDL and what it means for West Virginia, please browse our website or use the "contact us" feature at the top of the website.
Meanwhile, please enjoy the articles we have compiled for this summer edition, to showcase projects and efforts that are making a difference for local streams and rivers, and for the Chesapeake Bay. Please consider sharing it with your friends and colleagues.
-- WV's Potomac Tributary Strategy Team |
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WV Model Stormwater Ordinance-
Specifically Designed for WV Region 9
Alana Hartman, WVDEP Potomac Basin Coordinator
West Virginia's Stormwater Strategy for the Potomac Basin outlined short-term objectives to build capacity for better stormwater management. Several of these were achieved in the spring of 2011, when a Model Stormwater Ordinance was released for consideration by local governments within West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle (Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan Counties). This document of 40 pages, plus attachments, was drafted with the input of stakeholders over the course of 11 months, with financial assistance from West Virginia's Chesapeake Bay Implementation Grant...Click to Read Full Article
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EPCD's Conservation Farmer of the Year 2011: Glascock's Produce
Eastern Panhandle Conservation District
Glascock's Produce is owned and operated by Mark and Laura Glascock and their two children Rachel and Zach. They are located in Berkeley Springs, WV, where many soil conservation and water quality practices have been implemented over 56 years.
Mark and Laura were the first vendors in the Berkeley Springs Farmers Market and have been active ever since. They have been in business for 20 years. Currently there are 84.2 acres in production with 50 acres in vegetables and the remaining in fruit. 
Mark's grandfather, Gary Glascock, Sr., owned and operated a dairy farm in Berkeley Springs. Glascock's Produce is the last commercial orchard in Morgan County. Mark's grandparents started Glascock Orchards 3 generations ago in Morgan County with the first apple and peach trees planted in 1955.
All fruit and vegetables are grown on the 84.2 acre farm... Click to Read Full Article |
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Forest Conservation and Management
Herb Peddicord, WVDOF &
Michael Schwartz, Freshwater Institute
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The first Forest Legacy project. (taken by Whitney Flanagan) |
In the past 25 years the Chesapeake Bay Watershed has been losing more than 100 acres of forest every day. In 2007 the Bay Executive Council signed the Forest Conservation Directive. This directive was reinforced by the 2010 Bay Executive Order that called for the conservation of 695,000 acres of high-value forest land for maintaining water quality. Protecting forests helps sustain drinking water supplies and critical wildlife habitat as well.
According to one source, West Virginia has @ 1,733,000 acres of forest land in the Bay watershed. In support of the directive, we have established a conservation goal of protecting 1,200 acres of forests annually up to 2025. (So far, WV has reported almost 6,000 additional forested acres protected from 2008-2010). Local, state, and federal governments have been at the forefront of creating public funding for land conservation...
Click to Read Full Article |
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Potomac Valley Conservation District's Farmer of the Year 2011:
Frye Poultry Farm in Hardy County
Christi Hicks, USDA NRCS
 | | Mr. Frye and the poultry litter gasifier. |
Josh Frye is the third generation farming his family's land in the Cacapon watershed in Wardensville, WV. Mr. Frye hopes to preserve this piece of property for future agricultural use by enrolling in the Farm and Ranchland Protection Program (FRPP) to put a conservation easement in place. Frye Poultry manages over 260 acres, which includes the operation of three broiler houses with a flock capacity of 93,000 birds. The annual production is approximately 700,000 birds...Click to Read Full Article |
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Urban Tree Canopy and Watershed Health
Frank Rodgers, Cacapon Institute
Urban tree canopy, UTC, is an important measurement of watershed health. "Urban" trees are the trees we live with day to day. They are the trees in our towns, at schools, in parks and along the road right of way. Much like forests and forest patches, urban trees also reduce stormwater pollution runoff and help keep our streams cooler. UTC, because it is the tree canopy closest to us every day, provides many benefits. Studies have shown that a tree lined street will draw more shoppers and that they will linger and shop longer. Trees around schools have been shown to reduce asthma rates in children.
Because UTC is so important the Chesapeake Bay Program encourages each state, including West Virginia, to "complete an assessment of urban forests, adopt a local goal to increase urban tree canopy and encourage measures to attain the established goal". In 2008 WV's Potomac TributaryTeam began looking for approaches to assess WV's UTC. Jefferson County has become the first WV county to complete a detailed UTC assessment. Depending on how a municipality is defined, Pennsylvania has townships for example, there are between 150 and 200 "counties" within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The large cities of Baltimore and Washington have assessed their UTC. Several dozen smaller cities and towns like Leesburg, Cumberland have completed their UTC assessment. Jefferson County is one of only eight counties in the whole region to have completed a full county-wide assessment. Click to Read Full Article |
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Implementing Low Impact Development in WV
WV Division of Highways, District 5, and the WV Conservation Agency
 | | The newly installed garden in Hampshire County |
The West Virginia Division of Highways, District 5 (WVDOH) and the West Virginia Conservation Agency (WVCA) are teaming up to install and demonstrate Low Impact Development (LID) practices within the Chesapeake Bay drainage. Low Impact Development and retrofitting is an innovative approach to stormwater management that describes land planning and engineering design approaches to managing stormwater runoff. LID emphasizes conservation and use of on-site natural features to protect water quality and attempts to mimic the preconstruction hydrology and infiltration patterns of a site. The concept is to utilize slighter, disconnected design practices distributed around the site to infiltrate storm water or remove it by plant uptake or evaporation. LID practices range in complexity but they all attempt to reduce runoff from a site by either reusing the water or forcing it to infiltrate.Click to Read Full Article |
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About WV's Potomac Tributary Strategy Team
Fourteen percent (14%) of West Virginia drains into the Potomac River and on to the Chesapeake Bay. In June of 2002, Governor Bob Wise signed the Chesapeake Bay Program Water Quality Initiative Memorandum of Understanding. By signing this memo, West Virginia agreed to develop goals and objectives to reduce nutrient and sediment loading to the Chesapeake Bay.
To help WV accomplish these goals, Project Teams began working in targeted watersheds. These groups build partnerships, gather funding, and identify priority projects that are most important to their local communities.
Reducing nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment in local creeks and rivers will mean healthier water resources that are better able to sustain tourism, fishing, drinking water supplies, wildlife habitat, and other uses. Each one of us can act locally to help achieve these goals.
WV's Potomac Tributary Strategy Team
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