Category: Water Quality

Field Notes

A Park, a Planting, a Partnership

April 18, 2022 - By Delaney Beattie, VDOF Riparian Buffer Specialist- James River Buffer Program At Greene County Community Park, partners recently came together for the simple act of planting a tree. Thirty trees and shrubs, to be exact – and there are more to come. Greene County Community Park covers 70 acres and is the only public park in Greene County. The land is mostly open fields, but Quarter Creek runs through the... Read More

Field Notes

S.O.S. – Save Our Shorelines!

August 3, 2021 - By Kendall Topping, VDOF Community Forester As rapid development and population growth continue in Hampton Roads, stormwater runoff and sea level rise have become more prevalent concerns. One of the direct effects of these issues includes more drastic shoreline and streambank erosion. Such extreme cases of erosion lead to unstable ground, forcing landowners to lose valuable land while making certain land uses impossible. This causes not only environmental, but also... Read More

Field Notes

“Do You Work in the Forest or the Mill?”

May 27, 2021 - By: Rachel Harris, VDOF Utilization & Marketing Specialist Every so often, loggers emerge from the woods and sawmill operators shake off the sawdust to join together at an industry event and catch up on the latest news. The fourth weekend in May was a beautiful choice for the 37th East Coast Sawmill and Logging Equipment Exposition, allowing members of the forest industry to gather once again in person and see... Read More

Field Notes

Field Notes: Buffer Benefits for River and Trail

April 15, 2021 - By Deya Ramsden, VDOF Middle James River Forest Watershed Project Coordinator A newly expanded riparian forest buffer in Nelson County is not only protecting the Rockfish River, but also enhancing wildlife habitat and beautifying a local trail. Last winter, Rockfish Valley Foundation President Peter Agelasto met with Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) staff to discuss improving the Rockfish Valley Trail. His idea was to expand the existing buffer, to better... Read More

Field Notes

Field Notes: Catawba Hospital Ford Crossing

February 2, 2021 - By Chad Austin, Water Quality Engineer, Western Region Members of the western region and water quality team recently installed a GeoWeb ford stream crossing on the Catawba Hospital grounds in Roanoke County. The ford crossing was installed using State Lands funds from a timber sale being conducted by the agency on the hospital’s property. This crossing replaces an extremely undersized culvert crossing that has been a maintenance issue for many... Read More

Notices

Bridges for Water Quality

October 6, 2020 - By Chris Thomsen, VDOF Western Regional Forester Loggers in the Lower Cowpasture River Watershed now have two sets of portable bridges available for their use, thanks to the Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) and funding provided by a U. S. Forest Service Joint Chiefs Grant. This federal grant funds the Lower Cowpasture Restoration and Management Project and covers 117,500 acres of public and private lands in Alleghany, Bath, and Rockbridge... Read More

Stories

Forestry for Water Quality

June 11, 2020 - The results are in, and the 2019 annual Silviculture Best Management Practices (BMP) Implementation Monitoring Report shows that the logging industry and timberland owners continue to excel at protecting Virginia’s water resources. Forests are essential to clean, healthy drinking water and watersheds, and sustainably-managed forests are the most effective land cover for protecting water quality.  Forests improve air quality, provide wildlife habitat, and supply clean water, all while producing the... Read More

Field Notes

Field Notes: Bottomland Forests and Flooding

April 16, 2020 - By Scott Bachman, senior area forester I will confess, when I moved to Isle of Wight County as a much younger forester, I was concerned about the “swamps” and how I would ever work in this environment.  Three decades later I have learned to enjoy the bottomland forests and to appreciate the ecosystem services they provide. One such service is floodwater storage and energy dissipation.  In mid-February this year, much... Read More

Field Notes

Field Notes: A Rare Tree Adventure

September 10, 2019 - By Emerald Ash Borer Coordinator Meredith Bean It was August 27, very late in the season to be treating ash for protection against the emerald ash borer (EAB), and we were about to do just that. With the state’s most active “Big Tree hunter” as our guide through the swamps of Cypress Bridge Natural Area Preserve, we hopped into canoes to find the largest Carolina ash trees on record in... Read More

Field Notes

Field Notes: It’s A Bird, It’s A Plane, It’s A Drone!

August 16, 2019 - by VDOF Forest Health Specialist Katlin Mooneyham The Virginia Department of Forestry is taking forest management to new heights! The agency has recently purchased three drones and certified three drone pilots (with three more taking the test soon!) thanks to a U.S.D.A. Forest Service Landscape Scale Restoration grant. The use of drones in forestry is a newer field and VDOF is investigating exactly how we can use these tools in... Read More