Latest Posts

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

Field Notes

Field Notes: A Crop of Cones

November 10, 2020 - By Jim Schroering, VDOF Longleaf Pine Coordinator, and Ellen Powell, VDOF Conservation Education Coordinator Fall is harvest time in Virginia – corn, soybeans, apples, cotton, pine cones … Wait, pine cones? Pine cones, indeed. The 2020 longleaf pine cone crop was harvested at the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s (DCR) South Quay Sandhills Natural Area Preserve during the week of October 12 and at the Department of Forestry’s New... Read More

Field Notes

Field Notes: An Oak with Special Roots

October 26, 2020 -   by Patti Nylander, Senior Area Forester Every year the Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) puts out the call to citizens across the Commonwealth to collect acorns to be planted at the Augusta Forestry Center (AFC) in Crimora for next year’s seedling crop.  The acorns are prepped for planting through a rigorous process — to separate the good nuts from the bad — that involves a huge fan, a 55-gallon drum... Read More

Field Notes

Field Notes: Covey Call in the Big Woods

October 20, 2020 - By Scott Bachman, Senior Area Forester, Blackwater Region In the pre-dawn hours, Venus and Mars were the brightest objects in the dark sky, save for the crescent moon that, as the old timers might say, was holding water. The occasional satellite could be seen in its telltale unblinking arc streaking across the inky blackness of space. Suddenly, a shooting star blazed west to east before fading out.  Stephen Jasenak and I were... Read More

Field Notes

Field Notes: Fruits of Fall

October 13, 2020 - By Ellen Powell, VDOF Conservation Education Coordinator With the autumn foliage season getting underway, it’s easy to miss a key feature of Virginia’s fall landscape: fruits. First, a disclaimer: Don’t eat wild fruits unless you can identify them positively and know they are safe. Many can be eaten by wildlife, but are toxic or even deadly to humans. In wildlife circles, fleshy or squishy fruit eaten by critters is known... 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

Field Notes

Field Notes: Mighty Oaks from Little Acorns

October 2, 2020 - By Ellen Powell, VDOF Conservation Education Coordinator There’s an old saying that you plant an oak tree for your grandchildren. There’s some truth to that, as oaks are not the fastest growing trees. But along the way to maturity, they provide benefits to us and to the environment. Shade? Check. Beauty? Check. Acorns for hungry wildlife? Check. Oaks do grow acorns, but just as importantly, oaks grow caterpillars. More than... Read More

Field Notes

Field Notes: Milkweed Magic

September 18, 2020 - By Ellen Powell, VDOF Conservation Education Coordinator For a plant with ‘weed’ in its title, milkweed is a pretty awesome plant. It contains toxins called cardiac glyphosides, which deter feeding by most insects and mammals. Despite this trait, a milkweed plant is a little universe unto itself. In fact, one study documented more than 450 species of insects visiting milkweed in a single midwestern field. You probably already know about... Read More

Field Notes

Field Notes: Hitchhiking Seeds

August 31, 2020 - By Ellen Powell, VDOF Conservation Education Coordinator When you think of summer hitchhikers, you probably think of chiggers and ticks. Ick! But did you know that beggar-ticks and harvest lice might also grab a ride on your clothes? Don’t worry, these don’t carry diseases or make you itch. They are the harmless seeds of some of our native plants. Seeds that cling are adapted to travel to new locations on... Read More

Field Notes

Field Notes: Out of the Ashes

August 20, 2020 - By Joe Lehnen, Forest Utilization & Marketing Specialist Until about two years ago, the fate of trees removed from the urban forest in Harrisonburg, Virginia was predetermined. The trees, no matter how large they might be, were either destined for the firewood pile or had a future as mulch via a giant tub grinder. Like many other municipalities across the Commonwealth, urban trees that were removed due to natural mortality... Read More