Back to our Roots: Leveraging Native Plants to Restore the Environment, GreenScapes Symposium, February 19th

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Photo (c) by Barbara J. Saffir

Friday, February 19, 2021
9:30am – 4pm
Early Bird registration fee of $45 ends on Friday, January 8th
Standard fee is $55
Register using this link ActiveMontgomery.org (Course #87621) or call 301-962-1470.

Join industry experts as they tackle the native vs. non-native plant debate: Is a native plant-only prescription necessary? Under what conditions should non-native plants be incorporated, and what are the risks of using cultivars? Join the conversation as experts assess the scope of environmental benefits that native ecosystems create, such as decreasing pollution and fighting climate change.

They’ll explore the latest strategies to combat pollinator population collapse, considering key factors like pollination syndromes, specialist pollinators, plant genetics and floral balance.
Speakers will demonstrate the latest tools to assess the sustainability of sites, including best practices for evidence-based designs that maximize the ecological, social and economic benefits of native landscapes.

Key note: Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard, Doug Tallamy, Professor & Chair, Department of Entomology & Wildlife Ecology, University of Delaware

View full Symposium details.

About GreenScapes
The GreenScapes Symposium, formerly Green Matters, is an annual program sponsored by Brookside Gardens since 2004. The symposium will continue to concentrate attention on the intersection of horticulture and environmental issues Environmental stewardship is a core value of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), Brookside Gardens’ parent organization. As such, we strive to provide timely information and viable solutions to environmental challenges.

NVSWCD Green Breakfast: Valuing our Urban Forest, January 9th

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Huntley Meadows, photo by J. Quinn

Saturday, January 9, 2021
9 am
Free

To register for this webinar or learn more, please email [email protected].

Recently, Fairfax County adopted the updated Tree Action Plan unifying many program efforts to enhance Fairfax County’s urban forests. At the same time new climate and pest stressors have been discovered.

Grab the breakfast of your choice and pull your comfy chair to your computer to hear from Jim McGlone, Urban Forest Conservationist with the Virginia Department of Forestry. Jim will share an overview of these activities and concerns, as well as new tools available to help capture information on a wide variety of tree plantings across the Commonwealth and help DOF meet its goal of planting 56,000 trees over the next two years.

National Council for Science & the Environment and Project Drawdown 2021 Virtual Conference, Jan 5-9

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Science & Solutions for a Planet under Pressure

Co-hosted by the National Council for Science & the Environment (NCSE) and Project Drawdown

January 5-9, 2021

The NCSE Drawdown 2021 Conference is bringing together leaders, research partners, scientists, decision-makers and friends from across the globe to share their science and solutions to the world’s most pressing global challenges. This joint conference will:

  • focus on the physical and social realities of climate change and the way this impacts people, ecosystems, markets and the places people live; and 
  • how implementing climate solutions produces positive co-benefits to society, the economy, and the planet.

Read more about the themes, schedule, and speakers, and register (the last two days are free!)

For Fairfax Master Naturalists: This opportunity is posted to the Continuing Education Calendar.

Stop Mowing, Start Growing! Webinar, February 6th

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Photo courtesy of Virginia Native Plant Society

3rd Annual Native Plant Symposium Webinar for Beginners
Saturday, February 6, 2021
9am – Noon
Registration fee $5
Register here.

Create a beautiful yard, save time and money, improve water quality, AND build habitat for pollinators and birds. The keynote speaker is Alonso Abugattas, The Capital Naturalist on social media and the Natural Resources Manager for Arlington County. He will speak on The Interconnectedness of Nature.

Breakout Sessions Topics
Establishing and Maintaining Meadows
Natives for the Suburban Yard
Trees: Reestablishing the Cornerstone of Our Ecosystem
Waterfront Properties and Native Plants
Natives for Small Properties
Introduction to Soils
Site Assessment and Design

View the full schedule here.

Waterfowl Identification Webinar with Bill Young, January 11th & 12th

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Hooded Mergansers, photo by Bill Young

Two sessions:
Monday, January 11, 2021 7-8 pm
Tuesday, January 12, 2021 7-8:30 pm
Fee: $25
Limit: 150
To register, click here.

Waterfowl can be easy to see, but difficult to tell apart. This two-part program, presented by Audubon Society of Northern Virginia, will provide techniques for identifying ducks, geese, and swans. It will also show how to identify other species typically seen on the water, such as loons, grebes, cormorants, and coots. Suitable for beginning and skilled birders. Practice your skills during the second session with a fun Kahoot!

Urban Wood Use, Keeping Lumber out of Landfills and More

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The Virginia Department of Forestry along with the Virginia Urban Forest Council is promoting better use of urban wood from both tree removal and building deconstruction.  This is a nationwide movement to use a valuable resource, extend the carbon storage of urban wood and provide jobs.  Below is a YouTube video of a story from CBS:

Less than six minutes long!

As part of this effort they have developed the Urban and Small Woodlot Forestry Business Directory found here: https://treesvirginia.org/education/directory. This directory covers small lot management, harvesting, milling, and end use production.  If you or your neighbors have a tree they are planning to take down, consult the directory and look for something other to do with the tree than sending to the landfill or the chipper.

A Choice on MLK Day of Service, January 18th

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A Dyke Marsh inlet. Photo by Ned Stone.

January 18, 2021
10am – Noon
Meet at the Belle Haven Park south parking lot registration table. This will be canceled if there are heavy storms or lightning that morning.

Friends of Dyke Marsh and National Park Service will host two activities:

(1) a shoreline trash cleanup and

(2) removing English ivy from trees.

Volunteers can choose either activity. You do not need prior plant identification experience.

To follow covid-19 protocols, we must require registration and limit participants to 15 people in each group. We will provide work gloves, tools, trash bags and hand sanitizer.

Wear a mask, sturdy shoes, long pants and sleeves, winter gloves and sun protection. Bring your own water.

Register here and indicate your choice:
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=urWTBhhLe02TQfMvQApUlHWAzFDL3hpMiePFqcjTpuxUMTVQUzZRSFo1WEdST1JaTTk5MkZTSTlXUy4u

The Environmental Defense Fund’s Yesh Pavlik Slenk Hosts “Degrees,” a Podcast About Sustainability

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Six inspiring episodes so far:

Why employees are key for a hopeful future, with Bill Wiehl

Chemical soup: The quest to create a toxic-free marketplace, with Boma Brown-West

Global recycling, career reinvention… and the double life of Vienna Teng, with Cynthia Shih

Tackling trash with data… and turning disappointment into delight, with Chris Kirschner

Climate intrapreneurship: Think big, start small, scale fast!, with Chris Castro

Transforming energy, unlocking change… and Bubba Gump Shrimp, with Steph Speirs

But, hey, start here for a real overview so you can meet the people and the host and the mission.

Native Southern Flying Squirrels Webinar, February 17th

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Photo (c) by Barbara J. Saffir

Wednesday, February 17, 2021
7 pm
To receive the Zoom link, register at [email protected] and put “Flying Squirrels” in the subject line

Join the Friends of Dyke Marsh for a presentation by naturalist, Kim Young and explore the often hidden life of the native southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans). Learn how to look for them, their adaptations for nocturnal living and the truth about their ability to “fly.”

Wine to Water Filter Build: Create A Meaningful Experience for Your Family and Community

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Conservation, community service, hands-on environmental engineering, and social justice intersect in the work of Wine to Water, a North Carolina-based 501 (c) (3) nonprofit whose mission is to support life and dignity through the power of clean water.

The organization enables many ways to participate, one of which is Filter Build, a guided experience to build small, portable water filters that the organization distributes to communities in the U.S., Colombia, The Dominican Republic, Nepal, Tanzania, and elsewhere. Here is a copy of their 2018-2019 Annual Report, which presents the results of their work in both quantitative and human terms.

Do Fairfax County residents need these filters themselves? Nope.

Can Fairfax County residents and Master Naturalists host virtual events to actually build them for communities that do? You bet.

Might we, our children and grandchildren, and our neighbors learn about some of the engineering that goes into making water potable? Yup, that, too.

Learn one, do one, teach one?

Start here–with a video by founder Doc Hendley.