Cinder Bed Road Bikeway Nature Walks, May 17th or 7th

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Photo: Amberleigh HOA

Sunday, May 17, 2026 or Sunday June 7, 2026
10:30am-12:30pm

Registration is required:  Click this link for registration information

There is room for 20-25 people to join  on these walks. 

Join Alan Ford, President of the Potowmack Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society, for a nature walk in the beautiful woods and creek area of the Amberleigh HOA.  The walks are scheduled for Sunday, May 17 at 10:30 AM or on Sunday, June 7, at 10:30AM. Join participants for a walk adjacent to an acidic seepage swamp, recognized as a globally rare ecosystem. The walk will take place on the property of the Amberleigh HOA in Alexandria (Fairfax Co), the site of a portion of the planned Cinder Bed Road Bikeway. The walk will highlight the plant communities that live in this threatened ecosystem. This is a unique opportunity to view a healthy ecosystem that is under serious threat within a year or two if the bikeway is constructed.

That’s right! If you live in Amberleigh, those woods behind your homes are owned by your HOA and the area is known as the Newington Conservation Site. Learn about the unique habitat of this area, the plants and animals live there, where water comes from and goes.

FMN’s – Opportunity to Join The Living with Black Bears Team in Fairfax County

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Photo: Courtesy of the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, Black Bear and cubs
For those in the FMN Chapter who may be interested in joining the Living with Black Bears Team in Fairfax County, below is information on upcoming training sessions.

DWR is hosting virtual Part 1 and Part 2 Living with Black Bears training for our chapter.  These training sessions are for new or current members interested in the Living with Black Bears project, those members who were unable to attend the original Part 1 and Part 2 Living with Black Bears training sessions, or those Living with Black Bear project members that are looking to refresh their knowledge. The training is broken into two parts.

For Part 1 training, please watch this prerecorded Bear 101 presentation hosted by DWR Region 2 District Wildlife Biologist Sarah Peltier before June 19, 2026.  The video link is https://youtu.be/T4tgRx4kswg.

For Part 2 training, please register for a live virtual Part 2 training with DWR Black Bear Project co-lead Katie Martin using this link https://www.register-ed.com/events/view/244215 . This training will be held on Monday, June 22, 2026. at 6:00 pm. This training will be hosted on the virtual meeting platform, Teams (it’s like Zoom), and you will receive a meeting link via email the morning of the training. The Part 2 training will NOT be recorded.  If you can not attend this Part 2 training, we will offer another virtual Part 2 training in winter 2027, date TBD.

If you have any questions about these trainings, please reach out to Wildlife Education Coordinator, Courtney Hallacher at courtney.hallacher@dwr.virginia.gov.