Women of Influence in Fairfax City

In April 2026, FMN Katy Johnson was awarded the 2026  Woman of Influence Award by the City of Fairfax. She credits her involvement with FMN and her advocacy for the remaining wild spaces in Fairfax City for this recognition. Even though she intentionally kept the two separate her active involvement with Virginia Master Naturalist opportunities and FMN education were key factors.

FMN Katy Johnson, Women of Influence announcement, Fairfax City

An FMN since 2021, Katy has recorded a major portion of her volunteer hours under the Habitat Creation and Restoration Category with the City of Fairfax Stewardship code; and the Native Plants and Invasive Removal category with the PRISM code; her remaining hours are spread over other conservation efforts in parks and her communities of interest. She is also the Fairfax County Park Authority liaison for the FMN chapter.

Ashby Pond Rescue – A Success Story
As an example of her active conservation in the field, recall in 2024 Katy was influential in an effort to save native plants and turtles from the reconstruction (draining) of Ashby Pond in Fairfax City. (Ashby Pond  link).
As a follow-on to the success of this project, she reported that on April 11th, 2026 approximately 30 of the rescued turtles were returned to the pond. They came home to a potential buffet of fish that were stocked for a fishing Derby. Even though those fish were likely too big for the turtles, they can always dream. In addition to the returning turtles, the pond and banks were restored with native vegetation.
Katy reiterated that many volunteers from FMN and Fairfax City were involved in the rescue, restoration, and return – please know that each of their efforts were truly appreciated and the turtles were saved because of the willingness of people to speak and act on their behalf!
She also expressed thanks to Satishi Ito, Fairfax City’s Public Works Manager, for being willing to listen to citizen concerns and for making this success story even possible. And many thanks to Dr. Todd Rimkus, Biology and Biochemical Research Area professor at Marymount University, for providing the turtle expertise to do so.

Conservation in action! Congratulations to Katy and all our volunteers that contribute on a daily basis to the conservation of natural resources in Virginia, Fairfax County, and our surrounding communities.