What: FMN CE Wildflower Walk for Fairfax Master Naturalists When: Thursday April 11, 2024 @ 4:30-7:00 pm Where: Riverbend Park, Great Falls, Va.
How long: Approximately 2 hours. Group limit: 20 individuals
The venerable Alonso Abugattas will lead the trail walk. In April, expect to see an abundance of Blue Bells, Dutchman’s Britches, and White Trout Lily, along the river’s edge; and maybe Trillium, Valerian, and an orchid or two in the forest.
Please contact FMN John Wilson if you have questions [email protected]
This is an FMN only CE event and registration is required thru BI
To register:
Login to BI and click on your ‘Opportunities’ tab.
Select ‘Opportunity Calendar’ from the pull-down list.
Find event in the displayed calendar and click on it to display event details.
To sign up, Click on the ‘Sign Up’ box in the lower right. This automatically signs you up and puts the event on your calendar.
To claim 2 CE hours: use All Continuing Education -> FMN All other Chapter Training
https://fairfaxmasternaturalists.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IMG_0273.jpeg370370Jerry Nissleyhttps://fairfaxmasternaturalists.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/VMN-Fairfax-cmyk_w223h156.jpgJerry Nissley2024-02-21 07:06:442024-03-01 11:16:55FMN CE: Riverbend Wildflower Walk
What: FMN CE Turkey Run Wildflower Walk for Fairfax Master Naturalists
When: Saturday, 30 March 2024, 9 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Where: Turkey Run in McLean, Va.
How long: Approximately 4 hours.
Group limit: 15 individuals
Margaret Chatham, storyteller, nature enthusiast, and founder of Voices in the Glen, will lead a hike along Zig-Zag trial down to the river at Turkey Run Park in McLean, Virginia. Turkey Run is part of the Potomac Heritage Trail. Meet at the trailhead on the river side of parking area C-1, the first parking area you come to as you enter the park from GW Memorial Parkway.
Please note that parking is only available at C-1 due to construction and the restrooms do not open until April. There are restrooms at the Parkway Headquarters, though it is only open M-F 815am – 415pm.
Please contact FMN John Wilson if you have questions [email protected]
This is an FMN only CE event and registration is required thru BI
To register:
1. Login to BI and click on your ‘Opportunities’ tab.
2. Select ‘Opportunity Calendar’ from the pull-down list.
3. Find event in the displayed calendar and click on it to display event details.
4. To sign up, Click on the ‘Sign Up’ box in the lower right. This automatically signs you up and puts the event on your calendar.
5. To claim 4 CE hours: use All Continuing Education -> FMN
https://fairfaxmasternaturalists.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IMG_0279.jpeg370370Jerry Nissleyhttps://fairfaxmasternaturalists.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/VMN-Fairfax-cmyk_w223h156.jpgJerry Nissley2024-02-21 07:03:312024-02-23 17:35:23FMN CE: Turkey Run Wildflower Walk
What: FMN CE Herp Hike for Fairfax Master Naturalists
When: Tuesday, April 16th, 2024 @ 1:30 pm
Where: South Run Park and Rec Center in Springfield
How long: Approximately 2 hours.
Group limit: 10 individuals
Caroline Seitz from Virginia Herpetology Society (VHS) will lead a walk to discover reptiles and amphibians.
The parking is plentiful and easy. Plan to meet at the parking lot after the dog park parking area as you come in on Reservation Drive towards South Run Rec Center.
7550 Reservation Drive Springfield, Virginia
Please contact FMN John Wilson if you have questions [email protected]
This is an FMN only CE event and registration is required thru BI
To register:
1. Login to BI and click on your ‘Opportunities’ tab.
2. Select ‘Opportunity Calendar’ from the pull-down list.
3. Find event in the displayed calendar and click on it to display event details.
4. To sign up, Click on the ‘Sign Up’ box in the lower right. This automatically signs you up and puts the event on your calendar.
5. To claim 2 CE hours: use All Continuing Education -> FMN All other Chapter Training
https://fairfaxmasternaturalists.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/sally1.jpeg9861568Jerry Nissleyhttps://fairfaxmasternaturalists.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/VMN-Fairfax-cmyk_w223h156.jpgJerry Nissley2024-02-21 07:01:282024-03-01 08:32:51FMN CE: South Run Herp Hike
A group of Fairfax Master Naturalists had a unique opportunity to visit the Noman M. Cole, Jr., Pollution Control Plant, located on Route 1 in southern Fairfax County recently. The visit, organized by chapter president Marilyn Parks, was actually a continuing education “field trip” incident to the state-wide “on-line” annual meeting of Virginia Master Naturalists Chapters.
The Cole facility, located on 400 acres, serves about 40 percent of Fairfax County and is among a handful of water or sewage treatment plants in the United States operating at “state of the art” efficiency. With advanced wastewater treatment systems, the facility is able to remove or “digest” water pollutants, nutrients and contaminants at an exceptionally high level, earning recognition as being in the top tier of the 16,000 publicly owned treatment facilities in the United States, an important achievement for Fairfax County and our local rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. About 75% of sanitary wastewater is treated by similar facilities. The remaining 25 % of waste winds up in private septic tanks.
Photo: Marilyn Parks; climbing to the MBBR site
The facility, which celebrated its 50 year anniversary in 2020, uses a four-stage process to treat south Fairfax County’s wastewater: primary, secondary, advanced treatment and final treatment. After the secondary phase, the effluent moves to three five-million gallon holding ponds. Wildlife thrives in these ponds and 89% of treatment facilities in our country stop their treatment here. The Cole facility, however, goes two stages beyond, which includes using Moving Bed Biologic Reactors (MBBR). This microbiologic process uses tiny, pasta-shaped plastic pieces on which to grow algae to feed “good “microbes that convert nitrates to nitrogen gas. (Nitrogen is the primary gas in our atmosphere.) By the time the effluent is released to Pohick Creek, it is cleaner than the water in the creek.
We were privileged that Cole’s superintendent Mike McGrath took time to personally escort our group on much of the tour, with operations manager Joshua and Melissa showing us the entire physical set up from the bar screen to the water sampling laboratory.
Sewage and sewage treatment is often a subject many choose not to think about: what is out of sight is out of mind. But the men and women of Fairfax County who work daily to run this amazing operation, from the 3,000 miles of collection sewers to the solid waste that is removed from the bar screen – including false plastic fingernails – this is a highly sophisticated, automated operation, that is a real success story that Fairfax residents can be proud of.
https://fairfaxmasternaturalists.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FMN.jpeg8101080Janet Quinnhttps://fairfaxmasternaturalists.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/VMN-Fairfax-cmyk_w223h156.jpgJanet Quinn2021-10-24 21:34:142021-10-25 21:07:55Fairfax Master Naturalists Tour State of the Art Sewer Plant
