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Help clean up Fairfax County Parks April 5th-20th

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Join The Nature Conservancy and Fairfax County Park Authority to clean up your watershed! This spring cleaning will remove tires, plastic bottles, cans and other debris from local waterways, preventing trash from reaching the nation’s largest estuary, the Chesapeake Bay.

1,000 volunteers are needed to help cover 21 parks! This event is ideal for families, service groups, Scouts and individuals.

Dates and locations are subject to change. Registration for the 4th annual cleanup event will open on March 1, 2019.

5 APRIL 2019

Providence RECenter, Falls Church—25 volunteers needed

6 APRIL  2019

Cub Run RECenter, Chantilly—105 volunteers needed
Ellanor C. Lawrence Park, Chantilly—35 volunteers needed
George Washington RECenter grounds, Alexandria—45 volunteers needed
Hidden Oaks Nature Center at Roundtree Park, Falls Church—55 volunteers needed
Hidden Pond Nature Center, Springfield—55 volunteers needed
Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria—50 volunteers needed
Lake Accotink Park, Springfield—105 volunteers needed
Lake Fairfax Park, Reston—30 volunteers needed
Lemon Road Park, Falls Church—45 volunteers needed
Middleridge Park, Fairfax—45 volunteers needed
Ossian Hall Park, Annandale—45 volunteers needed
Pine Ridge Park, Annandale—45 volunteers needed
Royal Lake Park, Fairfax—45 volunteers needed
Sully Historic Site, Chantilly—30 volunteers needed
Woodglen Lake Park, Fairfax—45 volunteers needed

13 APRIL  2019

Riverbend Park, Great Falls—45 volunteers needed
Scott’s Run Nature Preserve, McLean—30 volunteers needed

20 APRIL 2019

Arrowbrook Park, Herndon—45 volunteers needed
Dulles Rock Hill Park, Chantilly—45 volunteers needed
Merrybrook Run Stream Valley Park, Fairfax—45 volunteers needed

Guiding plant community change: Management of invasive plants in urban woodlands

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You’re invited to the Annual Invasive Management Appreciation Event

Cabells Mill, 5235 Walney Road, Chantilly, VA 20151

Saturday, February 16, 9 am-11.30 am

Talk by Lea Johnson (see flyer for bio)

RSVP to [email protected] or call 703-324-8681

Flyer

Programs at Green Spring Gardens, Feb. 14th and 16th

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The Balanced Garden: How to meld beautiful and sustainable native plants with favorites from around the world
Saturday, Feb 16, 2019 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Green Spring Gardens 4603 Green Spring Road Alexandria VA
Registration: (703) 642-5173 or online at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/parktakes Code: 986.B59A

Butterflies and Blossoms, or Larval Host Plants and the Lepidoptera that Eat Them
Thursday, February 14, 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Green Spring Gardens, 4603 Green Spring Road, Alexandria VA

No reservations are necessary for this talk.
Virginia Native Plant Society programs are free and open to the public.

Margaret Chatham will discuss butterflies, caterpillars, and larval host plants.

Beautiful butterflies and lovely blossoms are all the result of trying to make a living. The plants need someone to pollinate them, but at the same time need to limit the number of caterpillars and other insects that can eat them. The butterflies and caterpillars need to avoid being eaten long enough to lay eggs for the next generation. Learn which natives to plant to nurture more than just monarchs.

2010 was a good year for butterfly photographs in our area. Margaret Chatham took a lot of pictures that year. Then she wanted to know who they were and what they ate. No year since has offered her quite as many butterflies, but every season brings something new, so now she wants to share them.

Margaret is a devoted Fraser Preserve Volunteer Visitation Committee Member who removes invasive barberry shrubs in winter and wavyleaf grass in summer and knows the preserve intimately. She is also editor of the VNPS Potowmack News newsletter, a volunteer at the VNPS propagation beds at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, and an Arlington Regional Master Naturalist.

Volunteer at Riverbend Park: Wildlife Conservation & Animal Care

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Volunteer Orientation

Saturday, Feb 2

9:30 AM-12:00 PM

8700 Potomac Hills St Great Falls, VA

Want to become a Riverbend Park Volunteer? Attend our next monthly Volunteer Orientation and learn about our upcoming opportunities, projects, and events and get started on your training with a hands-on project!

Please register

Upcoming Opportunities

  • Wildflower Survey (Feb-May)  NEW – Identify & document native and non-native wildflowers
  • Spring Salamander Survey (Feb-May) – ID, measure, and document salamanders
  • Turtle Survey (Feb-May)  NEW – ID native turtles and help us track & document their presence at Riverbend
  • Wildlife Camera Monitor NEW – Help us set up & track wildlife cams throughout the park and review footage for some action
  • Exhibit Animal Care – Help provide care for our exhibit animals (min 4hrs/month for 6 months)
  • Survey Data Entry (winter-spring) NEW – Enter data on our salamander survey onto a spreadsheet
  • Spring/Summer Programs – Join our interpretive team and provide assistance at our camps & programs
  • Wagon Driver (spring-summer) – help us provide wagon rides at our programs and events
  • Astronomy Festivals (Feb. 16 and March 9)
  • Macroinvertebrate Stream Survey at Scott’s Run Orientation March 2
  • Dragonfly Survey (March-Oct) Training in March
  • Bluebell Festival, April 6

 

Ongoing Opportunities

  • Watershed Clean ups
  • Habitat restoration
  • Trail maintenance and restoration
  • Gardening/plants
  • Park Support

 

Contact

Valeria Espinoza, Volunteer Coordinator [email protected]

Rita Peralta, Natural Resources Manager [email protected]

Volunteer Opportunities

Look what you’ve done!

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by Michael Reinemer

As I sign off as president, passing the baton to Joe Gorney, I want to thank each Virginia Master Naturalist in the chapter for what you do. The numbers of volunteer hours are astounding.

It’s hard to overstate how desperately your hours and your expertise are needed. Fairfax County and the whole region suffer from habitat loss, climate change, pollution, fragmentation, overuse – among many other assaults.

Meanwhile, we humans are increasingly disconnected from nature, suffering from the “landscape amnesia” Pete Mecca describes to FMN classes. Or shifting baseline syndrome: It’s impossible to notice the many gradual declines in the natural world – unless you understand the natural world, and you care about it and you actively monitor it. Which is one of the things you do as master naturalists. The statewide mason bee monitoring project is a great example.

You may have read “The Insect Apocalypse Is Here,” the cover story by Brooke Jarvis in the New York Times Magazine, Nov. 27, 2018.  The now global, scientific alarm about loss of insect diversity and abundance was triggered in part by small bug club in Germany. That club of 63 amateur naturalists, which included a few with science backgrounds, documented an astounding 80 percent drop in insect numbers in their research plot over a 30-year period. They had been consistently monitoring and recording changes in insect numbers or biomass in addition to species.

What’s the big deal? As E.O. Wilson put it, “If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.”  While the “10,000 years” part is probably optimistic, the role of decomposers, pollinators, and other insects is indisputable.

In her NYT piece, Jarvis talks about the long amateur naturalist tradition in Europe and how that has figured into faster, more aggressive response to the insect apocalypse there, compared to the U.S. 

So as part of the growing master naturalist movement in the U.S., you are a vital resource in this era of shrinking budgets for conservation and a time of overt hostility toward science in some quarters of the federal government. Your work as monitors, mentors, and stewards is invaluable.

While all the 2018 numbers aren’t in yet, look what you’ve done:

680 hours staffing information desks at nature centers

445 hours working on nature programs for the county

435 hours removing invasive plants

375 hours as Audubon at Home ambassadors, assessing wildlife habitat

360 hours for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology feederwatch program

350 hours managing habitat and land for Fairfax County Park Authority

343 hours for school programs for Fairfax County Park Authority

330 hours for citizen science programs for the park authority

267 hours monitoring trails for Virginia Bluebird Society

260 hours working with the Plant NoVA Natives campaign

That’s just a small snapshot of your amazing numbers and work. Congratulations, and thank you. 

And a hearty thanks to the many volunteer leaders who serve as officers, committee chairs, and committee members who manage the training and all the mechanics that make the Fairfax Master Naturalists the force for nature that it is.

Habitat Manager needed at Ellanor C. Lawrence Park

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Looking for a volunteer opportunity to put into action what you have learned through the Master Naturalist program? Or perhaps you have an interest in learning more about native plant gardening, historic gardening and/or invasive removal? If so, please consider volunteering at Ellanor C. Lawrence Park, located at the border of Chantilly and Centreville off Walney Road. Patricia Greenberg, the new Natural Resource Manager is looking for volunteers to support the park and its beautiful natural resources. Patricia will work with you on setting up a schedule that is convenient for you. She will also train you on the native, invasive and historic gardening practices she is helping manage at the park. Please contact Patricia at 703-631-0248 or [email protected].
Record your hours as S109: FCPA Habitat and Parkland Management.

Opt outside on Black Friday and visit our parks

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Embrace the cooler weather at Ellanor C. Lawrence Park as you learn about the signs of fall. Visit the Walney Visitor Center and get a fall identification chart for your park exploration.

At Frying Pan Farm Park, you can borrow a program backpack at the Country Store. Inside you will find instruction for activities at six trail stops to help your child learn about the natural wonders found at the park.

Visit Hidden Oaks Nature Center to enjoy a visual scavenger hunt along the 1/3-mile Old Oak Trail. There are options available for preschool and elementary age children and their families. Hidden Pond Nature Center is also offering a scavenger hunt to explore the surrounding trails.

Discover the plants and animals of Huntley Meadows Park. Come to the front desk in the Norma Hoffman Visitor Center and ask to borrow a scavenger hunt sheet to aid your outdoor adventure.

At Riverbend Park, families can look, listen, learn and create along the Duff N Stuff Trail. Stop by the Visitor Center to get a copy of a new Scavenger Hunt, designed by a local Girl Scout.

The county’s lakefront parks have ways to keep you busy, too. Burke Lake Park offers a tree scavenger hunt. At Lake Accotink Park, there are self-guided hikes, or you can go on a scavenger hunt at Lake Fairfax Park. Lakefront parks are open from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

All of these activities are free, and no registration is required. Please call the park offices for site specific check-in locations and activity times. Add to your day of outdoor fun by doing a little hiking, biking, picnicking or fishing on your own.

For more information and directions to each park visit Fairfax County Park Authority or please call their respective offices at:

Burke Lake Park 703-323-6600; Ellanor C. Lawrence Park 703-631-0013; Frying Pan Farm Park 703-437-9101; Hidden Oaks Nature Center 703-941-1065; Hidden Pond Nature Center 703-451-9588; Huntley Meadows Park 703-768-2525; Lake Fairfax Park 703-471-5414; Lake Accotink Park 703-569-3464; Riverbend Park 703-759-9018.

Fall service opportunities at Riverbend Park 

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For questions or to volunteer, contact Valeria Espinoza at [email protected] or 703-759-9018.

Record your hours as S109: FCPA Habitat and Parkland Management.

Thursday, Nov. 8, 1pm-TBD  Grass Seed Collection Training

Learn how to collect native grass seeds.  Once trained, you can do this at your convenience.  Other training dates/times available. 

Saturday, Nov. 10, 9-11am   Trail Work Day

Join master naturalist Scott Schroth on a hands-on trail restoration and erosion control project.  

Saturday, Nov. 17, 9-11am   Fall Tree Planting and Restoration

Assist in planting over 400 trees and shrubs, building cages, and removing invasives to help restore sections of the forest.

Animal caretaker needed, Riverbend Park

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Photo: Barbara J. Saffir (c)

Riverbend Park

8700 Potomac Hills St.
Great Falls, VA 22066

Do you love animals? Riverbed Park is seeking volunteers to help care for their display animals at the Visitor Center and the Nature Center. Duties include feeding, watering, cleaning tanks/enclosures and monitoring the animals. Learn about the natural history of reptiles and amphibians. Volunteers younger than 16 may be able to participate with an adult upon approval from the Animal Care Manager. Training is provided.  Interested?

Animal Care, Native Plants & More at Hidden Oaks

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Hidden Oaks Nature Center is a great place to volunteer!  It has welcoming staff, training and support, and flexible scheduling.  To top it off, there’s a warm feeling for friendship and belonging, often expressed at volunteer socials and get-togethers.  Come join us!

Visitor Information Desk – Volunteers needed Saturdays & Sundays, 12-5 pm.  Greet visitors and orient them to the exhibits, park and programs.

Native Plant Gardener – Through October, includes weeding and occasionally watering or mulching the space, weekly or every other week.  Fairfax Master Naturalists’ support is recognized with a permanent sign in the garden!

Animal care:  Dates & times flexible – feed and care for animals on exhibit.

Scout Merit Badge Programs:  Assist staff naturalists in leading scout merit badge programs, such as Environmental Science, Mammal Study, Reptile & Amphibian, Wonders of Water, Sustainability.

To volunteer, contact Suzanne Holland, or call 703-941-1065.

Hidden Oaks Nature Center  7701 Royce St., Annandale VA