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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.

Improve wildlife habitat with Northern Virginia Conservation Trust

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The Northern Virginia Conservation Trust (NVCT) sponsors volunteer events that take place on properties that they own or on properties that have conservation easements on them throughout Northern VA. Volunteers help remove  invasive species, plant trees, and clean up trash.

The goal is to improve the wildlife habitat on these properties, and improve the water quality within the watersheds where many of these properties are located. Through these projects, NVCT hopes to educate and motivate Northern Virginians to plant native species, protect wildlife habitat, identify and remove invasive species, and simply enjoy nature.

Events are usually scheduled on the weekends. See calendar and Meet-up site, and FMN service project calendar. Most events last for two hours and take place between September and May.

No training or experience is required before participating in one of our events. The staff person on-hand will provide any training before the event starts. Volunteers should dress appropriately (long pants, long sleeves, hats, sturdy shoes), gloves/hand tools (if they have them), water, and snack. NVCT will bring any necessary equipment and supplies.

Help at the Earth Sangha Pull-a-thon 10-12 August

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Join Earth Sangha for a Pull-a-thon at the Marie Butler Leven Preserve this weekend!  The group is going to continue to focus on pulling mile-a-minute and Japanese stiltgrass from the woodland edge. It’s crucial to remove these invasives now before they set seed.

Marie Butler Leven Preserve, 1501 Kirby Road McLean, VA 22101

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday 10-12 August 2018

9 am – 12 pm

For more details, click here.

Become part of Nature’s Notebook, a platform from the National Phenology Network

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Are you looking for a meaningful project? Does becoming a citizen scientist intrigue you? Want to learn a 21st-century tool that connects naturalists?

Nature’s Notebook is the National Phenology Network’s (USA NPN) online program and platform through which amateur and professional naturalists regularly record observations of plants and animals to generate long-term data sets used for scientific discovery and decision-making. As a citizen scientist, you can become a part of the community of observers by downloading the app (IOS or Android) and signing up for a campaign, such as Flowers for Bats, Shady Invaders, and others relevant to naturalist work in Virginia.

You can also start your own project and become certified!

If you just want to get your feet wet, or find materials for your classroom, NPN offers free, sharable resources.

Take a systems view and broaden your understanding of the network effect

As naturalists, we know that phenology (the study of periodic plant and animal lifecycle events and how they are influenced by seasonal variations in climate and habitat factors) is nature’s calendar—when dogwood trees bloom, when an eagle builds its nest, and when leaves turn color in the fall.

Phenologists take a systems view of the natural world. According to the National Phenology Network (USA NPN): “Many birds time their nesting so that eggs hatch when insects are available to feed nestlings. Likewise, insect emergence is often synchronized with leaf out in host plants. For people, earlier flowering means earlier allergies. Farmers and gardeners need to know the schedule of plant and insect development to decide when to apply fertilizers and pesticides and when to plant to avoid frosts. Phenology influences the abundance and distribution of organisms, ecosystem services, food webs, and global cycles of water and carbon. In turn, phenology may be altered by changes in temperature and precipitation.”

Learn more

Get involved in Audubon’s Wildlife Sanctuary Program

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Certifying properties as “Wildlife Sanctuaries” is a volunteer-driven project of the Northern Virginia chapter of the National Audubon Society.  It embraces the principles of the National Audubon Society’s Bird-Friendly Communities and promotes citizen participation in conserving and restoring local natural habitat and biodiversity.

The largest volume of acreage available for conservation and restoration of healthy green space in Northern Virginia is “at home” in our own backyards.  Incentives for participation include making a difference in aiding the environment and pride in property certification and registration as an “Audubon at Home Wildlife Sanctuary.”

The program is open to residential properties, homeowner associations, schools, places of worship, parks and commercial properties and other potentially sustainable wildlife habitats, both public and private seeking.

Learn more about criteria, sanctuary species, and the certification process.

Join Matt Bright for a Conservation Walk at Marie Butler Leven Preserve

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Marie Butler Leven Preserve offers 20 acres of rich woodlands and meadows that are being managed step-by-step into a virtual library of plants native to the greater Washington, D.C. area. This visit to the Preserve will be split between a walk through the preserve and helping with management of invasives and planting of natives. The walk will pass by a partially restored meadow with a mix of native forbs and grasses as well as remnant turf grasses, and down the wooded slopes towards Pimmit Run to a small seepage-fed wetland. Volunteers will be given a tour of restoration efforts of the park as well as native flora of note.  The group will be working on removing Vinca from an area where it threatens native populations of Phlox divaricata and Erythronium americanum.

Be prepared! Given the work, come with sturdy shoes, appropriate clothing for avoiding ticks, and gloves if you prefer. Also sunscreen, bug spray, and drinking water. Gloves and tools will be provided.

Matt Bright is Conservation Manager at the Earth Sangha, where he has worked full-time since 2011 on plant propagation, conservation, and restoration here in Northern Virginia and in the rural Dominican Republic. He lives on site at Marie Butler Leven Preserve with his wife Katherine Isaacson, who is the Outreach and Development Coordinator also at the Earth Sangha. Matt is a Certified Horticulturist with the Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association, a member of the Virginia Native Plant Society (VNPS) and an instructor for the Arlington Regional Master Naturalists. Before joining the Sangha full-time, Matt attended Kenyon College in Ohio, where he also worked as a volunteer firefighter.

Sponsored by VNPS, this program is free and open to the public. However, space is limited so please click here to REGISTER.

To CANCEL your registration or ask a QUESTION, please email [email protected].

Marie Butler Leven Preserve

1501 Kirby Lane, McLean VA  22101

Saturday, May 26th

1.00 -3.00 pm

Job opening: North American Invasive Species Management Association Program and Communications Manager

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North American Invasive Species Management Association (NAISMA) seeks an experienced Program and Communications Manager to organize, coordinate, and manage programs, provide strategic guidance to committees and partners, oversee the progress of operations, and manage much of the organization’s communications. At least 50% of this position will be dedicated to the PlayCleanGo outreach campaign; especially expansion of the campaign in the Northeastern U.S.

The ideal candidate will be an excellent leader, able to develop efficient strategies and tactics, and  have experience managing multiple programs and communications tools while producing results in a timely manner.

While NAISMA’s office is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this position can be executed via telecommuting from anywhere in the U.S. if the successful candidate has demonstrated capacity to do so. This is a 1-year, renewable, non-salaried contractor opportunity and is expected to grow to full-time depending on the successful candidate?s performance and the organization?s fundraising efforts.

 

Compensation: $25,000 – $32,000

Who may apply: Open to the Public

Interested candidates should email a resume or CV and cover letter with at least two references to: [email protected] by

5:00 pm CDT on Friday, 4 May 2018.

 

Lead a Pull of Invasive Garlic Mustard, 14 April, 10 am-2 pm, Riverbend 

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Come enjoy Riverbend Bluebell Festival, which draws 300-500 people historically. While you’re there, get service hours by removing garlic mustard. Email Rita Peralta or call 703 759-9018 to volunteer

14 April 2018

10 am-2 pm

Riverbend Park, 8700 Potomac Hills St., Great Falls, VA

This activity counts toward service hours

Join the Fight Against Invasive Wisteria!

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Accotink Gorge Workday

Friday, March 16th, 9.00 am – 12.00 pm

Meet in the parking lot of the Springfield Costco, 7373 Boston Boulevard, Springfield, VA.  FACC will be in the back area of the parking lot, by the trees, between the Costco and the Boston Market.

The Friends of Accotink Creek (FACC) will lead an invasive removal workday and educational tour of Accotink Gorge, an area of significant biodiversity and natural beauty that is threatened by a severe infestation of invasive wisteria. They will be clipping vines in a selected area, in order to free up the canopy. For more information and a history of the invasive management work in this imperiled biological gem, click here.

What to bring:  FACC will provide tools, but bring your own clippers, pruners, loppers and pruning saws if you have them.  Some of the vines are quite thick!

What to wear:  Sturdy shoes, long pants and sleeves, bug spray and garden gloves.  Workday will go on in light rain.

Caution:  There are ticks and poison ivy, and access is down a very steep slope.  Bushwhacking skill is needed.

The Fairfax County volunteer website has LOTS of service opportunities

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Do you need fresh ideas on where to find meaningful volunteer work? The Fairfax County volunteer website has a special section listing volunteer opportunities for people who are interested in the environment, parks, recreation, or sports. 

You will need to register, but it only takes 10-15 minutes to complete the application. Dozens of opportunities qualify for FMN service hours (e.g., volunteering at our county parks, rec centers and other public lands).  

Don’t forget to check the County website for new opportunities from time to time; you can even search for opportunities by date.  If you see more than you can do yourself, share them with the rest of us!