On November 12, 2022, 33 volunteers joined PEC staff at Clermont Farm in Berryville, VA, to plant 287 native seeds and shrubs seedlings! The species included black gum, buttonbush, chinkapin oak, elderberry, flowering dogwood, indigobush, pawpaw, persimmon, pin oak, red maple, serviceberry, gray dogwood, swamp white oak, and sycamore.
Photos: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAfPbD
Dog Run, which runs through the farm, is a tributary to the Shenandoah River, which flows into the Potomac River. The Potomac River is a major drinking water supply for folks in the Northern Virginia region and Washington, D.C. With proper maintenance and a little bit of luck, the vegetation should survive the coming decades and will play a valuable role in enhancing water quality and providing wildlife habitat in the Potomac watershed.
This work is supported by a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund and the Virginia Environmental Endowment, with financial support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Forest Service, Altria, and AstraZeneca.
This event also wouldn’t have been possible without the support of numerous partners:
- Shenandoah Master Naturalists
- Old Rag Master Naturalists
- Friends of the Rappahannock
- Blue Ridge PRISM
- Virginia Department of Forestry
- Natural Resources Conservation Service
- Orvis
Learn more about PEC’s stream buffer reforestation projects at pecva.org/buffers.
Projects and events like this one are made possible with support from our members. If you aren’t yet a PEC member, please consider becoming one today at pecva.org/join.