PEC teamed up with Mill Run Elementary School to create a naturally landscaped outdoor area for educating students, parents and the community. This past November, the school’s fourth and fifth grades participated in the project by planting 75 native trees and 135 native plants!
Bri West
Bri West is the director of outreach and communications for The Piedmont Environmental Council.
Two Thousand Trees Planted
An interview with PEC’s Sustainable Habitat Program Assistant Celia Vuocolo: What type of restoration happened at the Overlook this past fall? We did a large forest-edge planting of about 2,000 trees and shrubs. The goal was to create a “soft edge” where the forest meets the meadow…
Culpeper Update — Dec 2014
Text from our Dec 2014 Member Newsletter:
The Planning Commission may soon have a public hearing on the proposed changes to the Clevengers Village development, which was approved for the north end of the county in 2005. The new urbanist street layout, including pedestrian/bicycle infrastructure, would be removed from the plans.
Greene Update — Dec 2014
Text from our Dec 2014 Member Newsletter:
This past fall, Greene’s Planning Commission kicked off its five-year review of the Comprehensive Plan with a public hearing to allow people to offer suggestions. PEC shared its ideas, and we will follow the discussion over the next few months. We’ve identified multimodal transportation, growth area planning, farming, rural agritourist businesses, and wireless as areas where the Plan could use some tweaking.
Loudoun Update — Dec 2014
Text from our Dec 2014 Member Newsletter:
One of the least heralded assets underpinning Loudoun’s wonderful rural character are the County’s 300 miles of unpaved rustic roads and bridges— the most of any county in Virginia. Most of these old roads follow routes laid out almost two centuries ago. Lined with mature trees and stone walls, the roads are key parts of our Civil War battlefields and connect our historic villages.
Madison Update — Dec 2014
Text from our Dec 2014 Member Newsletter:
In partnership with local landowners and Trout Unlimited, PEC recently completed a survey of 124 road crossings along several high quality trout streams that flow out of Shenandoah National Park into the Piedmont region. Madison County waterways surveyed in the study were funded by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and include the Conway River, Rose River, Strothers Run, Garth Run, Kinsey Run, Robinson River and the Hughes River.
Orange Update — Dec 2014
Text from our Dec 2014 Member Newsletter:
Grymes School is partnering with Chesapeake Natural Heritage, Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and PEC to design and secure public and private funding for a native meadow planting, approximately 13 acres in size, located on the edge of the Town of Orange.
Albemarle Supervisors Host Town Hall Meetings to Discuss Route 29 Solutions
Albemarle County Supervisors are hosting town hall meetings to discuss the Route 29 Solutions Package. The intent of these meetings is to provide the public with an understanding of the projects, the impact they will have on the larger transportation network, and an opportunity to ask questions. Details on the concept recommendation package can be found on the Virginia Department of Transportation’s website.
Conservation Easements in Fauquier County (time sequence)
Fauquier County has long been a leader in recognizing the importance of protecting its natural, scenic and cultural resources. Take a look at the time series below that shows conservation easements in Fauquier County added between 1974 and 2014, or download a PDF of the maps.
Route 29 Improvements on Track in Charlottesville
In our last newsletter, we shared great news regarding the demise of the ill-conceived Western Bypass. As you might recall, a major blow to the project had been delivered back in February, when the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced serious reservations about the viability of the project. It made it clear that the necessary federal approvals were indoubt unless VDOT reevaluated the entire project, including a new review of alternatives.