Nobody doubts the need to fix traffic problems on Route 29. But the proposed $250 million Western Bypass is not the answer—nor is it a done deal. View this video produced by The Southern Environmental Law Center to learn about more cost-effective alternatives that would provide greater benefits to the Charlottesville-Albemarle community.
In the foothills of Greene County, on May 5, the woods were brilliant with lush spring growth. A gravel road led up and up into the hills; eventually it would end at the border of Shenandoah National Park. Down a long drive, set deep in the forest was an old house—a sturdy two-story frame cabin with a welcoming front porch, at the edge of a clear, rushing stream.
As my mother and I pulled up at the Jones Nature Preserve in Rappahannock, a brilliant bird dipped through the air—a rich tropical blue on delicate wings. They came in this week, Bruce Jones told me, the indigo buntings. He had led a bird walk over the weekend, and they saw 15 to 20 of these migrants, which flourish in the shrubby areas between his meadows and his woods.
PEC thanks everyone who protected their land in 2011—preserving the Piedmont’s natural heritage for generations to come. Read a brief story from each of our 9 counties.
When Bill Sanford was a boy on Arrowpoint Farm in Madison County, at the confluence of the Robinson and the Rapidan Rivers, the fields were full of bobwhite quail. He could go out after school, he says, and find three coveys of birds in a field before he had to go inside to do his homework.
Hope Porter and Sue Scheer have been fighting to protect rural land for decades. It was in the late 1940s that Porter and her husband realized what the post-war surge in automobile ownership and long-distance commuting could mean for Fauquier County, their home—unless people stood up to protect the countryside. Together with a few likeminded neighbors, they worked to establish the county’s first zoning, when any kind of land use planning was still a rarity.
The uranium in Virginia will remain safely underground for now, although pressure is still building to overturn Virginia’s ban on mining and milling this radioactive mineral.
Despite a massive lobbying effort by Virginia Uranium, LLC, it appears that efforts to end the ban this year lacked political support, particularly after a National Academy of Sciences study released in December confirmed that uranium mining and milling would expose Virginians to unprecedented risk. On January 20, Gov. Bob McDonnell requested that there be no effort to lift Virginia’s ban on uranium mining this year, but directed state agencies to start drafting regulations for potential uranium mining and milling.
Using a value transfer approach, this study leverages the results of pre-existing studies to quantify the estimated annual contribution of nine such natural services – water quality, water supply, pollination, recreation, forest products, farm products, disturbance prevention, habitat, and carbon sequestration – to be approximately $21.8 billion.
Use this field guide to learn about common wetland plants like ferns, grasses, shrubs, and trees of the Piedmont region and explore how wetlands can be protected, mitigated, and restored.
Learn where to find and enjoy local foods in our popular Buy Fresh Buy Local guides (PDF’s linked to below). You may also want to visit our Buy Fresh Buy Local website or learn more about what PEC’s up to on the Farms & Food section of our website.