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Anathallo Acres, Augusta County

Anathallo Acres, Augusta County
Alex Moore practices regenerative agriculture on his 200-acre farm, Anathallo Acres, Greek for "to flourish anew." Placing a VOF easement on the property is one way Moore ensures it stays true to its name..
“Farms & Forests” is a new series showcasing VOF-protected working lands that take innovative approaches to resource management, revenue generation, and partnerships.

Alex Moore didn’t anticipate using his degree in entrepreneurship back at the family farm, but after a year working behind a computer at a tech company in Charlottesville, he knew he needed something different. “I felt disconnected,” he says. “I needed more physically and mentally demanding work—and  the family farm offered that in spades.”

He thought he could get back to growing things and use his marketing knowledge to connect the farm’s products directly with the consumer. “There was market opportunity for a smaller, direct-to-customer operation that would dovetail well with our family’s cow-calf operation. So for the past ten years I’ve been building a client base and a brand that is slowly growing into its own sustainable business.”

Branding the farm and its products “Anathallo,” from the Greek “to flourish anew,” acknowledges prior caretakers of the land, Moore says.

The brand is Anathallo Acres, (from the Greek, meaning “to flourish anew) named for his 200-acre family farm in Augusta County. There, Moore raises grass-fed beef, pastured poultry and pork and grows gourmet mushrooms, all with a focus on regenerative agriculture. The Moore family protected the entire 231-acre parcel with an open-space easement in 2016.

While caring for the land is his first concern, Moore is also growing partnerships with other farms, businesses, and conservation organizations to help his community thrive beyond the farm gate. “In the end, I’m trying to do all these different things,” he states. “I’m foolishly trying to be marketer, operator, salesman, distributor, delivery man…you get the idea. But I realize I could do these things so much better if I’m willing to hand off some responsibilities, if I have the attitude of, ‘This farm over here can do this better. What if we partnered together instead of constantly trying to reinvent the wheel?’” He’s joined forces with farms that take Anathallo Acres products and advertise and distribute them for him. “I would give them a chunk of my take-home, and in exchange I get to turn the time I saved back into focusing on the production and honing in on the craft” of farming, he states. Moore sees these sorts of collaborations as the future of small operations working in the regenerative space. “It shouldn’t be one hundred small farmers trying to do absolutely everything themselves,” he adds. “We’re running ourselves straight off the burnout cliff doing it that way.”

Moore sells several varieties of gourmet mushrooms through various outlets, including the Staunton Farmer’s Market.

Moore focuses on the marketing side of things in his mushroom production, where he’s teamed up with other growers who produce the pre-inoculated substrate needed to grow the mushrooms. He then markets and sells what he grows to the Staunton Farmers Market, other farms like Poplar Ridge and Sylvanaqua, and organizations like Foodlore Provisions and Project Grows. He also partnered with a neighboring farm to purchase an autoclave, a piece of equipment that sterilizes the substrate needed to grow the mushrooms, to help them expand their operation. “Without me in the equation it really didn’t make any sense for them to buy it, but now they can produce more and I get more varieties to sell than I had before.”

The 4th -generation farmer is also forging partnerships with businesses and conservation organizations. A partnership with Middle River Outfitters gives the company and its angler clients access to a stretch of Christians Creek on the property for private fly-fishing expeditions. “It’s been great,” Moore says of the collaboration. “We get a rod fee for creek access and oftentimes, before the client leaves, they’ll also pick up a few products from me as they head home,” Moore states. To further improve the health of the stream and allow Middle River Outfitters to have better access to Christians Creek, Moore partnered with Louise Finger of the Department of Wildlife Resources to remove a failed bridge he inherited from the previous owners of the property. Through months of planning and permitting, Finger guided Alex and his father as they worked to successfully demolish the bridge, restoring the stream bank to allow for better flood management and natural fish migration.

A chicken trailer allows Moore to move his brood to fresh foraging ground daily.

Perhaps Moore’s most important partnership is with his father, Lewis, whose cow-calf operation runs alongside Anathallo Acres. “I work sixty percent of the time for his operation and sixty percent for mine,” he jokes. Recording the easement on Anathallo Farms was important for “us to have those harder generational conversations. The language of perpetuity forced us to look at the farm as something spanning beyond one or two or even four generations and to truly consider how we can do justice to this ground that we love so dearly. And the tax savings and change in the land’s valuation has offered our family some breathing room and capital to reinvest in the farm and lay the foundation for it ‘to flourish anew’ into future generations—whether it’s still in our family or in some other caring farmer’s hand.” 

VOF announces $2.1 million for 20 open-space projects across Virginia

The Virginia Outdoors Foundation (VOF) today announced $2,154,840 in grants for projects that protect open space for public benefit in 17 counties and cities.

The 20 grants were awarded from VOF’s Preservation Trust Fund and Get Outdoors Fund grant programs. The Preservation Trust Fund program provides grants for acquisitions, easements, rights of way, and other methods of protecting open space for farming, forestry, recreation, wildlife, water quality, and more. The Get Outdoors Fund provides grants for projects that increase safe access to open space in communities.

To learn more about VOF’s grant programs, visit https://www.vof.org/protect/grants/.

Grant Recipient Summaries

Preservation Trust Fund

Grantee: Chickahominy Indian Tribe        

Project Title: Chickahominy Indian Tribe – Land Repatriation          

Locality: New Kent County

Amount: $300,000

Description: To purchase a 200-acre parcel at South Courthouse Road in New Kent County, so the tribe can repatriate a portion of its ancestral land for hunting, fishing, and nature-based education and recreation purposes. This project would restore a small part of the land that the tribe once managed and held in relationship. The New Kent County future land-use map designates the area for conservation.

Grantee: City of Newport News 

Project Title: Stoney Run Park Nature Trails         

Locality: Newport News, City of

Amount: $363,750

Description: To facilitate the development of approximately 2 miles of nature trails through city-owned property adjacent to an existing community park. The new trail will take users through wooded wetlands teaming with biodiversity. Interpretive signs throughout the path will educate users on the natural features, plant and animal species found along the trail.

Grantee: Frederick County Parks and Recreation                               

Project Title: Abrams Creek Trail Trailhead and Parking

Locality: Frederick County

Amount: $206,668

Description: To provide a trailhead and parking for the Abrams Creek Trail. The trailhead will include an asphalt entrance and parking to provide public access for the Abrams Creek Trail.

Grantee: Giles County                                  

Project Title: Site Purchase to Build McCoy Boat Landing

Locality: Giles County

Amount: $20,000

Description: To purchasing land to construct the McCoy Falls Boat Landing on the New River, a few hundred yards upstream from McCoy Falls. Goodwin’s Ferry Road provides access to the land. Construction of the McCoy Falls Boat Ramp in Giles County is a critical and essential component in a much larger, region-wide initiative entitled The New River Water Trail (NRWT) Expansion Project.

Grantee: Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia                    

Project Title: Patawomeck Tribe Riverland

Locality: Stafford County

Amount: $100,000

Description: To acquire a 14.24-acre parcel of land located on the Rappahannock River. The Patawomeck Tribe was formally recognized by the Commonwealth of Virginia in 2010 and is one of 11 state recognized tribes. The Patawomeck Community is centered in southern Stafford County and operates a museum and cultural center just across the Rappahannock River from Fredericksburg at Little Falls. The project property is located adjacent to the Tribal Center.

Grantee: Taylor and Robert Scott              

Project Title: Angola Farm           

Locality: Cumberland County

Amount: $275,000

Description: To acquire an easement on a 274-acre beef and timber farm in Cumberland County. Recent closure of poultry processing plant ended poultry production and created financial hardship. The property has long frontage on Angola Creek, a tributary stream, wetlands, and a large lake. The farm has been in the family for about 130 years and is farmed by a father and son.

Grantee: Town of Boones Mill    

Project Title: Maurice Turner Recreation Area                    

Locality: Franklin County

Amount: $50,327.92

Description: To develop the Maurice Turner Recreation Area on town-owned property adjacent to a one-acre pond. A small picnic shelter, tables, an ADA-compliant walking trail, benches, interpretive signage, and a small bike rack will be included.

Grantee: Town of Clifton Forge   

Project Title: Hazel Run Conservation Area

Locality: Alleghany County

Amount: $140,000

Description: To create a conservation area surrounding the Hazel Run Trail in the Town of Clifton Forge. By protecting adjacent land parcels through a deed of dedication to open space, the scenic qualities and natural resources surrounding Hazel Run will be protected in perpetuity.

Grantee: Town of Mount Crawford          

Project Title: Mount Crawford Town Park Creation

Locality: Rockingham County

Amount: $303,000

Description: To create the town’s first public park and space, which includes a sensory trail, sensory playground, picnic shelter, bathroom, parking, native tree walk, and direct access to the North River. The project will conserve native forest; promote walking, fishing, and boating; tie in to a recently completed boat launch; provide a public gathering space for residents, families, and town events; and build a sense of place.

Grantee: William Lee Andrews                                 

Project Title: Andrews Home Farm

Locality: Essex County

Amount: $200,000

Description: To permanently protect a farm that has been owned and operated by the same family for more than 100 years. The owner-operator farms hundreds of acres in the local community and participates in local soil and water conservation efforts. He is a widely respected member of the local agricultural community. The property is located in an area of very high value agricultural land in the Rappahannock River and Chesapeake Bay watershed, which contributes to the local farm economy.

Get Outdoors

Grantee: Alleghany Highlands YMCA       

Project Title: The Alleghany Highlands YMCA All Access Trail

Locality: Alleghany County

Amount: $15,000

Description: The All Access Trail is designed to be entered via graduated surfaces and has sensory-building activities throughout the quarter-mile length. Such activities will include a wheelchair swing, a sensory garden with plants and flowers, plantings of native trees such as dogwoods and redbuds to provide both color and shade, a kids’ zone using natural building components to encourage exploration and experimentation, and a music station to encourage participants to create their own music.

Grantee: Bluebird Gap Farm                                     

Project Title: ATTA Farm Project (Accessible Trails To All)

Locality: Hampton, City of

Amount: $14,000

Description: The goal of the project is to purchase two all-terrain wheelchairs that can be rented out to the public for no cost. These tools would be essential in ensuring visitors’ access to all areas of the park, including forest trails, natural beach, grassy areas, and gravel paths. Not only would this provide equitable access to the outdoors for wheelchair users, but it is the accessibility solution with the smallest environmental impact as it would require little to no changes to the land itself.

Grantee: Chickahominy Indian Tribe- Eastern Division                     

Project Title: CIT-ED Nature Trail

Locality: New Kent County

Amount: $20,000

Description: The nature trail on Eastern Division Chickahominy Tribal land has been used for years by tribal citizens and the public community. Due to time, weather, lack of resources, and increasingly less foot traffic, the trail has become inaccessible for regular use. The restoration of the nature trail would allow the community to safely access the outdoors. It would also allow opportunities for community engagement and education regarding traditional knowledge and stewardship of our Earth.

Grantee: Come to the Altar Ministry, Inc.                            

Project Title: CTTAM Community Grows Garden 

Locality: Campbell County

Amount: $22,500

Description: The Community Grows Garden was developed to provide a sustainable source of food for the community via Come to the Altar Ministry, and as an educational center for area youth to get them outdoors and learning about gardening, farming, nature, nutrition, and more. There are also components for seniors and veterans to be involved, as well as various community groups who desire to volunteer.

Grantee: Community Gear Library 

Project Title: Community Gear Library Lending Program

Locality: Harrisonburg, City of

Amount: $15,000

Description: The Community Gear Library is a resource in the Shenandoah Valley to increase access to the outdoors for all members of a diverse community. Participants will be able to borrow hiking and camping gear at no cost and can pick from individual items or choose to borrow Family Camping Kits that will provide them with all the gear needed for a camping trip. Participants will attend an information session to learn about local trails, camping areas, and how to use gear.

Grantee: Flat Ridge Community Center

Project Title: Flat Ridge Community Center Hoops and Loop

Locality: Grayson County

Amount: $25,000

Description: The HOOPS project will benefit the growing population of children that have no outside recreation area by replacing basketball hoops and updating swings to an existing play area. The LOOP project will benefit residents of all ages through the creation of a walking track. The LOOP would encourage a space for physical exercise in a safe environment for aging residents.

Grantee: Front Royal Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee (ESAC)

Project Title: Outdoor Fitness Station – Burrell Brooks Park, Front Royal

Locality: Warren County

Amount: $23,594.50

Description: Front Royal’s Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee is partnering with Warren County Parks & Recreation to create a first-of-its kind outdoor fitness station at one of the most highly used public spaces in Front Royal, Burrell Brooks Park. The fitness station will create a unique recreational opportunity for entire families, both adults and youth, to improve physical fitness in a fun and engaging way outdoors.

Grantee: Henry County 

Project Title: MHC YMCA Bike Barn Inventory Replacement          

Locality: Martinsville, City of

Amount: $25,000

Description: The Bike Barn is a great asset to the community and is operated by the Martinsville-Henry County YMCA. The program allows people to borrow bikes and helmets at no cost and ride on the Dick and Willie Trail. This program is grant and donation funded for the operational costs. There are no funds for inventory replacement. The applicants are hoping to relocate the old bike barn to a more community-friendly space and feel this will attract more families.

Grantee: The Humble Hustle Co

Project Title: Humble Hikes Getaways

Locality: Roanoke, City of

Amount: $16,000

Description: Humble Hikes would like to create regional overnight camping opportunities that take students outside of the Roanoke Valley to explore the outdoors. This project will expand Humble Hikes events to include overnight camping experiences in regional parks. The project provides participants with all the required gear for camping including transportation, tents, sleeping bags, food, and equipment needed for outdoor activities such as canoeing, fishing and hiking.

Grantee: The Mariners’ Museum and Park           

Project Title: Expanding Nature-Based Enrichment for Students

Locality: Newport News, City of

Amount: $20,000

Description: Mariners’ has become a well-known resource for immersive environmental education on the Peninsula. To successfully scale nature-based programming and serve 2,800 students with free programs during the 2023-24 school year, support is needed to make critical improvements. Funds will be used to create a new, accessible program site by replacing damaged and unstable pavers with level decking, and installing ADA-compliant tables and a ramp leading to the adjacent boat dock serving students of all abilities.

Rotary Poorhouse Park, Essex County

Rotary Poorhouse Park, Essex County
A new gravel parking lot and kiosk is just one of the signs that Essex County's Rotary Poorhouse Park will soon get its long-delayed grand opening.

2016 was going to be the year that Essex County got a much-needed park. The county’s two-person Parks and Recreation Department worked with Boy Scouts to put down gravel for a parking lot, grub trails, and build three wooden bridges across Piscataway Creek. They installed a big metal sign marking the entrance to the new trails, saying, “Rotary Poorhouse Park Coming Soon.”

“It was beautiful,” says Parks and Rec Director Katherine Carlton. “And then the tornadoes hit and wiped everything out.” Locals found the metal sign eight miles away, crumpled like tin foil.

Undeterred, Carlton and her co-worker started looking for money for a rebuild. In 2021, they got the boost they needed with a grant from the Virginia Outdoors Foundation’s Get Outdoors Fund.

The grant helped rebuild the mountain biking and nature trails and bought a replacement for the main park sign, trail signage, picnic tables, garbage cans, and barriers to deter ATVs. The Boy Scouts and other local volunteers have restored the bridges, and the park is almost ready for its grand opening. “My goal in life is to get it open by the end of October,” Carlton says. The last piece of the puzzle is a new entrance sign.

Carlton is also applying for grants to fund a feasibility study that will help the county flesh out its vision for the entire 700 acres. Plans include a visitor and education center, a pavilion for outdoor events, grills for picnics, access to the creek, a playground, multi-use fields, and a dog park. Initially, the park will be open during weekday business hours, but the county plans to install gates to allow patrons access to the trails seven days a week.

“It would be a great thing for this community,” she says of completing the remaining phases of the park. “Families need a place to gather. Right now the only open spaces are privately owned. Kids are playing in parking lots because there is nowhere else to go.”

Rotary Poorhouse Park, Essex County
Boy scouts and local volunteers built the trails, then rebuilt them after the tornado.

Carlton says she is grateful for all the work that the Boy Scouts and other locals have done to help her and her assistant get the park ready for its opening day. “I just can’t praise the Boy Scouts enough. They cut the bike trail themselves.” She adds that there are people using the trails right now who let her know about maintenance needs for the park, sometimes taking care of things themselves. “They’ll go and get their chainsaw started up and then ask me if I mind. I say, ‘Do I mind? Let me put you on staff!”

Lee Woodruff Blueway/Dogwood Trail Improvement, Prince Edward County

Lee Woodruff Blueway/Dogwood Trail Improvement, Prince Edward County
VOF-funded tree plantings along a segment of the Dogwood Trail in the Town of Farmville will help increase the urban canopy and prevent erosion along Buffalo Creek, a tributary of the Appomattox River.

Jay Wilkerson, horticulturalist for the town of Farmville, manages the trees, shrubs, flower beds and planters all over town. It’s a big undertaking, especially in Farmville, which has qualified as a Tree City USA, for the past 17 years. Tree Cities help increase public awareness about urban trees as green infrastructure and must meet standards established by the Arbor Day Foundation. These include maintaining a tree board that is legally responsible for all trees on city- or town-owned property, passing a public tree-care ordinance, observing a yearly Arbor Day separate from the nationally observed one, and budgeting for a minimum $2.00 per capita expenditure on urban forestry.

Wilkerson saw an opportunity to stretch Farmville’s tree budget in 2020, when he noticed erosion on the banks of Buffalo Creek, a tributary of the Appomattox River that runs through town, and applied to the Virginia Outdoors Foundation’s Appomattox River Fund. Set up in 2019, the limited fund worked to mitigate the loss of riparian trees on a VOF easement in Amelia County. Grant applicants had to demonstrate that their project would enhance water quality in the Appomattox River watershed.

The trees line a new trail segment and bridge that connect downtown Farmville along Buffalo Creek to the local hospital, then to the Sarah Terry Walking Trail, which winds around Wilck’s Lake and links several parks.

“That area along Buffalo Creek was already prone to flooding, but at the time they were building a pedestrian bridge and some new hard-surface trails there, which added to the problem,” he explains. To prevent erosion and improve water quality, Wilkerson used the grant to buy and plant a variety of river birch, a Virginia native, between the new trail and the creek. River birches do well in flood plains, he says. “Because the area floods, we needed to make sure we chose trees that would survive in those conditions.”

Erosion control is just one of the benefits of trees in the urban landscape, he adds. “Green infrastructure in the form of trees and shrubs addresses a wide range of issues, including heat islands, sound pollution and water run-off. You also get a lot of habitat for wildlife.”

The trees are doing well, he adds. “They started out small, in the three- to four-foot range. Now they’re about 12-15 feet tall.” Eventually the trees will reach 30-40 feet.

Trees are an investment, he adds, and it takes time for that investment to mature. “The initial contribution from Virginia Outdoors Foundation was the start of what will be a huge asset. Farmville will continue to nurture that investment.”

For more information on the Tree City USA designation and other urban forestry recognition programs in Virginia, visit the Virginia Department of Forestry website.

 

New River Wildlife and Conservation Club, Grayson County

New River Wildlife and Conservation Club, Grayson County
From fly fishing lessons to river cleanups, the New River Wildlife and Conservation Club provides the public with opportunities to enjoy and take care of the New River on their VOF-protected property throughout the year.

August is Clean River Month in Grayson County, but almost every month of the year holds opportunities to get out and enjoy the river and the wildlife it supports, all thanks to the New River Wildlife and Conservation Club (NRWCC). Its 32-acre property is open to the public for river cleanups in August and fly-fishing clinics, hunter education courses, field-to-table workshops, mountain crafts workshops, nature walks, kayaking lessons, and floats throughout the year.

The club protected the property with an open-space easement donated to the Virginia Outdoors Foundation in 2006. The parcel is special, NRWCC’s president Keith Andrews says, because of the diversity of habitats it encompasses. “You have the river frontage, and that’s one ecosystem,” he explains. “Then, a little inland, there’s a vernal pond. And then there’s the meadow, which just in the past year we’ve made a conscious effort to let grow more naturally so that it is more open to butterflies and other pollinators.” From there an upland forest takes over, he adds, “So people can see it all.”

The NRWCC advocated for the August designation and saw it adopted by the county board of supervisors in 2021. The designation means that the county pledges to work with organizations like the NRWCC to increase awareness of what the river has to offer and to promote and support cleanup efforts every August. “It’s our biggest conservation project,” says Andrews. “In August of 2021, we teamed with groups of corporate volunteers to remove 231 tires from the river. This year with volunteers we were able to remove over 200 tires again.”

New River Wildlife and Conservation Club, Grayson County
Corporate groups and other volunteers have helped NRWCC remove over 400 tires from the New River since 2021.

The cleanups are just one part of NRWCC’s work. They also host citizen science training seminars like the Water Watchers Certification Clinic in partnership with New River Conservancy, and the Fish of the New Clinic in partnership with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. Their objective, says Andrews, is “to start developing the next generation of stewards for the New.” 

Andrews tells the story of one of those new stewards, a 9-year-old who was recognized for her participation in August clean-up activities with a Clean River Stewardship Award at the club’s winter gathering. The awards were covered in the local paper. “This young lady, when she saw her picture in the paper, she was so proud of it that she took it to show-and-tell for her class the day after it came out,” Andrews says. “That’s how you start building stewardship.”

Public events for Fall 2023 include a full program of hunter education classes, a club-sponsored kayak trip, an open house and nature walk and, in time for the holiday season, a folk toymaking workshop.

For more details about these and other events on the property, NRWCC has posted Fall 2023 Big Events calendar on their Facebook page.

11 projects awarded grants from Coastal Resilience and Tree Fund

11 projects awarded grants from Coastal Resilience and Tree Fund
Save Neck Dunes Natural Area Preserve was one of the projects to receive a grant from CRTF this summer. © DCR-DNH, Gary P. Fleming

Wetlands Watch and the Virginia Outdoors Foundation recently announced that $68,073 has been awarded to 11 projects from the second round of the Coastal Resilience and Tree Fund (CRTF).

CRTF grants support implementation of resilient practices and enhance the ability of organizations and government agencies to plan for future implementation of resiliency projects within the coastal zone. Project that are eligible for funding include those that:

  • Achieve increased resilience to flooding, sea level rise, and extreme weather events in Virginia’s coastal communities.
  • Increase tree canopy in the Coastal Zone and raise awareness of the value of trees as a best management practice and component of resiliency.
  • Raise public awareness about the role of nature-based solutions in improving community resilience.
  • Enhance the ability of organizations and government agencies to plan and implement resiliency projects within the Coastal Zone.

VOF provides funding for CRTF and Wetlands Watch administers the grants. Learn more at https://wetlandswatch.org/coastal-resilience-trees-fund.

Project titles, descriptions, and award amounts are detailed below.

CAPACITY BUILDING PROJECTS

Aberdeen Gardens Museum Drainage / Water Project – $2,500

Design of a demonstration site to showcase the benefits of a rain garden. To improve the drainage and water removal from Historical Museum property. Focuses on establishing and maintaining planting and maintaining proper drainage. This will help stabilize grounds, mitigate erosion, and provide natural buffers against storms and flooding.

SHORELINE PROTECTION PROJECTS

Savage Neck Dunes Erosion Education and Reduction – $7,943

Savage Neck Dunes Natural Area Preserve is a very popular publicly open area owned by VDCR. Unfortunately, due to both anthropogenic and natural causes, the shoreline is experiencing erosion. This project will install low-impact, cost-effective fencing, ropes, plantings, and signage in the back dunes and shoreline areas to reduce erosion and protect rare habitat and species. Visitors will learn from the interpretive material and incorporate into their actions and decisions in coastal areas.

GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

Greening Greater Fulton – $10,000

The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay (the Alliance) and partners will construct an accessible, vibrant green street in the Fulton Hill Business District in Richmond, VA. The project will improve water quality in this highly impervious urban area by implementing green stormwater infrastructure practices to treat and capture stormwater runoff and reduce urban heat island impacts while improving Fulton?s climate resiliency.

Weyanoke Shoreline Restoration – $10,000

Completion of restoration of a residential tidal shoreline on Lambert’s Creek along the Elizabeth River Trail, adjacent to the Weyanoke Bird & Wildlife Sanctuary. The homeowners have worked for several years to eradicate phragmites. The goal is to continue to remove the invasives and replant with native wetland species to suppress their return, to provide shoreline stabilization, to improve site resiliency, and to provide for beautification along the ERT.

Courthouse Community UMC Green Infrastructure – $10,000

Courthouse Community United Methodist Church is located in the middle of Virginia Beach adjacent to the rapidly developing Courthouse area. This 6.5 acre property has extensive impervious parking and rooftop and only a few trees in parking lot islands. The property has three retaining ponds to handle storm-water, but they frequently overflow into the parking area and storm-water sometimes reaches the building. The retention ponds were designed to overflow into a City maintained drainage ditch, but the ditch does not have the capacity to drain the church property and all the new development in the area. To make matters worse, nine acres of adjacent forested property on the other side of the drainage ditch is going to have the trees cut down to be developed into additional housing. This project will restore native trees, shrubs, and perennial garden plants on the church property that is currently turf grass, provide additional ground cover plants on eroding parking lot islands, and include two rain barrels to trap some storm-water for use to water plants between rain storms. Adding large native trees and layers of native vegetation will help absorb some of the excess stormwater, prevent erosion, filter run-off, and restore habitat around the church. 

STEWARDSHIP PROJECTS

Invasive Plant Removal on Chapel Island, Richmond, VA – $5,000

Since 2014 the James River Association (JRA) has worked with James River Park System (JRPS) Invasive Task Force to coordinate invasive plant removal and habitat restoration at Chapel Island in Richmond. It is now critical to make progress on removing invasive species threatening this local park and riparian corridor through the heart of Richmond. JRA will use a qualified contractor to treat 2 acres of invasives encroaching on existing native species, including native trees planted in 2021.

Eastern Shore Native Plant Public Pollinator Area – $5,000

Two acres of native plant pollinator area will improve soil quality, reduce runoff, and improve infiltration. The pollinators supported will improve overall ecosystem health and resiliency, while also supporting nearby agriculture operations success. Located on public property, clear and engaging interpretive content will inspire the use of native plant species in residential and business landscaping, spreading the impact of the project well beyond the planted two-acre pollinator area.

Stewardship in the ERT Managed Meadow – $5,000

The ERT Foundation will continue to invest in its Managed Meadow to purchase supplies and materials to remove invasive species that have become overgrown in the area. Supplementing the surrounding area with additional seeding of native plants and obtain a seasonal monitoring contract, as well as the addition of two interpretive signs that discuss the habitat conservation, storm water resilience and bioretention in the meadow, illustrating the trail as a storyteller to sea level rise.

Cape Charles Native Habitat Restoration – $5,000

Cape Charles NAP will be restored by removing invasive plants & replacing them with natives. Native plants will reduce runoff, improve infiltration and soil quality, and support pollinators which improve ecosystem health & resiliency. Located on public property, clear & engaging interpretive content will inspire the use of native plant species in residential & business landscaping & encourage erosion-protective trail use, spreading the impact of the project well beyond the project area.

Lynnhaven River NOW Stewardship Project – $5,000

Lynnhaven River NOW has been installing resiliency projects at residential, school, business, faith organization, and public properties throughout Virginia Beach for many years. We average 42 green infrastructure projects a year that require thousands of native trees, shrubs, and perennial plants. The projects include rain gardens, buffers, conservation landscapes, living shorelines, and tree plantings that help reduce erosion, storm-water runoff, and flooding, and also improve habitat in Virginia Beach. Installing and maintaining these projects requires a reliable source of affordable native plants. We have established relationships with local schools that grow plants for us and other native plant installers who donate overstocks to us for use in our projects. We also have farm land that has been made available to us to raise and maintain these donated native plants. This grant will allow us to transport, maintain, transplant, and distribute these plants to be used in new resiliency projects and to maintain existing projects that need replacement plants. 

TREE PLANTING PROJECTS

Enhancing Coastal Forestry in the Tidal Rappahannock Watershed – $2,630

Tree planting project on the banks of the tidal Rappahannock River will connect existing forest with recently planted former agricultural fields. Landowners have worked with conservation partners to plant over 15,000 trees in the last 5 years. This project is the linchpin that connects the plantings together.

Brodnax Town Park, Brunswick and Mecklenburg Counties

Brodnax Town Park, Brunswick and Mecklenburg Counties
New playground equipment at the Town of Brodnax Town Park is getting more kids (and adults!) outside and active. Photos courtesy of Your Face Photography,

In a small town like Brodnax, a nice park can be a big deal. So much so that more than half of the town’s 300 residents showed up at a recent kickoff event celebrating upgrades to the town park funded by a 2021 Virginia Outdoors Foundation Get Outdoors Fund grant.

The funding made the park more welcoming to parents and kids of all abilities, by increasing hardscaping that is easier for wheelchairs and strollers to navigate and adding a second picnic table that is ADA compliant. The town was also able to cover both tables with a pavilion to offer shade, install more playground equipment, and replace existing mulch with playground-certified mulch that better cushions falls and passes the “mommy test,” says the town’s mayor, Don Dugger, by not staining kids’ knees and clothes.

“The improvements were all about accessibility and comfort,” he explains. “The park was built in 2015, and we designed it to have more equipment, but at the time there wasn’t enough funding to do everything that we wanted to do.” The lack of shaded areas was also a problem, he adds. “The little kids could play in the sun for a while, but there was nowhere for them or their parents to go to escape it.”

The park is walking distance for most of the town’s residents.

The park is situated in the middle of town next to the post office and a day care center, within walking distance from most residents’ homes. It’s also a convenient rest stop for people hiking the Tobacco Heritage Trail, which runs alongside it. “We knew that the park had more to offer,” Dugger says, “if we could just muster up the ability to add the things that we needed for it to meet its potential. The Get Outdoors grant made that possible.”

Dugger says that the application process was easy, which was a big factor in the town’s ability to apply. “We’re so small it’s hard to compete with bigger places that have a lot of resources devoted to seeking funds. It’s super rewarding that projects like this can be funded through organizations like VOF.”

The park celebration day featured a bounce house, games, and face painting, making it a fun way to introduce Brodnax’s kids to the new park equipment.

He adds that the Get Outdoors grant opened a gateway to other grants that will help the town complete their vision for the park. “Those funds have been a kick-starter for the whole program,” he states. “We got a grant from VDOT and the Tobacco Commission to renovate the old train depot as a trailhead with bathrooms.” The COVID-19 pandemic got in the way of the renovations, however. “Costs went up, so we were only able to get engineering and plansdone. Now we are reapplying to the same grant, asking them look at the project again.”

In the meantime, the town is planning more ways to bring families out to the park. Businesses that donated supplies to the June kickoff event
are already offering to help with future events, Dugger states. “When we said we wanted to have a day for the kids, everyone came through. It’s important to the entire town.”

For more scenes from the celebration, watch the video below:

12 Ridges Vineyard, Nelson County

Protected by a VOF easement since 2011, 12 Ridges Vineyard welcomes guests to come enjoy its acclaimed wines and spectacular views.
Protected by a VOF easement since 2011, 12 Ridges Vineyard welcomes guests to come enjoy its acclaimed wines and spectacular views.
There’s a spot along the Blue Ridge Parkway, around milepost 25, where the forested viewshed opens up to reveal gently sloping fields studded with grapevines. This is 12 Ridges Vineyard, at 3,300 feet the highest altitude vineyard in Virginia. As owner Craig Colberg will tell you, growing grapes this high is not for the faint of heart. The mountain climate makes for a shorter growing season, and periods of bitter cold in winter or too much rain in the summer can make or break a harvest. “All of the farming that we are doing at this altitude is experimental,” he states. “It’s a big challenge for us.”

Yet, the challenging conditions of these higher elevations—lower temperatures, higher ultraviolet radiation and light intensity, less oxygen and carbon dioxide in the air—also help create distinctive wines that Colberg wants to share with visitors to the property, whose original 361 acres he protected in 2011 with an open-space easement donated to the Virginia Outdoors Foundation. The easement protects the viewshed along the parkway by guaranteeing that the land will remain primarily open space in perpetuity. That’s not only important for the views, Colberg states. “Wine takes time. A vine is a couple of years old before you put it in the ground. And then you have another four years before you get even a modest crop.” Now in its fifth year, 12 Ridges had its first harvest in 2021, releasing its first vintage of Riesling in 2022 and its Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in 2023. A sparkling Blanc du Blanc, made in the traditional double-fermentation method, is a little longer wait; it will be ready to enjoy in 2025. And if the farming is experimental, the production borrows from tradition: 12 Ridges has revived a centuries-old method of creating Riesling grape pomace, a fizzy beverage with a low alcohol content made from the fermented juice from the skins, seeds, and stems left over from the winemaking process.

 

12 Ridges Vineyard, Nelson County
Visitors to the vineyard's tasting deck can enjoy unobstructed views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Visitors can enjoy the wines and the views on the vineyard’s 7,500-square-foot terrace, which is surrounded by the 12 mountain ridges that give the winery its name. Guests are welcome to wander through the grapevines or bring a picnic blanket and pick a spot to enjoy charcuteries, cheeses and dips from the vineyard kitchen. Live music is available some weekends, and pecial events have included a 2022 fall artisan crafts fair and wine and free apple pie on July 4th.

The vineyard’s inaugural outing of small-batch wines has been very well-received, and Colberg has responded by increasing the acreage planted in vines from 12 to 20. He has also retained the property’s prior function as a cut-your-own Christmas tree farm and has increased the portion of the property planted in Fraser firs. Like the wine, it will take some time to see the fruits of that labor. “Christmas Trees take about ten years before they’re ready to cut,” he says. “So it gives me more incentive to stick around.”

12 Ridges is open to the public from 12-5pm, Thursdays through Sundays. Dogs on a leash are welcome, and there is a swing set for the kids. Visit their Facebook  or Instagram page for the latest news and events and their website to sign up for their newsletter.

 

AT Viewshed from McAfee Knob, Botetourt County

AT Viewshed from McAfee Knob, Botetourt County
A grant from VOF's Forest Core Fund is helping ensure protection of the iconic view from McAfee Knob, one of the AT's most photographed views. Photo: Tim Lewis.

At an elevation of 3,197 feet, with a panoramic view of the Catawba Valley, McAfee Knob is one of the most photographed sites on the Appalachian Trail (A.T.). Yet it wasn’t even included in the original route planned out by trail mappers in in the early 1930s, according to documents recently discovered in the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club’s archives. Instead, the trail was supposed to follow the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains, passing about 15 miles east of the Knob.

Thankfully, members of the just-formed Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club (RATC) convinced master trail planner and chair of the Appalachian Trail Conference (now Conservancy) Myron Avery to reconsider the route, and today hiking to the Knob is considered an essential part of the AT experience, with more than 50,000 hikers a year tackling the moderately difficult ascent.

Today’s RATC is working closely with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) to protect the site and its viewshed as part of a coalition of stakeholders that includes Visit VA’s Blue Ridge, Virginia Tech, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), Roanoke County, the Conservation Fund (TCF), and the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, which has provided $416,200 in grants from VOF’s Forest Core Fund to protect two parcels in Botetourt County, Hogan Hollow and the Rickman property. The two parcels total over 350 acres, containing part of the A.T. footpath and also forming part of the viewshed from the summit.

AT Viewshed from McAfee Knob, Botetourt County
The Hogan Hollow parcel will help keep the forested viewshed from the Knob intact.

The grants helped cover the properties’ purchase price, surveying costs, legal and appraisal fees, title work, and environmental site assessments. It also helped ATC and TCF establish legal boundaries for the Hogan Hollow parcel, enabling the transfer of ownership to NPS. “There were conflicting boundary claims on one of the parcels, and all we had was a trail easement on the path,” says Andrew Downs, the senior director of the ATC’s southern region. “It was underprotected in our view.

“My favorite aspect of this whole process has been how all these different partners came together and started moving the needle towards a better-protected, more accessible, more responsibly used McAfee Knob,” he notes.

Work on a new, more accessible trailhead is underway. In the meantime, volunteers from the RATC continue their work for the trail, educating hikers about leave-no-trace principles and other important information about using the trail responsibly. These volunteers, known as the McAfee Knob Taskforce, also help to steward the trails by reporting problems. According to the Roanoke Outside Foundation website, 52 Volunteer Taskforce members logged 1,678 volunteer hours and spoke with over 19,000 visitors to the AT in 2019.

“The whole community has really rallied around this location, and it’s been wonderful to see,” Downs notes. “Everyone is stepping up with a message of preservation.”

VOF opens $1.875 million grant round for open-space projects

The Virginia Outdoors Foundation (VOF) is making $1.7 million available from its Preservation Trust Fund program and $175,000 from its Get Outdoors Fund for grants that protect open space for public use and other public benefits.

Preservation Trust Fund grants for the fall 2023 grant round will prioritize projects that result in significant public access, but funds may also be used for projects that protect exceptional conservation values such as water quality, historic and cultural resources, wildlife habitat, and high-quality farmland and forestland. A real estate interest must either be acquired by a local government or conveyed to VOF to be eligible for funding, and protection must meet the requirements of Virginia’s Open-Space Land Act.

Get Outdoors Fund grants may be used to fund projects that create, protect, expand, or enhance access to open space in underserved communities. Proposals up to $25,000 may be considered.

The Get Outdoors Fund requires pre-applications to be submitted through VOF’s online grants portal by 5 p.m. on July 17, 2023. Invitations to submit a full application will be issued within one week of pre-application receipt.

Full applications for both programs must be submitted online by 5 p.m. on August 7, 2023. Eligibility requirements, sample applications, a timeline, and other materials may be found online at https://vof.org/ptf and https://vof.org/go.

VOF encourages potential applicants to contact staff prior to applying to discuss eligibility and seek guidance on producing a successful application. Contact grants@vof.org with questions or for information on how to apply. To schedule a short meeting with grant program staff to discuss project ideas, use https://doodle.com/bp/emilynelson/time-to-talk.