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Welcome to September 2021!
In this edition of Headwaters Highlights, you'll find information about an upcoming field trip opportunity to Black Bear Composting, Harrisonburg's September-long BioBlitz, and recent Headwaters Master Naturalists activities in support of our shared natural resources. Plus much more!
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Teasel Cutting at Cowbane Preserve
Seven Headwaters Master Naturalists and a fellow nature enthusiast met the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation's Steve Gaines at the Cowbane Preserve on Saturday morning, August 14. Its public inaccessibility that helps protect it, gave us a bit of a late start but we made up for it. Equipped with pruning clippers and buckets and (mostly) protected from the briars with long sleeves and pants and gloves, we strode into the fields, along the paths and around a seasonally wet area where the tall teasel stalks were congregated, to remove their seed heads and hopefully prevent this year's seeds from being sown. ...
Read more from Adrie Voors, Cohort II, and find many more photos taken by Jeanine Botkin, Cohort VII, and Lora Steiner, fellow nature enthusiast, HERE.
The photo at top is of Ann Murray, Cohort II, at Cowbane Preserve. Photo by Jeanine Botkin.
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HMNs Help with Middle River Cleanup
We had a seven-person team called "River Muckers," and boy, were we ever mucked up when all was said and done. We spent 4 1/2 hours on the river on August the 24th and pulled a total of 30 tires out. Yes, 30 tires, three tubes, several bags of small trash, and a foam sofa mattress that took about 98% of the strength of three of us to get it up over the boat gunnels. ...
Read more from John Bauman, Cohort VI, and find photos of his team's trash removing work, along with photos and insights from fellow river cleaning HMNs Jeanine Botkin and Carl Droms HERE.
The photo shows Team River Muckers with some of their haul from the Middle River on August 24. Photo by John Bauman.
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BioBlitz!
Come help at Harrisonburg High School’s first BioBlitz!
 Thursday, Sept 9th | 8:30AM - 2:30PM
Harrisonburg High School
1001 Garbers Church Rd
Harrisonburg, VA 22801
As part of Harrisonburg City's BioBlitz month, Harrisonburg High School is hosting a BioBlitz to measure the biodiversity around the school. Science teachers will be bringing their classes out to conduct the BioBlitz, and we could use the help of Master Naturalists to get students logged into iNaturalist, ID unknown organisms and talk about the value of biodiversity and pollinators.
If interested please email Trevor Chase: tchase@harrisonburg.k12.va.us
- Trevor Chase, Cohort VII
Harrisonburg High School, Environmental Science & Ecology
Please note that volunteer service hours for this activity should be logged under: "Education and Outreach: Youth Environmental Education."
Harrisonburg City's Public Works department is hosting "Parks for Pollinators: Harrisonburg VA," a BioBlitz event all September long.
If you can't join the pop-up BioBlitz at Harrisonburg High School described above, there are other events in the planning where HMN members are needed to add their expertise, and for which you can earn volunteer hours. These include a chance to work with elementary school students at various Harrisonburg schools, at least one event at JMU and possibly some pop-ups at some city parks. Stay tuned for further details via emails from HMN or check what the city says on their Facebook page. [Opportunities will also be posted to Better Impact and our website.]
And whether or not you participate in any of the events, you can still help Harrisonburg's BioBlitz by being a Citizen Scientist. Load iNaturalist on your smart phone (if not there already) and join Parks for Pollinators 2021: Harrisonburg VA. Then anytime during the month of September take pictures of pollinators in your backyard, at your neighbors, in parks or other green spaces, on your way to the store or anywhere else in the City of Harrisonburg. Your sighting will then be added to Harrisonburg's database and assist the Greenspace folks in making the city more attractive for pollinators.
- Art Fovargue, Cohort VII
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Continuing Education Opportunities
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Mushroom and Lichen Outing
Sunday, September 12th | 9:30AM
 Just two spots left! Grab one through Better Impact!
HMNs will be joining local fungi experts Jack Wilson and Chris & Vicki Vacher for a walk/talk, and more, to learn about mushrooms and lichens in the George Washington National Forest surrounding Jack's home, and summer pollinators at his place of business.
More details on our website HERE and in Better Impact. Sign up in Better Impact under "OPPORTUNITIES," "Continuing Education - CE - Mushroom and Lichen Outing," in either the calendar or list views.
The photo above, right, is by Jerry Hopkins, Cohort I. It shows Jack with a lichen-covered log, November 2017.
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Upcoming Field Trip to Black Bear Composting
For those of you who have been hesitant to get back into the social swing of things, now that many pandemic restrictions have been eased, come meet your favorite aerobic bacteria at Black Bear Composting at 4:00PM on Thursday, September 23. ...
Read about this special opportunity from Art Fovargue, Cohort VII, HERE.
Above photo is from the BBC tour for HMNs held in October 2016. Photo by Art.
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Fireflies! Webinar
"Who doesn’t love fireflies? Many of us have fond memories of catching fireflies, or watching a magical light show on a summer evening. But why do fireflies flash? What do they eat? And are fireflies disappearing? Learn all about these fascinating insects in this webinar."
Last month Wild Virginia hosted a webinar on fireflies by Director of Scientific Engagement at Blandy Experimental Farm Ariel Firebaugh. Receive an hour of HMN CE credit by watching the archived version HERE.
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HMN Board Meeting
Tuesday, August 31, 2021
Board members covered a variety of topics at this quarter's meeting last Tuesday evening. The discussions and reports included:
- Plans for a Cohort VII graduation celebration in October at a local park.
- HMN Historian Stephanie Gardner's work in successfully transitioning the photo albums she had created in our old volunteer management system onto our public website HERE.
- The CE committee has two new members and met in person recently. They are exploring lots of interesting opportunities for us!
- A previously approved project of helping out with the Rockingham Bird Club's annual bird seed sale fundraiser has been determined to not meet the qualifications of approval to receive VMN service credit so has been dropped from our list of approved projects.
- Two HMNs received mid-year certifications: Lincoln Gray for 250 hours and Stephanie Gardner for 500 hours. Congrats!
- Forty-five of our 80 members have now successfully logged into the new VMN volunteer management system, Better Impact. (More about how to do this HERE in case you are one of the 35 left to log in for the first time.)
- Public education and outreach ideas from our Chapter Advisor Jason Hallacher with the VA Department of Wildlife Resources:
- There is a tremendous need for education and advice to the public about good stewardship of private properties, especially for pond and stream health, yard maintenance, and garden plant selection. Could we make ourselves available for this?
- We're about to be infested with the Spotted Lanternfly; public education about this is urgent. Activities involving facilitating and promoting responsible mass removal of Ailanthus would be a great service.
Stay tuned for any developments on these discussions!
For a list of our board positions and who is currently filling them, scroll to the bottom of our public website's "Chapter Business" page HERE.
- Adrie
The Zoom screen shot at top shows from L to R and top to bottom: Mary Gatling-Finks, Vice President (filling in for Brian Lux, President, in chairing the meeting); Adrie Voors, Newsletter/Website Committee Chair; Elaine Smith, Continuing Education Committee Chair; Andrea Dono, Secretary; Dave Forrer, Projects Committee Chair; Jason Hallacher, Chapter Advisor; Pam and Lincoln Gray, Treasurers; Stephanie Gardner, Historian/ Parliamentarian; and Jean Stephens, Membership Committee Chair, attending by phone.
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Got an Idea for a New Project?
 Nothing’s changed (well except for the conversion to Better Impact), so this is mainly for newer HMN members.
The procedure for proposing a new project is really pretty simple. Prior to submitting a new project proposal, the member should refer to the VMN Volunteer Policy Handbook (Volunteer Service Requirements, pages 12-17). Reviewing the handbook will assist the member in determining whether the project is appropriate.
From the Handbook:
Some will want volunteer opportunities to be presented to them, while others will see a need and want to design their own project. Virginia Master Naturalist trainees should be encouraged to design volunteer projects that are interesting to them and that capitalize on their individual talents. Volunteer service must be dedicated to the beneficial management of the natural resources and natural areas within their communities, and the service must be for public benefit, not personal gain. ...
Read more from HMN Projects Committee Chair Dave Forrer HERE.
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More Continuing Education Opportunities
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VMN 2021 Statewide Conference
Featuring Alonso Abugattas, Capital Naturalist, as Keynote Speaker
& HMN Lacey Dean as a Session Presenter
The information below is excerpted from The Pollinator, Summer 2021 and the VMN website:
The Virginia Master Naturalist 2021 Statewide Conference and Volunteer Training will be held October 1-3, 2021 in a virtual format. Check out the schedule of events on the VMN website. We are excited to have nine concurrent sessions, two plenary sessions, and six on-demand sessions. There is also scheduled time for participants to get outside for on-your-own learning and a VMN Day of Service.
Registration will open soon if it hasn't already.
The registration fee is $65 and includes the live event, pre-recorded sessions that link to the live event and on-demand sessions that can be watched at any time. All recorded content will be available to registrants for six months after the conference!!
Here is a listing to tempt you to register! I've only included the descriptions for two of the sessions. Find much more HERE.
Opening Keynote Session: Nature's Puzzle with Alonso Abugattas
Friday, October 1 | 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
 Alonso Abugattas is the Natural Resources Manager, Arlington County Parks and Founder/Author of the Capital Naturalist Blog and Social Media, Arlington County Parks and Capital Naturalist
Nature is intricately interconnected, and while we certainly don’t know how all the pieces fit, we can have some informative fun trying to put them together. Join us for an interesting look at how pieces of the nature puzzle fit together. Get a peek at just how interdependent our plants, fungi, insects, other wildlife, and even humans can be and try to piece together some parts of our local nature puzzle.
Wilderness in Virginia
Concurrent Session
Saturday, October 2 | 2:15 pm - 3:15 pm
Lacey Dean, Education & Outreach Coordinator, Virginia Wilderness Committee (and HMN, Cohort IV)
In Virginia, we are fortunate to have nearly 215,000 acres designated as Wilderness on the George Washington/Jefferson National Forest and in Shenandoah National Park. These are our mountain treasures. Wilderness is the strongest layer of protection that we can give to our public lands. Once designated, these wild places are permanently protected for the use and enjoyment of the American people. You can hike, horseback ride, hunt, fish, and camp in Wilderness, but humans are merely visitors to these special wild places; the natural processes remain the driving force. We need Wilderness for watershed protection, preservation of biodiversity, solitude and recreation, and to support local and regional economies. The Virginia Wilderness Committee (VWC) celebrated our 50th anniversary in 2019 and has been behind the identification and legislative pushes for all Wilderness and National Scenic Area designations in the commonwealth. I will discuss what Wilderness is (and isn't), where to find Wilderness in Virginia, collaborations with varying and surprising forest stakeholders, and our current campaigns to further protect more of Virginia's wild places.
More Concurrent Sessions:
- Executive Order 77: Virginia Leading by Example to Reduce Plastic Pollution and Solid Waste
- Night Should Be Dark
- Accessing Nature: Strategies for making naturalist activities accessible to people with disabilities
- Forest Management in Virginia
Concurrent Q&A sessions with accompanying pre-recorded content:
- The Anthropocene Naturalist
- What invasive plants are harming your part of Virginia?
- Capturing Virginia's Changing Environment through Citizen Science with GLOBE
- Computer Technology Anyone Can Use for Community Forest Stewardship
On-demand, watch anytime:
- Famous Naturalists - Yesterday and Today
- Nature Journaling
- Wildlife Crossings and Corridors
- Forest Health Hot Topics
- Virginia Natural Heritage species watchlist project
- Photography Skills for Documenting Master Naturalist Projects, Including Citizen Science Projects
- and about a project that several HMNs have been involved with: Update from VMN Mason Bee Monitoring Project 2017-2019: invasive species and predators and fungi (Oh My)! by Kate LeCroy, Recent PhD graduate, University of Virginia
Closing Plenary: Building Bridges to the Natural World: VMN Volunteers as Educators and Interpreters in Virginia State Parks
By Dorie Stolley, Community Engagement and Volunteerism Director, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
All the sessions qualify for HMN CE!
- Adrie
The puzzle pieces image at the very top of this section is adapted from a photo taken at Cowbane Prairie Natural Area Preserve by Lora Steiner on August 14, 2021.
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Find public naturalist-related events HERE.
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Upcoming events in September include an online presentation hosted by Wild Virginia on the 16th. "Dr. Healy Hamilton, Chief Scientist of NatureServe, will describe the current and future geography of conservation in Virginia, and the role of our community in securing and sustaining Virginia’s biodiversity."
Click on the calendar image above to find event details.
Do you know of more events for this calendar? Email Adrie: ahvoors@gmail.com
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HMN Board Meetings are currently held quarterly.
The remaining meeting this year is scheduled for:
- Tuesday, November 9 | 7PM (in person? Zoom? TBD)
All members are welcome and encouraged to attend Chapter Board meetings. To get a link for any Zoomed meetings or ask questions about board meetings, contact Board President Brian Lux at brianlux@gmail.com.
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Share your work!
Send your photos, writeups, and ideas suitable for sharing with your fellow natural resource protectors to Headwaters Chapter's newsletter editor Adrie at ahvoors@gmail.com.
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