Alternative energy

Piedmont Alternative Energy Expo 2006: Report on the event.

Alternative energy sources:
Rappahannockers think out of the box and off the grid
A little car, one that has seen some years, motors down the country roads of Rappahannock County. It passes the high school on the main highway, winds through Castleton, and moves along the road to the Flatwood Recycle Station on its way toward a home with special heating arrangements. We are on an imaginary tour of alternative energies firmly established in the county. [Continued]

Solar roof works for local couple
When the sun is shining, the simple, ordinary-looking roof on a new garage in Amissville is working—in more ways than one. The shingled roof is keeping out the rain, and the south-facing half covering the 24-by-36-foot garage is producing electricity when exposed to sunlight. Fifty solar shingles are fastened to the roof, alongside the standard shingles.
[Read more]

	A Tennessee warbler with coffee cherries.

Birds of Rappahannock County

Birds in shade coffee: A visit to Panama
What do shade-grown coffee, army ants, and Rappahannock's migratory songbirds have in common? They're all part of the fascinating ecology of Panama. [More]

Spring winging: The annual spring songbird migration
Among songbirds, the warblers (as a group) are the stars of spring. The combination of intricate, melodious song, bright plumage (usually shades of yellow and black), and the fact most don't stay long makes them the prize sighting for most birders. [Read more]

	Peregrine falcon chicks. Both photos by Alan Williams.

Reintroduction program brings peregrine falcons back to the Virginia mountains
The lightning speed and distinctive markings of the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) have captured the imagination of humans for centuries and made it the supreme choice of falconers. If you've never seen this magnificent bird in flight, you may get the chance, thanks to a program in Shenandoah National Park that is reintroducing this species to the Virginia mountains. [Read more]

Peregrine falcon update, April 27. It's nesting season again, and a pair of falcons in the Shenandoah National Park are foster parents to two rescued chicks. [Read more]

Butterflies and Other Insects of Rappahannock County

	The emerald ash borer. Photo courtesy SNP.

Forests Under Siege: Nonnative Insects Are Threatening Our Trees
Three insects are threatening trees in our area: the hemlock wooly adelgid; the gypsy moth, which attacks oaks; and emerald ash borer. Forest pests thrive when tree health is already compromised by other stressors—from other biological assaults to air pollution, acid rain, and increasing cycles of drought. Learn more about these forest pests and how to fight their devastation. [Continued]

	Mary Willeford Bair (right) leads the 2007 Butterfly Day walk. Photo by Paula Endo.

Beautiful weather and abundant butterflies make Butterfly Day in Rappahannock a success [Summer 2007]
The weather at Butterfly Day in Rappahannock was as nice this year as it was hot and sticky last year. It was warm and dry enough for butterflies, but cool enough for the thirty people who attended. Seven new species were spotted this year, with a total count of twenty—two more than last year. (Some species spotted last year were not seen this year.) [More]

Nature's fierce little predators: dragonflies and damselflies
You've seen them zoom by in low-lying fields and wetlands, and around ponds—a bright flash of iridescent color! They hover! They strike! These small but fierce predators are dragonflies and damselflies. [More]

Butterfly fans brave July heat to attend Butterfly Day [Summer 2006]
Thirty-four enthusiatic butterfly hunters spotted 18 species of butterflies in an hour-and-a-half identification walk led by a Shenandoah National Park ranger. [More]

All hail Danaus plexippus!
The monarchs are back! No, we haven't reverted to a colony and gone on the lookout for royalty. It's the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) who has returned to Virginia after a long winter in central Mexico. [Read more]

One monarch, two satyrs, three question marks, and a comma: The annual butterfly count is on
[Summer 2006]
Every year some hearty folk venture into the summer heat to count monarchs, emperors, admirals, nymphs, satyrs, and American ladies. The counters are not students of the human race but rather of the insect order Lepidoptera—butterflies and moths. [Read more]

Rappahannock Butterfly Checklist [pdf, 900 KB]

Butterfly References [pdf, 30 KB]

Farming and farm programs in Rappahannock County

Farmland Preservation Program
The Farmland Preservation Program is looking forward to finalizing its first purchase of development rights sometime in early June 2006 with the Meadow Grove Farm Easement. This project, formally supported by RLEP, is a joint effort of Rappahannock County, the Piedmont Environmental Council, the Krebser Fund, the Virginia Land Conservation Fund, and the Open Space Lands Preservation Fund. The easement will permanently protect a little more than 340 acres of Rappahannock County from development. "Important farmland, protected for generations by the family of James Massie—including rich riparian areas and scenic high meadow—combine with sensitive environmental areas and important historic dwellings and farm buildings to make this an excellent first step in the county's taxpayer-funded efforts," says County Administrator John McCarthy.

Farmers can save money and protect our water through CREP
Farmers may make use of the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program to protect streams, ponds, and wetlands from pollution by cattle and crops. The Commonwealth of Virginia and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have set aside $91 million for CREP.

Update on Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)
As of January 10, 2006, participants in CREP can plant a wildlife shrub buffer, with a 50-foot minimum, instead of trees, on marginal pastureland. For more information, contact the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service at www.nrcs.usda.gov or 540-825-4200.

Think globally, eat locally: Eating our way to environmental protection
Why is growing and eating local, organically produced foods important? Eating and everything connected with growing, processing, selling, and distributing food confers an enormous weight—beneficial or negative—upon local and global environments. [Continued]

Garden, field, forest, and water in Rappahannock County

Rain garden and forest—informative materials. Virginia Department of Forestry recently printed a technical guide on rain gardens. For a copy, visit the VDOF website at http://www.dof.virginia.gov/rfb/rain-gardens.shtml or call 434-977-6555. You can also get the guide and CD‑ROM through the Culpeper Soil & Water Conservation District at 540-825-8591. Also available from VDOF for $5 is a Virtual Tour of the Forest CD-ROM, which uses virtual reality to show 360-degree images of the forest as well as video of wildlife.

Culpeper Soil & Water Conservation District now has digital soil surveys available on CD-ROM for member counties: Culpeper, Greene, Madison, Orange, and Rappahannock. The surveys are in Adobe PDF. Each CD costs $26.25, which includes sales tax. Contact the District at 540-825-8591.

Planning your garden? Consider going native
Native Virginia plants are generally easier to take care of and use fewer resources than nonnatives (exotics), since native plants are already adapted to our climate and soil conditions. They are also less likely to run amok and drive out other natives. [Continued]

Tips for gardening in dry times
"It has to rain sometime!" I made that statement years ago at the beginning of our several-year deficit of precipitation here in Rappahannock. The statement coincided with a personal planting of trees, shrubs, grasses, and perennials, for the attraction and enticement of wildlife—but also for enhancing the beauty and diversity of our land for its human inhabitants! [Continued]

Use native plants to protect our treasured streams
You probably have one of Rappahannock's treasures on or near your land—a stream, river, or pond. How can we protect them? Here are some pointers. [Continued]

Land management in Rappahannock County

Disturbing the land requires certification
Before you start excavating land in Virginia, you must, by law, be a Certified Responsible Land Disturber. [Continued]

Save money by preventing damage during land disturbance
The Rappahannock County Building Office recently asked the Board of Supervisors for approval to begin a Land Disturbing Permit System whereby anyone preparing to disturb any land in preparation for construction, building a driveway, or any other land-disturbing activities not related to agricultural operations must apply for a permit to do so. [Continued]

Wildlife and habitat in Rappahannock County

The year of the frog
Unfortunately, there are no banner breeding years for far too many of the world's 5,000 species of frogs. At least one-third of them are threatened with extinction, according to the World Conservation Union (known for short by its old acronym, IUCN). To publicize the plight of the world's disappearing frogs and toads, 2008 has been designated as the "Year of the Frog."
[more...]

Living in bear country—A privilege and a responsibility
If there is one wild animal which defines the special character of living in Rappahannock County, it must be the American black bear, Ursus americanus. In fact, bears are so common in the county that it's easy to take them for granted—but this was not the case just a few generations ago. Although the black bear was originally abundant throughout Virginia, by 1900 bear populations had been reduced to remnant populations in the Great Dismal Swamp and in the remote mountainous areas along the West Virginia and North Carolina borders. [Continued]

Eastern mountain lion: Myth or miracle?
The mountain lion was eradicated throughout the mid-Atlantic and central Appalachians more than a century ago. Now the eastern mountain lion is federally protected, and its natural habitat is recovering over much of its former range. Could the mountain lion ever return to its home in Rappahannock County? Or is the cat already here? [Continued]

Habitat fragmentation threatens wildlife
Not only does land-use fragmentation threaten rural economies and culture, it also threatens our native wildlife. Loss and fragmentation of habitat due to urban sprawl, rather than population increases, are the most significant factors in the decline of our native species, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. With ever-shrinking land parcels, native species are often faced with trying to sustain their populations on a patchwork mosaic of varied habitat. Fragmentation most often results from timber harvesting, development, and roads. [Read more]

"Pondscaping" for wildlife
Natural ponds in Virginia are few and ephemeral. They are usually the result of beavers damming a stream, drought or flood creating temporary conditions that isolate pockets of water within wetlands, limestone subsiding, or a few other unpredictable events. These lentic (still-water) habitats tend to be rather shallow and disappear in a matter of days or months as weather conditions change, or as vegetation and soil runoff fill them in. [Continued]

Snags: One species' eyesore is another's habitat
Do you find snags—dead or dying trees—messy, defying your sense of order and neatness? What may look like and eyesore to you can look like a million-dollar condo to birds and other species. Some snags even add a graceful contrast in structure, color, and texture to the sea of summer green. [Read more]

Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP)
Rappahannock County is remarkable in the amount of land that our residents have put under conservation easement, but if your land doesn't qualify for this program or you want to try other strategies for protecting wildlife habitat, the U.S. Department of Agriculture offers an alternative: the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program. [Continued]

Links

Links to websites of particular interest to protection of the environment in Rappahannock County coming soon....

Resources

Are you thinking of moving to Rappahannock County?
WE THE PEOPLE of Rappahannock County declare it to be a 'scenic county' and all goals, principles, and policies will reflect and devolve from this fundamental recognition."
—from the Rappahannock County Comprehensive Plan [Continued]

Photo Gallery

Portfolios of original photography by Rappahannock County residents can be viewed by clicking here.