Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy

There’s been a lot of information in the papers on the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act  - some of it accurate, some of it not.

The Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act is something we need here in Loudoun and we need it now. Over the coming weeks we’ll be posting more information that you can use.

A great resource available right now is the website for Loudoun’s Clean Streams Coalition, of which Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy is a part.  On this website you’ll find information on what the Act means for Loudoun, a history of the Act in Virginia and how it’s been applied in other counties like Fairfax, links to additional resources on streams and buffers, and more.

Additionally, members of our Board of Supervisors and County staff are out and about doing community sessions to hear citizen concerns, debunk myths, and answer citizen questions. 

I encourage you to learn more about this Act. Our streams across Loudoun need help. We’ve been monitoring our local streams for 14 years along with other organizations in Loudoun and we have the data to show that they are in trouble. We also know that preserving and restoring the buffers along streams helps improve water quality and the overall health of our environment.

Given the number of Government buildings in our area, I thought this action alert from the American Bird Conservancy would be especially applicable to us.

From the American Bird Conservancy:

As many as one billion birds, both residents and migrants, die annually in the United States after colliding with buildings. You can help prevent these unnecessary deaths.

A new bill, the Federal Bird-Safe Buildings Act of 2010 (H.R. 4797), calls for each public building constructed, acquired, or altered by the federal government to incorporate, to the maximum extent possible, bird-safe building materials and design features. The legislation would require the government to take similar actions on existing buildings where practicable. This has already been demonstrated to be attainable, as some newer government buildings are already bird-friendly.

This bill will help prevent the deaths of millions of  birds that collide with windows at thousands of federal buildings across the country.

Take action now by sending an email to your Representative asking them to support this bill using American Bird Conservancy’s Action Alert System. The system is fully automated, so all you need to do is enter your details and submit. However, the impact of your action will be greatly increased if you take some extra time to add your personal thoughts and comments.

Never a dull moment when it comes to speaking out for wildlife and especially this environmentally rich little swath of land in Ashburn where the Great Blue Heron Rookery sits. First it was the baseball stadium, now radio towers…..

You may have seen the piece in the newspapers about this controversial application that was submitted to our Loudoun County Planning commission. Here’s a link at Leesburg Today that includes the story and some of the points made by Mike Friedman, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy Board member, as he spoke before the Planning Commission at their input session.

In addition to speaking at the input session, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, working with our partners in the Loudoun County Preservation and Conservation Commission, has submitted a formal letter opposing the towers. We will continue to keep on top of this issue to protect the Great Blue Herons and their habitat.

The key points on our position are below:

1. The proposed construction will require ground disturbing activities with the major floodplain and the clearing of approximately two-acres of existing forest cover. The preservation of the riparian forests and vegetated areas surrounding stream corridors provides the greatest single protection of water quality. The environmental polices of the Revised General Plan do not support the location of the proposed radio towers within a floodplain or the removal of forest cover. The Board of Supervisors has made the improvement of water quality in Loudoun’s rivers as a high priority and is currently considering the adoption of the Chesapeake Bay Option One regulations which clearly would not support this application.
2. The Great Blue Heron rookery extends for 150 feet along the Broad Run. The proposed location for the Towers is far inside of the 700 foot buffer needed. Great Blue Herons will abandon their nests if human activity occurs close to the nests. The preservation of important bird habitats is supported in the Revised General Plan. In addition, the noise from the required backup generator will disturb the Great Blue Herons and the storage of fuel in the floodplain presents an environmental risk.
3. The State Threatened Wood Turtle (as included in the Virginia Wildlife Action Plan) has been documented approximately 2.3 miles from this project. The wood turtle habitat was in close proximity to Cabin Branch, which is a tributary to the Broad Run upstream from this project. Wood turtles typically remain in moist areas within 300-600 feet of a stream. However, wood turtles have been known to travel several kilometers from the stream in which they hibernate. It is possible that wood turtles could reach the area of the proposed radio towers.

Finally, we are disappointed that Loudoun Water has agreed to allow this proposal on their property. Loudoun Water has always been a responsible steward of the environment on their land and in their operations. We find it surprising that Loudoun Water has agreed to this proposal and would hope they might reconsider.

Please forward this far and wide to anyone and everyone you know in Virginia and ask them to act today!  Share it! forward it! Make this action alert go viral – it’s that important! Please Email your Virginia State Senator and ask them to vote No on HB515

For those in Loudoun: Please Email Senators Herring (district33@senate.virginia.gov) and Vogel (district27@senate.virginia.gov) 

For those in other parts of Virginia look up your Senators’ info here: http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform 

Our Virginia Senate is about to vote on a bill that will cripple what little wetlands protection we have here in Virginia. This will have a seriously negative impact on our Virginia wildlife and the health of our environment.

Please take one minute to send an email – Please make your voice be heard!

There is going to be a vote on HB 515, Wetlands and Stream Mitigation. The bill summary as passed by the house is as follows:

Prohibits localities from regulating the location of wetlands and stream mitigation projects that are subject to a Virginia Water Protection Permit or a Corps of Engineer § 404 permit. However, a locality may continue to determine the allowed uses within its zoning classifications.

This bill would remove a locality’s ability to require, encourage or incentivize that wetlands or stream mitigation occur within the jurisdiction that is being impacted. In doing so, this bill would also eliminate a county’s ability to enforce a “no net loss” policy for wetlands. Loudoun County has had such a policy in place since 2001, and it is important to note that Loudoun’s policy DOES NOT conflict with State or Federal guidance/regulations on the mitigation of wetlands.

This is a push by wetland engineers to force landowners to either use their services or the wetland banks they have created and haven’t been able to sell. In fact some rural land is so cheap some developers will see this as a chance to push development in Loudoun County (and other areas) and mitigate in jurisdictions far away where the land is much cheaper. The negative impact on our wildlife will be dramatic, especially on the amphibians and invertebrates that depend on smaller wetlands.

Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy is opposed to HB 515 because: 

1) Allowing a locality to regulate the location of mitigation protects a major community value, water quality, and provides for mitigation in such a way that both the watershed (broad) and local water quality impacts from development are reduced.

2) This bill would hamper a locality’s ability to meet water quality standards, such as reducing pollution in streams to meet Federal standards.

3) “No net loss” policies, such as the one Loudoun County has in place, do not conflict with higher level regulation (State and Federal). As long as this is the case, the Commonwealth should respect local authority to protect local priorities such as clean water.

4) Wetlands in locations like Loudoun County help minimize the pollution and sediment that reaches the Chesapeake Bay.

5) Wetlands, even small ones, are invaluable wildlife resources and important nurseries for a wide variety of animals. This is especially true for a number of amphibians and invertebrates that depend on smaller wetlands.

This legislation was proposed because some in the wetland mitigation business dislike county wetland policies or regulations, and they would prefer not to have to compete with other wetland banking operations. They also argue that limitations on mitigation unfairly increase the cost of development and mitigation activities.

Please contact our State Senators and ask them to oppose HB 515:
Jill Vogel at 804-698-7527 or district27@senate.virginia.gov
Mark Herring at 804-698-7533 or district33@senate.virginia.gov

Wetlands are paramount to healthy habitats and drinking water for humans and wildlife – and are critical to amphibian and other animal lifecycles. Wetlands are one of our most valuable habitats.

Are you seeing bats this year?  From my own accounts, I’ve seen a few flying here and there but  the numbers seem low. We’ve asked Leslie Sturges of Bat World NoVa to do the lead article on the state of our bats for the fall issue of the Habitat Herald, but action is needed so I wanted to share a few things with you:

On Wednesday, NPR had an interview on the current status of our bats – you can listen to it here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112035629

Here’s the excerpt from the interview: Scientists are searching the forests of the Northeastern U.S. for bat colonies hit by a disease called white nose syndrome, but they are finding whole forests completely depopulated. Researchers now say the deadly outbreak is expected to reach as far away as Florida and the Midwest.

Your Action is Needed:

I received an email from Bat Conservation International talking about bills moving through Congress right now and the need for more funds so scientists can figure out the problem and come up with a solution.  I’ll include the text of that email here and really encourage you to send a quick note to your Representatives and forward this post to your friends and family to also take action:

White-nose Syndrome is the deadliest disease ever faced by North American bats, with mortality rates of 95 percent or more at some hibernation caves.  In just three years, it has killed a million bats in the northeastern United States and has now spread into nine states. Entire species are potentially at risk across the continent if solutions are not found soon. And Congress is doing little to help.

Please contact your Senator and Congressperson immediately and urge them to provide funds for WNS research before it is too late.

Last April, Bat Conservation International (BCI) asked you to write your elected officials to support WNS research, and you responded. Since then, BCI founder, Merlin Tuttle, and other leading bat scientists and conservationists testified in Congressional hearings about the ecological and economic importance of bats and the urgent need for research to stop the spread of this devastating disease. Unfortunately, Congress has disappointed us. The Appropriations committee has written a bill with very limited funding only to monitor White-nose Syndrome in specific geographic areas. The bill does not fund vital research into causes and solutions.  Simply monitoring the status of the disease and counting the number of dead bats will not solve this crisis.
That’s why we need your help.

Although the House has approved the bill, the Senate will not vote until early September.  We still have time to ask our Congressional representatives to amend the bill to include research funding. Attached is a sample letter you may want to cut and paste into an email to your representatives.

Individual Congressional email addresses can easily be found here:

Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Representatives: http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.shtml#va 

With federal funding still uncertain, donations to the WNS Rapid Response Fund at www.batcon.org/wnsdonateare urgently needed to support BCI’s efforts to combat WNS. As always, contributions in any amount are greatly appreciated.

Please write your representatives.

To listen to more NPR interviews pertaining to bats and White Nose Syndrome, visit their website or right click on the files below to open or download:

Scientists Say Bat Disease Likely to Spread
Bats Plagued by Mysterious ‘White Nose’ Disease
Deadly Disease to Bats Spreads in Northeast
Bat Killing Disease Spreads to More States
Experts Identify Fungus Suspected in Bat Die-Off

We all love our box turtles, don’t we? Well, we have a chance to help make them our state reptile but your email to our state delegates is needed to make this happen. Here are the emails for Joe May DelJMay@house.state.va.us and David Poisson DelDPoisson@house.virginia.gov.  You can find other delegates here. Just a quick note asking them to pass this legislation making the Eastern Box Turtle our state reptile will make a difference and will only take a minute to do (maybe less if you type fast) .

Here’s a great note I received from our local reptile expert, Dennis Desmond, on this subject. He talks about why this status would help our Eastern Box Turtles and what you can do:

For the past several years many people  have tried to make the Eastern Box Turtle the state reptile.  Recently, Deborah Brehony has been able to make headway in crafting a bill that would make this a reality.  Deborah related to me today that this measure has passed the VA Senate and is now headed for the House.  I hope you will take a moment to send a note to Virginia’s representatives encouraging them to support this bill.

The Eastern Box turtle has been in Virginia for millions of years, and, although not uniquely tied to Virginia, it is nevertheless a staple of the Virginia environment.  Hundreds of adults and children alike have mentioned to u during displays and presentations how they would see box turtles grazing amongst the strawberries in their yards, or how they would stop to move a box turtle from the road as its negotiated the ever increasing and deadly traffic.  Unfortunately, several people have also told us that they are seeing fewer and fewer box turtles in their neighborhoods.  Because of the rapid pace of development that has been occurring in Virginia for the past two decades, the eastern box turtle is in rapid decline throughout the state and has probably been extirpated from parts of Northern Virginia.

By selecting the Eastern Box Turtle as the state reptile, it will share a special place with other Virginia wildlife including its birds, mammals, and insects and will earn recognition as an important part of the Virginia landscape.  While it will not receive special protection, its selection will certainly bring greater attention to the potential loss of this very beautiful and certainly unique member of the reptile family that has made its home in Virginia

Habitat loss is a primary driver for the decline in the diversity of species and in many cases, animals are hit by the losses twice – with breeding grounds and wintering grounds impacted. It’s important for us to be aware of the status of different species as well as the state of their habitats so that we can change our activities and behaviors. The choice of what we save and what we destroy is ours.

The photo here is of a Loggerhead Shrike that has been seen in Loudoun for the last few years. The Loggerhead Shrike is a threatened species and this bird is the only individual we have come across in Loudoun. If you know of locations in Loudoun where they are (or if you identify other animals or plants in Loudoun that are on the threatened/endangered species list) please do let us know.

For those interested in finding out which species in our area are threatened or endangered, there’s a great list compiled by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries called Virginia Species of Concern.  You can download a copy here.

I received an email from Ed Gorski of Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) about a new tool that they’ve developed so we can see where development is planned to occur. This is a great source of information as we keep an eye on critical habitats across our county.

Here’s an excerpt from Ed’s email with the link to their new tool. Enter your address and see what’s happening around you:

As new roads and houses pop up, have you ever wondered what development is proposed near your home? PEC’s new website LocalDecisions.org combines Google Maps with county planning data to answer just that question. Enter a town or zip code, review specifics, talk with neighbors and quickly send an email to elected officials.