Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. has agreed to plead guilty to charges in federal court and pay $4.5 million in fines in two incidents that date to 2008.

That year, the company recalled packages of wild birdseed coated with pesticides that were toxic to birds. Court documents state that, from November 2005 to March 2008, Scotts distributed 73 million units of birdseed coated with insecticides called Storcide II and Actellic 5E. This was done to keep insects from eating the seeds during storage.

Storcide’s label says the pesticide is “extremely toxic to fish and toxic to birds and other wildlife.” Documents state that Scotts continued to sell the products despite warnings in the summer and fall of 2007 from a pesticide chemist and an ornithologist, both of whom worked for the company.

For full story, go to: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2012/01/27/scotts-to-pay-4-5m-in-fines.html 

Join us at the Tally Ho Theatre on Wednesday evening, February 15th, for the award-winning film, “Bag It!”. 

The event starts at 6:30 pm with refreshments and conversation and the film will begin at 7:30 pm. 

By attending the event you will be supporting environmental film in Loudoun County as well as directly funding our local environmental non-profit organizations.  

Tickets to the event will cost $10.00 and all money from the ticket sales will be donated equally to five local environmental nonprofits: Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship, Keep Loudoun Beautiful, Sustainable Loudoun, and the Friends of Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve. 

The film series will run monthly from February to June of this year with hopes of starting back up again in the Fall.  

If you can’t make the film, you can send a high school or college student to the films in your place by purchasing tax-deductible tickets online.  Preview the movie and find out more details about the February event at http://ow.ly/8q2j2

In past years (2005, 2009, 2010, 2011), Loudoun Watershed Watch has submitted nominations of new sites for stream monitoring by the state.  Virginia DEQ responded and expanded their monitoring, but only where budgets would allow.  If you would like to suggest additional sites for monitoring, please submit them to info@loudounwatershedwatch.org and Loudoun Watershed Watch will compile them as our submission.

You can view previous nominations and responses here.  Also, there is a map of candidate sites posted at http://www.loudounwatershedwatch.org/subitem3_4.html

Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy is once again offering two scholarships to Vesuvius Adult Nature Camp in Rockbridge County, VA. Nature Camp will be held from June 8-12, 2012.

Interested individuals must: 1)be 18 years of age or older, 2)current LWC members, 3)submit a short description (1 page or less) of why you would like to attend, and 4)be willing to share your experiences from camp with others upon your return.

Interested? Submit your written request to Paul Miller at 38712 Rickard Road, Lovettsville, VA 20180 by April 15, 2012.

Members of the LWC Environmental Education Committee will review all submissions and select two for scholarships. For additional information call Paul Miller at (540)882-3112.

Loudoun Community Garden Forum

Saturday Feb 4, 2012  10:30am – 12:30pm

Ashburn Library,  43316 Hay Road

Who should attend:  those who are starting,  are interested in starting,  or have already started a Community Garden in Loudoun County.

Sponsored by the Loudoun County Master Gardeners  Garden to Table team, whose mission is to help Loudouners grow their own produce and to increase awareness of the value of fresh, local, healthy food.

In addition to brief presentations by Master Gardeners,  attendees may look forward to opportunities to learn from and network with other local Community Gardeners.   Bring your questions and your wisdom to share on gardening topics as well as issues of administration and fundraising.  

Time will be devoted for community gardeners to ask questions not only of Master Gardeners but of other community garden members who have been in the dirt.    There will be light refreshments and door prizes!

To RSVP your interest in attending, send your name and phone number to DEHarris01@aol.com.   

For general information about the Forum,  about the Garden to Table team or for general gardening questions,  please contact the LCMG Help Desk at ex107mg@vt.edu or by phone at 703.771.5150.

Butterflies in Winter

Sunday, January 15, 1:30 – 3:00 p.m. Registration Required but the program is free.

Location: Rust Library in Leesburg. 

Did you leave your garden a little “messy” at the end of the season? Well, hidden in old flower stems or tucked away in a hibernaculum, an egg or caterpillar may be waiting out the chill.

And what about the adults? Well – there just may be butterflies in that leaf pile!

Where do butterflies go in the winter? How do they hibernate? In what form?  How does a miniscule egg form into a beautiful creature of flight?  Can you raise butterfly eggs to adulthood for release? 

Nicole Hamilton will answer all of these questions, show you some overwintering chrysalids and more! Learn how you can help butterfly populations and encourage butterflies to over-winter in your very own backyard.

For those interested, following the program, we’ll walk around the habitat restoration area and see what signs of butterflies we can find.

This free program is sponsored by Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy. Sign up online. For questions, contact Nicole Hamilton at nhamilton@loudounwildlife.org

The songs tie back to the winter solstice and the magic of the season and I love to listen to it through these winter weeks.

The winter solstice is that day when we have the longest night. As we pass through today and into tomorrow, the winter slumber starts to end and all the hidden life around us starts to stir, ever so subtly,  again.

Wednesday, December 14, 7:30 p.m. at the Rust Library in Leesburg.

Join Tom Ramsay and Nancy Goetzinger for this free program on America’s Atlantic coast. 

This 50-minute multi-media presentation utilizes video, stills, and graphics to demonstrate the beauty of coastal habitats and the diversity of the resulting life forms there, all within the context of the geologic and hydrologic formation of the East Coast shoreline from Georgia to Newfoundland.

Tom and Nancy will discuss the beautiful images of landscapes; nesting and migrating birds along the entire coast; blue crabs, mating horseshoe crabs, and other marine life; and an exquisite close-up video sequence of monarch butterflies on goldenrod bushes in full bloom, captured along the Delaware coast during the fall migration period.

The program traces coastline origins in the tectonic formation and subsequent erosion of the Appalachian Mountains, in the advance and retreat of glaciers, and in the ongoing effects of wind and water on sand. 

Two distinctly different regions are presented: the dynamic barrier islands of the south, with their resulting sand beaches, salt marshes, and tidal flats; and the dramatic northern coast where steep cliffs, deep shoreline water, cold currents, and undersea banks combine to create a rich food supply that makes it possible for millions of nesting pelagic birds and large sea mammals to thrive there.

Questions: contact Joe Coleman at jcoleman@loudounwildlife.org or 540-554-2542.

Second Sunday Walk, December 11, 1 – 3 pm

Meet Naturalist Chris Lewis and VNPS members and join them on a one mile long relatively easy walk. Chris will follow the Shearman’s Mill Trail and will show you how to identify trees in winter. Meet at the horse stables in the park located in the section east of Rt. 17. Wear clothes suitable for the weather, sturdy shoes and bring water. For more details, please contact Chris at cplewis2@comcast.net.

Below are excerpts from two of the letters of recommendation that were submitted for this award:

From the Land Trust of Virginia:
Joe has been a key member of the Land Trust of Virginia for many years, serving on both the Board of Directors and the Easement Committee almost since the inception of the organization.

His contributions include extensive work on review of proposals, easement tracking and monitoring properties under easement in western Loudoun and northern Fauquier Counties. He helped the Land Trust develop the stewardship capacity to monitor all of the easements in its portfolio.

Joe also is largely responsible for creating and shepherding the development of the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, which has become a critical force in protecting the flora and fauna of Loudoun County. Finally, Joe is an active Board member for the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship, a 900-acre property in northern Loudoun County that is dedicated to the proper stewardship of the area’s natural resources.

From the Fauquier and Loudoun Garden Club:
In 1995, Joe was one of three who founded Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, the purpose of which is “protection and proliferation of wildlife habitat.” He served as its first president and is president again today. Early on, Joe recognized that with the rapid growth in Loudoun County, there needed to be an advocate for wildlife.

Joe spearheaded and led programs, projects, advocacy and education over a 13 year period.  lt is remarkable that this all-volunteer organization now has 800 members who are active volunteers in many of the projects that Joe has implemented.

Joe’s knowledge, passion, and direction have resulted in partnerships with other organizations in and around Loudoun and Fauquier counties.  Under Joe’s leadership and vision, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy has worked for better habitats, cleaner water and improved environmental standards.

“The voice of the naturalist,” Joe speaks often before Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors to educate and inform them on the impacts of their decisions on our environment.