New Community Planning Resource Guide Available

Citizens or communities across Virginia will be better able to map their most significant natural resources and to prepare plans to conserve or restore them thanks to a new guidebook prepared by the Green Infrastructure Center (GIC) in Charlottesville.

“Evaluating and Conserving Green Infrastructure Across the Landscape: A Practitioner’s Guide” is a 132-page spiral-bound guide that presents a way to think about and catalogue a community’s natural assets as well as to prioritize them for long-term stewardship. The guide is based on six years of field testing from the Eastern Shore and coastal plain to the Piedmont and Shenandoah Valley. It sells for $29.95.
Green infrastructure includes all the interconnected natural systems in a landscape. These include intact forests, woodlands, wetlands, parks, rivers, and soils that help provide clean water, clean air, wildlife habitat and food.

“This is not a guide about how to stop development or limit population growth,” said GIC Director Karen Firehock. “It describes the steps a community can take to determine what is important and develop a rationale for what to protect. The guide helps planners, land trusts and community groups determine where their most significant natural assets, such as large intact forest blocks, are located. They can also determine which of these assets are the most important for achieving key functions, such as protecting clean water, supporting wildlife or providing outdoor recreation.

“If we don’t know where our best watershed areas are or where our best quality agricultural soils are located, this vital information isn’t included in the comprehensive plans, master plans or zoning laws that guide development,” Firehock said. “Once such natural resources are removed from the community, they are most often lost forever.”

The guide provides the steps for determining how to facilitate development in ways that reduce its impact on the landscape. It also provides the steps to use cost-free state models to develop maps that can inform planners, builders, community groups or agencies in making the best decisions on how and where to develop and what to conserve.

“While most people would prefer to make land-use decisions that restore rather than deplete our environment, land planners and decision-makers may still overlook natural resources,” Firehock said. “But, just as we plan for our gray infrastructure – roads, bridges, power lines, pipelines, sewer systems and so on – we should also plan to conserve landscapes and natural resources as our green infrastructure.”

To order a copy of the guidebook, send a check for $29.95 made payable to the Green Infrastructure Center, to P.O. Box 317, Charlottesville, VA, 22902 or visit www.gicinc.org/ . The guidebook was funded by the Virginia Department of Forestry, the US Forest Service’s Southern Region and the Blue Moon Fund.

Several Virginia Counties Seeing Increased Levels of Southern Pine Beetle

Based on the spring trapping survey, the southern pine beetle (SPB), once again, is not expected to reach outbreak levels in most VA locations, but there are several areas that have seen increased populations of the bug, according to officials with the Virginia Department of Forestry.

Populations increased somewhat in Cumberland and Chesterfield counties compared to last year, but overall numbers were still relatively low, according to Dr. Chris Asaro, forest health specialist.

“As always, this does not mean that localized infestations will not occur. In fact, western Hanover County has been plagued with SPB outbreaks for the last three years, and there is a fair probability that it will be declared an outbreak county by year’s end if current trends continue,” Asaro said.

An outbreak is defined as one SPB spot per thousand acres of host type (pine) per unit area, but this is a crude definition because many small spots can join together to form one large spot, which has happened in Hanover already.

“Folks in southern portions of Spotsylvania and Caroline counties as well as eastern portions of Louisa and Goochland counties may want to keep a close eye on their pines for any potential spillover from Hanover.The hope is that there is enough hardwood cover around to prevent any major spillover, but large areas of contiguous pine cover would obviously be a concern,” Asaro said. “Another area experiencing outbreak levels of SPB is Chincoteague/Assateague Island, although there is no widespread activity reported along the rest of the Eastern Shore.”

Virginia has not experienced a statewide outbreak of SPB since 1993, when more than 50 counties were affected and $14 million worth of timber destroyed.

Veteran VDOF Employee Honored for Education Efforts

A 34-year veteran of the Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) has earned the Bronze Smokey Bear Award.

Toano resident Paul Reier, a forestry technician who protects and serves the counties of Charles City, Hanover, Henrico, James City, King & Queen, King William and New Kent, was nominated for the “energy, dedication, and commitment” he demonstrated in countless Smokey Bear education programs.

“Paul works tirelessly, even after hours, to ensure Smokey is at numerous fairs, special events, baseball games and schools. He partners with everyone from local nursing homes to the local rescue organizations and fire departments,” said Fred Turck, VDOF’s assistant director of resource protection. “Paul always finds new ways to get Smokey Bear involved in community events and is proactive in his efforts.”

State Forester of Virginia Carl E. Garrison III said, “I'm so glad to see Paul's extraordinary efforts being recognized on a national level. He has been a leader in wildfire prevention and education efforts for many years, and he's so very good at making sure Smokey Bear's message (“Only You Can Prevent Wildfires”) is understood by children of all ages. His work has been an important part of our goal to reduce the number of wildfires casued by human activity. Paul Reier is most deserving of this Bronze Smokey award, and I congratulate him on his achievement.”


The Bronze Smokey Bear Award is the highest honor given for wildfire service on the state level, and is reserved for people or organizations that provide sustained, outstanding service in wildfire prevention. The award is sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, the National Association of State Foresters and the Advertising Council.

Forest Conservation Easement Protects 306 acres in Sussex County

In 1961, when Mrs. Segar White Guy inherited her father’s 306-acre tract of unmanaged forestland in Sussex County, she made the long-term commitment to improve the quality of the woodland. The Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) and Consulting Forester Hunter Darden developed a Forest Stewardship Management Plan that eventually led the family to prosperity and a healthy forest.

Fifty years and several forest management awards later, the timber on the land was both healthy and profitable for the Guy family. Cash from timber and pulpwood sales supported the family quite well, even covering the cost of their daughter Judi’s college tuition. In late 2010, however, the Guys learned Segar had pancreatic cancer, and, subsequently, the family decided it needed to protect their greatest family heirloom – the forestland.

Like the Guy family, many Virginia forest landowners face the issue of how they will pass their land down to the next generation. Private owners hold 13 million acres of Virginia’s forestland; landowners age 55 or older own seven million acres of that. With the decisions made today, these landowners will either protect our farms and forests or convert to them to other uses. For some families, perpetual protection from development provided by a conservation easement with VDOF is the answer.

Segar’s goal was to keep the land in the family and pass it on to the next generation.

Daughter Judi Guy said, “My mother wanted the land to go into conservation easement because of the feature of perpetuity for the land being used for sustainable forestry management using Best Management Practices. The tax benefits were of secondary concern to her.”

John Guy, Segar’s husband of 56 years, said, “Segar had a deep love of the land. She became actively involved with many forestry organizations that helped her become a good steward to the land.”

After 50 years of working with VDOF, Darden, the Virginia Forest Education Foundation (VFEF) and the Virginia Forestry Association (VFA), Segar’s vision of good forest management came to fruition by becoming certified under Virginia’s Forest Stewardship Program.


After several months of work, the Guys, their attorney Lee Stephens and VDOF Forestland Conservation Specialist Rob Suydam recorded the conservation easement on April 3, 2013 – nearly two years to the date of Segar’s passing.

Judi said, “This was such great news. The irony is it was two years ago we lost Mom. The timing could not have been more meaningful to me.”

Forest Legacy Program Coordinator Wins National Award

Larry Mikkelson, our Forest Legacy program coordinator here at VDOF, earned the national Conservation Excellence Award 2012. He is only the fifth recipient of this award in the 108-year history of the U.S. Forest Service.

The award recognizes his “exceptional leadership managing a state’s Forest Legacy program.” Scott Stewart, national director of the Forest Legacy program, presented the award.

The USFS Forest Legacy Program (FLP) supports state efforts to protect environmentally sensitive forestlands. Designed to encourage the protection of privately owned forestlands, FLP is an entirely voluntary program. To maximize the public benefits it achieves, the program focuses on the acquisition of partial interests in privately owned forestlands. FLP helps the states develop and carry out their forest conservation plans. It encourages and supports acquisition of conservation easements, legally binding agreements transferring a negotiated set of property rights from one party to another, without removing the property from private ownership. Most FLP conservation easements restrict development, require sustainable forestry practices and protect other ecosystem service values.

Virginia has received 10 Forest Legacy grants since 2001. VDOF holds 11 easements on 5,287 acres of forestland. In addition, the Forest Legacy program helped purchase all or parts of three state forests (Sandy Point SF; Dragon Run SF, and Big Woods SF) and two natural area preserves (Chubb-Sand Hill NAP and South Quay Sand Hills NAP).

A 35-year veteran of the Virginia Department of Forestry, Larry graduated from Purdue University with a degree in forestry.

Paul State Forest Closed for 6 Weeks

The 173-acre Paul State Forest, located in Rockingham County, is closed for at least the next six weeks as work is done to salvage trees downed by three major storms. The Paul State Forest is a favorite of day hikers and bird enthusiasts.

“While we don’t like to close a state forest, we must protect the public from the tree salvage work that is needed in the Paul State Forest,” said VDOF Area Forester Bruce Harmon. “More than half of this forest had significant damage from three large storms, including last year’s derecho. With all the harvesting equipment in place, it’s simply not safe for people to be in the forest at this time.”

VDOF has posted signs at the entrance and has informed the adjacent landowners of the closure.

For more information, please contact Bruce Harmon at 540.459.7834.

Gladstone Media Donates Trees to Virginia

Albemarle-based Gladstone Media has purchased 12,000 tree seedlings that will be planted in and around Albemarle County on private lands.  One-thousand-five-hundred of these tree seedlings will be planted by the Nelson County Future Farmers of America (FFA) as part of their annual forestry project.  In addition, Gladstone Media has donated $1,000 to The Nature Conservancy to help offset the tree planting costs associated with the Meadow Creek stream improvement project.

Since first partnering with the Virginia Department of Forestry in 2001, Gladstone has donated more than 75,000 trees that help clean the air, protect our waterways and enhance the quality of life across the state.

VDOF Senior Area Forester David Powell said, “Gladstone has a strong track record of helping the local community improve the natural environment through generous donations of tree seedlings.  The company donates enough tree seedlings to offset its paper use annually.  The Virginia Department of Forestry facilitates matching the donated seedlings with local planting projects each spring.  Not only does Gladstone provide trees to school groups, it has also generously donated trees to reforestation projects in the area. This year, I am especially excited that the company is providing trees to Nelson County High School’s FFA annual spring planting project.  This project is a hands-on experience in which FFA members spend the day with forest professionals learning about careers in natural resources management and complete a reforestation project on a local landowner’s property.”

Gladstone President and CEO Leonard Phillips said, "We benefit so much by living and working in Central Virginia.  It’s a pleasure to support these improvements to our environment."

Del. R. Steven Landes said, "Let me congratulate the Department of Forestry and Gladstone Media for their partnership.  The thousands of pine seedlings will help provide a better environment for Albemarle County and its citizens. This is a wonderful example of both the public and private sectors working together to improve our environment. Let me also thank the Nelson County Future Farmers of America for their efforts to assist with planting of these seedlings as part of their annual forestry project."

Sen. R. Creigh Deeds said, “I applaud the stewardship and community spirit of Gladstone Media.  The partnership will pay dividends for Albemarle County and will provide meaningful experience to the Nelson County FFA.”