Gardeners for the Bay
Chesapeake Bay Foundation You love your garden, and you love the Bay. The Chesapeake Bay and its rivers and streams are in trouble. Pollution from many sources is degrading our water and threatening the habitat of fish, blue crabs, and other wildlife. With your support, we can Save the Bay. Lend a hand by joining the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Gardeners for the Bay program. Membership is FREE! ...

WHY AND HOW TO TEST YOUR SOIL
Plants can produce their own energy, but require a fertile soil or growth media to supply needed nutrients. Healthy, well-fed plants are better able to withstand diseases and insects and to compete with weeds. For a few dollars a chemical soil analysis can check your soil's fertility and determine if any corrective action is needed. ...

In Your Backyard:
Bay-friendly Landscaping
Every single person who lives in your neighborhood has a profound impact on the health of the Chesapeake Bay. Help improve water quality in your backyard by making smart decisions in your home and by using Bay-friendly landscaping techniques. Smart landscaping choices can help reduce the Bay's biggest pollutants (sediments and nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus) and restore natural filters ...

Virginia Native Plant Society
The Virginia Native Plant Society (VNPS) was founded in 1982 as The Virginia Wildflower Preservation Society. It is a statewide organization with approximately 2,000 members supported primarily by dues and contributions.

Membership is open to anyone, amateur or professional. Its purpose is to further appreciation and conservation of Virginia's native plants and habitats. Incorporated in Virginia as a not-for-profit, publicly supported organization, it is tax-exempt under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. The Society's work and activities are carried out by volunteers.

The Society's programs emphasize public education, protection of endangered species, habitat preservation, and encouragement of appropriate landscape use of native plants. ...

Spring 2010 Migration of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds ...

5 Great Places ... to walk on the Virginia Peninsula Some trails capitalize on the area's natural setting while others simply provide a respite within the cityscape. The area's long history also provides an interesting backdrop to several of these suggested walks. ...

Star Spangled Banner National Historic Trail explores regional stories, resources and visitor experiences through series of regional workshops. ...

Bay Backpack the source for Chesapeake Bay education resources Learn some creative ways to integrate the Chesapeake Bay and environmental issues into your classroom lessons.Source for Chesapeake Bay education resources, field studies, trainings and funding opportunities for educators ...

Roanoke River is again an eel superhighway
ROANOKE RAPIDS, N.C. -June 14 - For more than 60 years, American eels have wriggled their way up the Roanoke River only to be blocked here -- at a 100-foot-tall dam that creates electricity and curbs notorious flooding on the Virginia-North Carolina border. Before the dam and two others were built at neighboring Lake Gaston and Kerr Lake, eels could swim freely all the way to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, near Salem and Roanoke. . ...

1,800 trees planted to feed and shelter songbirds
CAPE CHARLES -June 13- More than 1,800 native trees and shrubs were planted this month a few miles north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel to help feed and shelter the 6-7 million migratory songbirds that use the southern tip of the Eastern Shore as a rest stop during their fall migration. ...

York may abolish Wetlands Board
YORK - June 13 - The county next week will contemplate abolishing the Wetlands Board after complaints from disgruntled waterfront property owners.In an interview Friday, supervisor vice chairman George Hrichak said that he suggested doing away with the tiny board after complaints. ...

Strange items discovered during James River cleanup
CHESTERFIELD, VA (WWBT) Jun 12– The James River Advisory Council held its 11th Annual James River Regional Cleanup on Saturday at several sites throughout the greater Richmond area. ...

After years of shell-lacking, oyster beds get a boost from raw bars, caterers
Not so long ago, Maryland had so many oyster shells that Eastern Shore residents used them to pave driveways. But that began to change in the 1980s, when oyster harvests began their slide to today's historic lows. Instead of harvests in the millions, watermen are lucky to catch around 100,000 bushels a season. ...

A gulf-size crisis in the Chesapeake Bay
William C. Baker, president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, as saying: "We have a gulf oil spill right here on the Chesapeake every day. Almost a million pounds of nitrogen flows into the bay every day." ...

Native Virginia Plants for a Butterfly Garden
A successful butterfly garden needs to have two types of plants--nectar producing plants and host plants. Female butterflies lay their eggs on host plants, which the caterpillar feeds on as it grows. Several plants native to Virginia will attract a wide variety of butterflies to your garden. Locate your butterfly garden in a sunny area that will offer butterflies shelter from the wind. ...

ChesapeakeStat
The Chesapeake Executive Council has launched the first version of ChesapeakeStat to increase government accountability and improve coordination of restoration actions by providing information on partner activities, funding, and progress towards goals. ...

New website touts 'Virginia Outdoors'
May 26, 2010 - The state has a new outdoors website promoting state parks, hiking trails and recreation activities.

Virginia Outdoors, also includes video tours of trails of state park trails along with audio podcasts, maps, lists of amenities and other information useful in planning trips and outings, a news release from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. ...