Virginia Forestry and Wildlife Group

05/28/2026

A few of our important species: common and butterfly milkweed are starting to bloom!

05/10/2026

What a fascinating hypothesis!

04/09/2026

Congratulations to all the folks that have been working so hard for years to accomplish this! Invasive species are destroying our native ecosystems and all efforts to suppress and minimize the spread will go a long way towards sustaining our native habitats.

🏛️ Breaking News: Governor Spanberger signed all 4 invasive plant bills! 🙌🏼🎉

✍🏼 With your help, we moved the invasive plant bills through the General Assembly and to the Governor’s desk. This week she signed landmark legislation advancing invasive plant management across Virginia — marking a significant step toward protecting the Commonwealth’s lands, waters, and wildlife.

👏🏻 Many thanks to the patrons who championed the bills:
> Del. Amy Laufer, HB 88: Manage roadside invasive plants in VDOT rights-of-way
> Del. Holly Seibold, HB 109: Close the invasive plant commercial viability loophole
> Sen. Saddam Salim, SB 89 / Del. Katrina Callsen, HB 388: Expand powers of public service districts to include invasive plant control
> Sen. Ryan McDougle, SB 163: Allow volunteers to assist with invasive plant control on state lands

🌿 The Virginia Invasive Plant Coalition supported the legislation as part of ongoing work to restore and sustain the lands we love. Many thanks for your calls, emails, letters, and dedicated efforts to help get these bills enacted.

🚀 Want to keep the momentum going? Support our work walks, workdays, trainings, site visits, and grassroots advocacy here: blueridgeprism.org/donate

04/08/2026

The 500 Year Forest Foundation is offering 143 acres of spectacular mountainland in Nelson County with frontage on the Tye River and a common boundary with the National Forest. It is being listed with Philip Reed at McLean Faulconer.

03/28/2025

Some good news coming out of Richmond! https://environmentamerica.org/virginia/updates/invasive-plants-will-soon-be-labeled-in-virginia/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2bXzPGV5Qy7nl2-qymTYqQ8EWv8HXjUmqbSV5p_Lbn-sHvKMngiuzI9sc_aem_zC3GnRv3TsU52AvDy9XqvQ

Gov. Youngkin has signed a bill to require many invasive plant species to be labeled in stores. Invasive plant species harm the environment and ultimately cost Virginia $1 billion annually. Gardeners will be able to make informed decisions regarding their plant purchases and better protect pollinato...

08/21/2024

Last month we treated a meadow at the Varina LandLab (Deep Bottom, Henrico County) that was completely dominated by knee high sericea lespedeza. The treatment was a foliar spray of 3% Triclopyr 3 with Cidekick surfactant to avoid killing grasses. The attached photos show the results: killing the lespedeza has allowed the native grasses like Indiangrass and little bluestem etc. to flourish. Since lespedeza is very persistent, a follow-up spray will likely be needed but the first application was very effective.

06/07/2024

This is great news! A strong start by the State of Virginia in tackling invasive species. Thanks to the Blue Ridge Blue Ridge PRISM Inc https://www.vpm.org/news/2024-05-30/virginia-budget-prism-invasive-species-funding-plants-native?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1avs1ExDpq9m2c3r8hirPFnuYsOiA9Jrp0oGqRLQ39YkfZMt6BHRJHuaQ_aem_AbKXQD5bfm0bjzDtugyyWpfsY9aptP7RrOl_EW7wcWZK8e-ql4L3TSLK_vbZ25LCnafkNFpNUPw2qilpxlBuxQKp

The money will help local and regional groups, as well as state agencies.

03/28/2024

Been reading "Landmarks" by Robert McFarlane, a book of lost Gaelic words or phrases that described the landscape and weather in granular and beautiful detail. It is a testament to how people living close to the land saw things in far greater detail than we do today. For those who lived on the moors (or on the American Plains or African savannah), a seemingly bland terrain was full of color, texture, and meaning to its inhabitants:

"Rionnach maoim" - the shadows cast on the moorlands by clouds moving a cross the sky on a bright and windy day.

"Eit" - the practice of placing quartz stones in moorland streams so they would sparkle in the moonlight and attract salmon in the late summer and fall.

Amazing for such short word(s) to convey so much meaning.

11/28/2023

Following the harvest of an old and decaying stand of Virginia pine to release a younger age class of yellow poplar, we forestry mulched the site to reduce the heavy pine slash and reveal potential pastures and building sites. Since the site is now flooded with sunlight, dense undergrowth (and invasives) will form. Over the next 2-3 years, the site should be managed by bushogging future fields and selectively treating invasives and undesirable vegetation where a hardwood forest is developing.

08/19/2023

One of our clients getting the recognition he deserves for his steadfast work against invasive species: https://www.c-ville.com/the-forest-for-the-trees?fbclid=IwAR2LHYO_P2PWYDz2TevKloy5wi3ltSeC0_K6dWezVJTpEAQR3dK-VkKdkIA

Rod Walker has always loved the natural world. Throughout his career as an IT consultant, the avid hunter and fisherman owned forested land where he and his family could get away for a quieter...