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To be sure and receive Talk, add info@talkloudoun.com to your address book Vol 3: Issue 25, July 11, 2011
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Talk takes off --
As we do each summer, our e-zine will not publish in August. We've found that many of our readers are away, and it seems to be a good time to focus on family, travel, regroup and reflect -- all while working on fresh, dynamic stories to bring your way, just after Labor Day!
Enjoy special time with your families and loved ones, and we'll see you you in September with more of our unique brand of stories and a recap of our summer travel. |
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 Wow! Farm-to-Fork Loudoun begins next Thursday! At which F2F restaurants have you made reservations?
Also this week from Facebook...
We were featured in On Tap Magazine, thanks for this great exposure!
Doukenie Wines have been chosen by Chef Brad of Cookology, Chef Wes of Lansdowne Resort, and Chef Author of Grandale Farm Restaurant to be featured during Farm-to-Fork Loudoun July 21 - 31!
Coming from out-of-town for Farm-to-Fork Loudoun? Check out these hotel specials just for you!
Chef Chris of The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm and Winemaker at Bluemont Vineyard, Bob Rupy, will appear on WUSA-TV 9 with reporter Peggy Fox this coming Monday on the noon newscast! Chef Chris will have one or two dishes from his Farm-to-Fork Loudoun menu. He and Vintner Bob will match Bluemont wines with those menu items and discuss the art of wine pairing. Tune in! |
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Unlikely partnership a boon to Loudoun's wildlife
By Nancy Croft Baker
 Thomas Sines builds toll roads. Joe Coleman is a passionate conservationist. It's doubtful that in their professional lives these two men could find common ground, yet as they gaze at the steady stream of vehicles zipping down the Dulles Greenway, they both see a means for saving countless acres of wildlife in Loudoun County.
Sines, CEO of Toll Road Investors Partnership II (TRIP II), and Coleman, president of the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, met back in the mid-1990s shortly after construction of the Dulles Greenway. Under a federal mandate, TRIP II was required to replace a comparable portion of natural wetlands compromised by the new road. The firm identified a parcel of land buffered between historic Oatlands and Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve and bordering Goose Creek. It was double the size of the mitigation requirement and seemed like a natural place to build a wetlands area.
"We invested considerable time and expense into the wetlands project, but it was a terribly dry and hot summer in Loudoun," Sines recalls. "Everything we planted just died." It would be two more years of working arduously with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and numerous environmental consultants to build an intricate network of dikes and weirs to coax the water to a wetlands-worthy level. Meanwhile, Coleman, who had recently cofounded the LWC, was watching closely.
"What we saw convinced us that the Greenway folks were genuinely interested in developing the wetlands into healthy wetlands," Coleman says. "Too many companies do the bare minimum in wetlands mitigation and call it a day. And not all manmade wetlands work well, because it's a fairly new science," he adds. "Tom wants to do it the right way."
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S imple suggestion spawns common goal
By 1997, the wetlands began to thrive and attract new wildlife. The site was so active that Coleman approached Sines about getting permission to take groups of bird watchers and nature lovers to the site for organized hikes. Sines, an avid outdoorsman who often visits the wetlands in hip waders with field glasses, eagerly agreed. "Being among nature is a wonderful release from the hectic pace of Northern Virginia," Sines admits. "I feel like I'm worlds away and am pleased to share that experience with others."
LWC led a group to the site the following December for its annual Christmas bird count. While tallying the cardinals, warblers and chickadees, Coleman also took note of various aspects of the wetlands that were not quite up to snuff -- such as a family of beavers creating a water hazard to surrounding habitat. He shared his observations with Sines and suggested some alternative, humane remedies to preserve the beavers while regaining harmony in the wetlands. Sines recognized he had a valuable partner in the LWC.
"The more I got to know Joe, the more I realized we could greatly benefit by his continual involvement with the wetlands," Sines says. Coleman was already on board. "We knew all the consultants that the Greenway was paying to do a lot of things we could offer for free," Coleman says. Not only that, LWC could do it better. The 800+ all-volunteer organization, after all, plays a key role in protecting, preserving and conserving wildlife habitats throughout the county. In addition to leading free educational programs for all ages, the group has restored untold acres of habitat and has protected water quality through its vast monitoring program among other endeavors to raise awareness about Loudoun's natural resources. |
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 Today, the Dulles Greenway wetlands project is a model for other manmade habitats. On a recent LWC monthly nature walk led by Coleman and Mary Ann Good, a group of early risers spotted nesting Bald Eagles, Great Egrets, Green Herons, Yellow-Billed Cuckoos, Willow Flycatchers, a pair of Cedar Waxwings, and both Yellow and Prairie Warblers, along with hordes of butterflies, tiny tree frogs, deer, and other flora and fauna of note.
"The reward for me is seeing birds and animals that had left the county come back to make our wetlands their home," Sines says. Coleman and his fellow naturalists are equally thrilled by the thriving wetlands community. On a recent visit to monitor the group's bluebird trail, LWC vice president Nicole Hamilton spotted a Hooded Merganser leading her ducklings across the pond a rare sighting in Virginia. "I couldn't believe what I was seeing," she says excitedly. "The duck wasn't even on my roster of birds found in Loudoun County." Coleman confirms that the sighting of the Hooded Merganser is a first for Loudoun County, and the phenomenon likely would not have been possible without TRIP II's commitment to the wetlands.
Drive for Charity
Sines took his support of LWC's efforts beyond the wetlands when the TRIP II launched its annual Drive for Charity fundraiser on the Dulles Greenway for local nonprofits six years ago. LWC, naturally, topped the list of beneficiaries. "I'm constantly amazed by the volume of volunteership they have and the number of things they are accomplishing to  benefit our community," Sines says. "From stream maintenance to summer nature camps, we knew they would get a really big bang for the buck."
Indeed the ripple effect of nearly $200,000 of support over the years has been widespread throughout the LWC. The funding has allowed the group to expand its field trips, habitat restoration and monitoring projects as well as the publication of its quarterly Habitat Herald magazine. "We use all these outreach measures to educate citizens about what we see as our biggest challenge: diminishing habitat," Coleman explains.
Last year, LWC used Drive for Charity funding to develop a rain garden to control runoff pollution at Freedom Park and planted more than 1,000 trees and shrubs along the south fork of Catoctin Creek at Phillips Farm in Waterford -- a conservation and restoration partnership between the LWC and the Waterford Foundation. Both endeavors were community efforts and excellent teaching opportunities, Coleman notes. "We try to teach people to not only love nature but how to live with nature."
Nurturing next gen naturalists
Drive for Charity funding also supports LWC's two young naturalist camps at Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve, as well as a school-based young naturalist program run by Tuscarora High School environmental science teacher Mimi Westervelt in honor of her late stepfather, renowned naturalist Roger Tory Peterson. The program culminates each June with the presentation of scholarships funded by Drive for Charity. "The awards are a way to recognize and encourage future naturalists," Westervelt explains. "Roger spent a lo t of time alone in nature, meticulously cataloging what he saw. Everyone thought he was a strange kid until his 7th grade teacher recognized his gifts and inspired him to follow his calling to become an environmental educator." Peterson went on to develop the highly regarded 55-volume Peterson's Field Guide series, in publication since 1934.
"The need to educate children about our natural environment is crystal clear when you take them outdoors and they don't know the names of the things they see or understand how they relate to the resources upon which they depend," Westervelt laments. "If we don't engage children in our natural world, they won't feel compelled to protect it."
Coleman and his LWC cohorts take this concern to heart by frequently sponsoring school field trips and encouraging youth to volunteer in the group's stream, bird, amphibian and mammal monitoring programs. Emily Bzdyk took the bait at age 9 when her grandmother signed her up to be a stream monitor at a nearby creek. "It was something we would do together, and I loved wading in the water and collecting insects," says Bzdyk, who is entering her third year of graduate school to become a professional entomologist. "Working with the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy instilled from an early age the importance of insects as an indicator of environmental quality and taught me to identify insects."
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At age 14, Bzdyk became captain of her stream monitoring team and remained active in LWC as a summer intern and contributing writer to the group's Habitat Herald long after graduation from Loudoun Valley High School. "LWC definitely kept me engaged, encouraging me to continue studying insects," she says. "It was a wonderful way to spend time with other adults who became mentors. I learned so much -- and had a great time!"
That child-like wonder and excitement are something both Coleman and Sines hope to foster in future generations. "I remember the thrill of being outdoors and fishing in the cold streams as a kid," Sines says. "Respecting nature was a big part of my upbringing, and I want other children to have that experience. Joe and the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy are helping us offer this gift to people not only in Loudoun County but all over our region." |
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Your fundraiser or community event, featured in
Talk's Rendezvous e-zine!
Attention publicists, event planners and all our loyal readers -- you may have noticed our last few exciting Rendezvous e-zines were community-generated! We offered and our readers accepted. They called and told us about their exciting events, and we said go for it! It's been our pleasure using reader-generated professional quality photos and information in our monthly Rendezvous, and we'd like to continue.
Each time we'll feature one or two sets of photos that highlight unique charitable fundraisers or community events, and we would be happy to consider yours! Photos need to be submitted in a particular size, with full event details provided. All those specs will be sent to you upon our approval of your event or program. For more information about our expanded coverage of Loudoun activities with you as our community reporters, contact Talk Founder Miriam Nasuti at 703.771.8893 or via e-mail at Miriam@TalkLoudoun.com. Thank you!
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